The Greatest Painters of the World: Salvador Dalí

Michael Palin's Quest for Artemisia

December 2015 •English

Michael Palin discovers the story of 17th-century Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi. He unearths not only her paintings, but a complex and difficult life.

Lucian Freud: Portraits

June 2004 •English

Filmmaker Jake Auerbach decides to offer a description of his friend Lucian Freud that's more truthful than the common media image by asking a number of people who have sat for Freud's portraits to share their experiences with the camera. They include several of Freud's friends and daughters, and the film becomes a depiction not only of his art, but also his private persona. Lucian Freud does not appear, with the exception of a brief shot at the end of the film.

Thoughts and Visions of a Severed Head

January 1991 •French

The theme of death is heavily interwoven in Smolder’s surreal salute to Belgian painter Antoine Wiertz, a Hieronymus Bosch-type artist whose work centered on humans in various stages in torment, as depicted in expansive canvases with gore galore. Smolders has basically taken a standard documentary and chopped it up, using quotes from the long-dead artist, and periodic statements by a historian (Smolders) filling in a few bits of Wiertz’ life.

Looking for Modern Art: Rethinking Art History

November 2018 •German

Many twentieth century European artists, such as Paul Gauguin or Pablo Picasso, were influenced by art brought to Europe from African and Asian colonies. How to frame these Modernist works today when the idea of the primitive in art is problematic?

Folon

January 2021 •French

Bosch: The Garden of Dreams

June 2016 •Spanish

2016 marks the 500th anniversary of the death of Hieronymus Bosch. It is almost the only information about the artist of The Garden of Earthly Delights that we can put a precise date to. Bosch, the garden of dreams is a film about his most important painting and one of the most iconic paintings in the world: The Garden of Earthly Delights.

Una vuelta a Mallorca en camello

January 2013 •English

The real story about the camel ride around Mallorca, that journalist Miguel Vidal and painter Gustavo Peñalver did in 1964. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. This is one of them.

Sketches (1990-2003)

January 2003 •Spanish

Apuntes is a sort of prologue to ‘The Quince Tree Sun’. With images shot by Erice in the Summer of 1990, as he was preparing such film, observing how the painter Antonio López worked. Erice wrote and selected the texts which illustrate them. Apuntes is split in 6 parts to show López’s 6 projects.

De Toorts

Invalid date •Dutch

Documentary about the Dutch painter Caspar van Wittel.

24 Hour Sunset

September 2023 •English

This film portrait of a new kind is a deep dive into the heart of the art scene of Los Angeles. From a ride on Sunset Boulevard in a convertible car at the sunrise, going through a lunch with the art dealer Patrick Painter and a visit to Peter Shire's studio... Having a beer and a deep talk with Paul McCarthy, calling Raymond Pettibon stuck in New-York or searching for Ed Ruscha in bars.... From Ariana Papademetropoulos opening exhibition to the visit of a car wreck with Umar Raschid... From the old house of Cary Grant to the dodgy underground of Downtown passing through Eugenio Lopez's private art collection on the Hollywood hills... Through intimate conversation, 24 Hour Sunset gives us access to the thoughts, inspirations and practice of legendary artists, world famous art dealers, appraised curators and collectors, as well as the young up coming scene of artists living in Los Angeles.

Drew Friedman: Vermeer of the Borscht Belt

April 2024 •English

For years, artist Drew Friedman has chronicled a strange, alternate universe populated by forgotten Hollywood stars, old Jewish comedians and liver-spotted elevator operators. Drew Friedman: Vermeer of the Borscht Belt is an in-depth documentary tracing artist Friedman's evolution from underground comics to the cover of The New Yorker. The film, directed by Kevin Dougherty, features interviews with Friedman's friends and colleagues, including Gilbert Gottfried, Patton Oswalt, Richard Kind, Mike Judge, Merrill Markoe and many others.

Woodland Spirits

January 2007 •English

In this documentary short, two men paddle a canoe across a remote part of northern Lake Superior. Each stroke brings them closer to the culmination of an artistic and spiritual journey, one that begins with ancient rock paintings from their Anishinaabe ancestors.

Gauguin a Tahiti - Il Paradiso Perduto

March 2019 •Italian

Waiting for Hockney

January 2008 •English

A young working class Baltimore man spends 10 years on a single portrait, believing it is his means to fame and fortune. But he also believes that only one man can lead him there---the famous artist David Hockney. What happens when you finally meet the god of your own making?

The Greatest Painters of the World: Van Gogh

December 2016 •French

Artemisia Gentileschi, Warrior Painter

September 2020 •Italian

An account of the life of the Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653), the first female artist to get international acclaim, recognized as a modern icon, due to her personality and her unyielding defense of her professional integrity.

Fragonard: Lessons in Love

October 2015 •French

China's Van Goghs

December 2016 •Chinese

An intimate portrait of a peasant-turned oil painter transitioning from making copies of iconic Western paintings to creating his own authentic works of art.

The Voyages of Matisse, Chasing Light

May 2020 •French

On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Matisse's birth and of the exhibition at the Center Pompidou which will be dedicated to him in 2020, this art documentary brings us back to life of the journeys made by Matisse that influenced his art. And particularly his last trip to Polynesia in 1930 which will bring him to the threshold of contemporary art with the invention of his gouache cut-out papers.

Clive Barker: The Man Behind the Myth

February 2009 •English

Short interview with Clive Barker about Midnight Meat Train, his artistic process, and his paintings. Includes a tour of his painting studio.