The Most Inspiring Artist Biopics
Ever wonder how some of the world’s most famous artists of all time earned their status? While you could scour the Internet for information or read a 300-page biography, we’d rather a more entertaining approach to finding out more about the lives of our favorite artists. By watching dramatized versions of artists’ lives, you’re able to learn about the hardships they experienced and how their persistence made them household names without having to sit through a boring art history lecture. Take a seat on the couch, watch one or all of the biopics on this list, and maybe even gain some creative inspiration to grab a canvas and some paint in the hope that you’ll be the subject of your own artist biopic one day.
My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown
One of the most inspiring movies on this list is My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown, a biopic about an Irish artist who had cerebral palsy and could only control his left foot. Using his one working appendage, Brown was able to learn to paint using his toes to hold a brush and also wrote his autobiography that way, which chronicled the hardships he experienced throughout his life in a poor, working class family. Daniel Day Lewis portrayed the artist in the film and subsequently won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role as Christy Brown.
Lust for Life
Kirk Douglas played Vincent Van Gogh in the 1956 film, Lust for Life. The movie tells the story of the eccentric Dutch painter, who after experiencing a series of hardships throughout his life like heartbreak and failing at a number of careers, turned to art. Van Gogh was consistently supported by his brother both financially and emotionally as he created some of the most well known paintings in the world, and ended up earning some respect from fellow artists, including Paul Gauguin. While Van Gogh only sold one painting during his lifetime, he is now a household name.
American Splendor
Comic book artist Harvey Pekar, who is portrayed by Paul Giamatti, is the subject of American Splendor, which chronicles how he came to be in the underground comic scene. While leading a mundane life working as a file clerk at a hospital in Virginia and spending his free time scouring garage sales and thrift stores, he met Robert Crumb, a greeting card artist and musician. When Crumb gained success for his work in underground comics, it inspired Pekar to make his own, which he entitled American Splendor, telling the story of working-class life. After his comic was published in 1976, it earned him cult fame throughout the ‘80s, eventually leading him to his soul mate, Joyce Barber, who ran a comic book store in Delaware.
Modigliani
This biopic centers on the life of Amedeo Modigliani, an Italian painter played by Andy Garcia, who rivaled Pablo Picasso in 1919’s Paris. After the artist’s baby was sent away to a convent by his girlfriend’s disapproving parents, Modigliani became distraught and needed to come up with a way to make money to get his child back. He decided to enter the annual art competition in Paris, which offered prize money and a guaranteed art career for the winner, but his friend and rival Pablo Picasso also decided to enter. The movie tells the story of Modigliani’s process to create a masterpiece, win the competition, save his relationship, and get his child back.
Basquiat
Directed by fellow painter Julian Schnabel, Basquiat chronicles the life of Jean-Michel Basquiat, a street artist from Brooklyn who evolved into a highly sought after contemporary painter. The movie features an all-star cast, including Jeffrey Wright as Basquiat, the multi-talented David Bowie as Andy Warhol, Gary Oldman as Julian Schnabel, and Parker Posey as gallerist Mary Boone. This biopic follows Basquiat from his humble beginnings living in a cardboard box in Thompkins Square Park and writing graffiti on the streets of New York to being discovered by Warhol and becoming a star in the art world.
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus
Known for her bizarre and sometimes disturbing photography, Diane Arbus is the subject of Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus, which is set in New York City in 1958. Arbus, played by Nicole Kidman, was working as her husband’s photography assistant, but was frustrated by her mundane life. She then met Lionel Sweeney, a man who moved into her building who suffered from hypertrichosis, a disease causing excessive body hair. Intrigued by his condition, Arbus decided to take photos of him and was introduced to the world of marginalized people like dwarves, giants, circus performers and others who she went on to photograph, making her known as the “photographer of freaks.”
Klimt
Austrian painter Gustav Klimt’s life is the subject of Klimt, an art-house biographical film directed by Raoul Ruiz and starring John Malkovich. The movie tells the story of Klimt’s battle with the government to control his lavish and passionate paintings, and how he became one of the leaders in the Art Nouveau movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movie also explores his relationship with his muse Lea de Castro and with other artists like Egon Schiele.
Paradise Found
Based on the life of post-impressionist Paul Gauguin, Paradise Found documents the later part of the painter’s life. Interestingly, Gauguin was a successful stockbroker who quit his lucrative job to paint full-time. His new passion took him on a journey from Paris to Tahiti where he was compelled to paint the paradise and people that surrounded him. Kiefer Sutherland portrayed Paul Gauguin in this biopic about the celebrated 19th century artist who gave up everything to fulfill his dream.
Frida
Frida stars Salma Hayek and tells the story of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, who was severely injured as a young woman in a bus accident. Her injuries from the accident left her bedridden and to cheer her up, her father provided her with a canvas, which began her life as an artist, painting surreal self-portraits. In addition to her constant bodily struggles, the movie explores Frida’s tumultuous relationship with her husband, another famous painter, Diego Rivera. Although she the injury from the bus accident caused all sorts of health issues for her throughout her life, she channeled her pain and struggles into her paintings, creating a body of work that is instantly recognizable today.
The Agony and the Ecstasy
The Agony and the Ecstasy stars Charlton Heston as Michelangelo, one of the greatest artists to have ever lived, and tells the tale of the creation of one of his most laborious and famous works, the painting of the Sistene Chapel. Commissioned by Pope Julius II, Michelangelo was originally chosen to paint the panels of the chapel’s ceiling, but convinced the Pope that he should paint the entire vault. This ambitious idea led to Michelangelo working non-stop for years to finish the intricate painting of the chapel’s interior. Although Michelangelo suffered from paint poisoning, experienced crippling fatigue from overwork, and at one point, almost lost the project to fellow painter Raphael, he completed the building’s monumental ceiling, resulting in an inspiring piece of work that people from all over the world travel to see to this day.
Ever wonder how some of the world’s most famous artists of all time earned their status? While you could scour the Internet for information or read a 300-page biography, we’d rather a more entertaining approach to finding out more about the lives of our favorite artists. By watching dramatized versions of artists’ lives, you’re able to learn about the hardships they experienced and how their persistence made them household names without having to sit through a boring art history lecture. Take a seat on the couch, watch one or all of the biopics on this list, and maybe even gain some creative inspiration to grab a canvas and some paint in the hope that you’ll be the subject of your own artist biopic one day.