50 Best Movies About Artists
by agustbr-09393 | created - 12 Feb 2017 | updated - 12 Feb 2017 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Frida (2002)
R | 123 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A biography of artist Frida Kahlo, who channeled the pain of a crippling injury and her tempestuous marriage into her work.
Director: Julie Taymor | Stars: Salma Hayek, Alfred Molina, Geoffrey Rush, Mía Maestro
Votes: 95,370 | Gross: $25.89M
2. Pollock (2000)
R | 122 min | Biography, Drama
A film about the life and career of the American painter, Jackson Pollock.
Director: Ed Harris | Stars: Ed Harris, Marcia Gay Harden, Robert Knott, Molly Regan
Votes: 29,638 | Gross: $8.60M
3. Basquiat (1996)
R | 107 min | Biography, Drama
The brief life of Jean Michel Basquiat, a world renowned New York street artist struggling with fame, drugs and his identity.
Director: Julian Schnabel | Stars: Jeffrey Wright, Michael Wincott, Benicio Del Toro, Claire Forlani
Votes: 22,095 | Gross: $2.96M
4. Modigliani (2004)
R | 128 min | Biography, Drama
The story of Amedeo Modigliani's bitter rivalry with Pablo Picasso, and his tragic romance with Jeanne Hebuterne.
Director: Mick Davis | Stars: Andy Garcia, Elsa Zylberstein, Omid Djalili, Hippolyte Girardot
Votes: 12,527 | Gross: $0.20M
5. My Left Foot (1989)
R | 103 min | Biography, Drama
Christy Brown, born with cerebral palsy, learns to paint and write with his only controllable limb - his left foot.
Director: Jim Sheridan | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Brenda Fricker, Alison Whelan, Kirsten Sheridan
Votes: 79,818 | Gross: $14.74M
6. Lust for Life (1956)
Approved | 122 min | Biography, Drama
The life of brilliant but tortured artist Vincent van Gogh.
Directors: Vincente Minnelli, George Cukor | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, James Donald, Pamela Brown
Votes: 12,513 | Gross: $3.48M
7. Big Eyes (I) (2014)
PG-13 | 106 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A drama about the awakening of painter Margaret Keane, her phenomenal success in the 1950s, and the subsequent legal difficulties she had with her husband, who claimed credit for her works in the 1960s.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Amy Adams, Christoph Waltz, Danny Huston, Krysten Ritter
Votes: 99,140 | Gross: $14.48M
8. Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003)
PG-13 | 100 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A young peasant maid working in the house of painter Johannes Vermeer becomes his talented assistant and the model for one of his most famous works.
Director: Peter Webber | Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Colin Firth, Tom Wilkinson, Judy Parfitt
Votes: 82,692 | Gross: $11.63M
9. Surviving Picasso (1996)
R | 125 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
The passionate Merchant Ivory drama tells the story of Françoise Gilot (Natascha McElhone), the only lover of Pablo Picasso (Sir Anthony Hopkins) who was strong enough to withstand his ferocious cruelty, and move on with her life.
Director: James Ivory | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Natascha McElhone, Julianne Moore, Joss Ackland
Votes: 7,892 | Gross: $2.00M
10. Goya's Ghosts (2006)
R | 113 min | Biography, Drama, History
Painter Francisco Goya faces a scandal involving his muse, who is labeled a heretic by a monk.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: Javier Bardem, Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgård, Randy Quaid
Votes: 31,960 | Gross: $1.00M
11. Seraphine (2008)
Unrated | 125 min | Biography, Drama
In 1912 German collector Wilhelm Uhde rents a flat in Senlis to write and take a break from Parisian life. He hires a 48-year old cleaning lady, Séraphine. Some time later, he notices a small painting on wood at a local notable home.
Director: Martin Provost | Stars: Yolande Moreau, Ulrich Tukur, Anne Bennent, Geneviève Mnich
Votes: 6,548 | Gross: $0.88M
12. The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965)
Approved | 138 min | Biography, Drama, History
The biographical story of Michelangelo's troubles while painting the Sistine Chapel at the urging of Pope Julius II.
Director: Carol Reed | Stars: Charlton Heston, Rex Harrison, Diane Cilento, Harry Andrews
Votes: 8,057
13. Caravaggio (1986)
93 min | Biography, Drama, History
A retelling of the life of the celebrated 17th-century painter through his brilliant, nearly blasphemous paintings and his flirtations with the underworld.
Director: Derek Jarman | Stars: Noam Almaz, Dexter Fletcher, Nigel Terry, Sean Bean
Votes: 7,023 | Gross: $0.00M
14. Mr. Turner (2014)
R | 150 min | Biography, Drama, History
An exploration of the last quarter century of the great, if eccentric, British painter J.M.W. Turner's life.
Director: Mike Leigh | Stars: Timothy Spall, Paul Jesson, Dorothy Atkinson, Marion Bailey
Votes: 27,186 | Gross: $3.96M
15. Klimt (2006)
Not Rated | 131 min | Biography, Drama
A portrait of Austrian artist Gustav Klimt, whose lavish, sexual paintings came to symbolize the art nouveau style of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.
