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The Arts on Film
Behind the canvas with a movie camera: you can almost smell the turpentine in these fascinating portraits of artists at work.
"Writing about music is like dancing about architecture," so it's said. So what about filming about art? Whatever the challenges, filmmakers have never been deterred from exploring other media in film - and for that we should give thanks. These films give us an often unique record of the artist - dancer or architect, painter or sculptor, musician, novelist or poet - at work and at leisure. They present artists speaking lucidly about their work. They preserve performances otherwise lost forever. And, perhaps best of all, they take us inside the creative process, allowing us to witness works of art emerging before our eyes.
CaravaggioCaravaggio
Biopic 1986 93 minsDirector: Derek Jarman
Derek Jarman’s unique biopic of the 17th century Italian artist Michelangelo da Caravaggio is a powerful meditation on sexuality, criminality and art.
Lives of Artists Not Wives of ArtistsLives of Artists Not Wives of Artists
Campaigning film 1984 46 minsDirector: Sue Aron, Monika Morawietz and 1 more
Five women artists, including Paula Rego, contest the "hierarchy of art forms" in the male-dominated art world.
PoemPoem
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1971 1 minsDirector: B.S. Johnson
A poignant short film set to the fourth part of Samuel Beckett's Quatre Poèmes, as narrated by frequent BS Johnson collaborator William Hoyland.
National GalleryNational Gallery
Documentary 2014 181 minsDirector: Frederick Wiseman
The inner workings of London’s National Gallery are laid bare in this absorbing, forensic examination by revered filmmaker Frederick Wiseman.
Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis BaconLove Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon
Biopic 1998 87 minsDirector: John Maybury
Derek Jacobi and Daniel Craig star as artist Francis Bacon and his muse George Dyer in John Maybury’s darkly exquisite biopic.
The Angelic ConversationThe Angelic Conversation
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1985 81 minsDirector: Derek Jarman
The Angelic Conversation sees Derek Jarman conjure an evocative and radical visualisation of Shakespeare’s love poems. With narration by Judi Dench and music by Coil.
Derek Jarman: Life As ArtDerek Jarman: Life As Art
Documentary 2004 60 minsDirector: Andy Kimpton-Nye
Documentary on the life and work of experimental filmmaker, who died in 1994. Contributors including Tilda Swinton recall Jarman's peculiar genius.
Mr. TurnerMr. Turner
Biopic 2014 150 minsDirector: Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh’s Cannes-winning account of the later years of J. M. W. Turner, brilliantly played by Timothy Spall.
GrantchesterGrantchester
Documentary 1958 15 minsDirector: John R.F. Stewart
Rupert Brooke's poem 'The Old Vicarage, Grantchester' is given the pop video treatment.
Mark of the Hand Aubrey WilliamsMark of the Hand Aubrey Williams
Biopic 1987 53 minsSilentDirector: Imruh Caesar
The Guyanese painter returns to his homeland on a “journey to the source of his inspiration”.