Director: Raúl Ruiz | Stars: John Malkovich, Veronica Ferres, Stephen Dillane, Saffron Burrows
Votes: 3,260
16. The Mill and the Cross (2011)
Not Rated | 92 min | Drama, History
This movie focuses on a dozen of the five hundred characters depicted in Bruegel's painting. The theme of Christ's suffering is set against religious persecution in Flanders in 1564.
Director: Lech Majewski | Stars: Rutger Hauer, Michael York, Charlotte Rampling, Joanna Litwin
Votes: 4,430 | Gross: $0.31M
17. Vincent & Theo (1990)
PG-13 | 138 min | Biography, Drama
The familiar tragic story of Vincent van Gogh is broadened by focusing as well on his brother Theodore, who helped support Vincent. The movie also provides a nice view of the locations which Vincent painted.
Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Tim Roth, Paul Rhys, Adrian Brine, Jean-François Perrier
Votes: 4,207 | Gross: $2.23M
18. Factory Girl (2006)
R | 90 min | Biography, Drama
Based on the rise and fall of socialite Edie Sedgwick, concentrating on her relationships with Andy Warhol and a folk singer.
Director: George Hickenlooper | Stars: Sienna Miller, Guy Pearce, Hayden Christensen, Jimmy Fallon
Votes: 22,337 | Gross: $1.66M
19. Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998)
Unrated | 87 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
Biography of British painter Francis Bacon focuses on his relationship with his lover, George Dyer, a former small time crook.
Director: John Maybury | Stars: Derek Jacobi, Daniel Craig, Tilda Swinton, Anne Lambton
Votes: 3,997 | Gross: $0.34M
20. Nightwatching (2007)
R | 134 min | Biography, Drama, History
An extravagant, exotic and moving look at Rembrandt's romantic and professional life, and the controversy he created by the identification of a murderer in the painting 'The Night Watch'.
Director: Peter Greenaway | Stars: Martin Freeman, Emily Holmes, Eva Birthistle, Jodhi May
Votes: 3,452
21. Renoir (2012)
R | 111 min | Biography, Drama, History
Set on the French Riviera in the summer of 1915, Jean Renoir -- son of the Impressionist painter, Pierre-Auguste -- returns home to convalesce after being wounded in World War I. At his ... See full summary »
Director: Gilles Bourdos | Stars: Michel Bouquet, Christa Théret, Vincent Rottiers, Thomas Doret
Votes: 5,994 | Gross: $2.29M
22. The Best Offer (2013)
R | 131 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Virgil Oldman, a wealthy art auctioneer, takes the help of a young artificer, Robert, to understand and woo Claire Ibbetson, a young heiress, who hires him to auction off an antique collection.
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore | Stars: Geoffrey Rush, Jim Sturgess, Sylvia Hoeks, Donald Sutherland
Votes: 128,653 | Gross: $0.09M
23. Van Gogh (1991)
R | 158 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The final sixty-seven days of Van Gogh's life are examined.
Director: Maurice Pialat | Stars: Jacques Dutronc, Alexandra London, Bernard Le Coq, Gérard Séty
Votes: 3,310 | Gross: $0.14M
24. Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)
R | 87 min | Documentary, Comedy, Crime
Following the style of some of the world's most prolific street artists, an amateur filmmaker makes a foray into the art world.
Director: Banksy | Stars: Banksy, Mr. Brainwash, Space Invader, Debora Guetta
Votes: 68,836 | Gross: $3.29M
25. Egon Schiele: Death and the Maiden (2016)
110 min | Biography, Drama, History
Vienna, early 20th century: the young Egon Schiele is one of the most discussed artists of his time with his original, erotically charged works.
Director: Dieter Berner | Stars: Noah Saavedra, Maresi Riegner, Valerie Pachner, Marie Jung
Votes: 1,532
26. Cutie and the Boxer (2013)
R | 82 min | Documentary, Biography
This candid New York love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko. Anxious to shed her role as her overbearing husband's assistant, Noriko finds an identity of her own.
Director: Zach Heinzerling | Stars: Ushio Shinohara, Noriko Shinohara, Alex Shinohara, Ethan Cohen
Votes: 4,738 | Gross: $0.20M
27. Carrington (1995)
R | 121 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
The platonic relationship between artist Dora Carrington (Dame Emma Thompson) and writer Lytton Strachey (Jonathan Pryce) in the early twentieth century.
Director: Christopher Hampton | Stars: Emma Thompson, Jonathan Pryce, Steven Waddington, Samuel West
Votes: 5,779 | Gross: $3.24M
28. Art School Confidential (2006)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Starting from childhood attempts at illustration, the protagonist pursues his true obsession to art school. But as he learns how the art world really works, he finds that he must adapt his vision to the reality that confronts him.
Director: Terry Zwigoff | Stars: Max Minghella, Sophia Myles, John Malkovich, Jim Broadbent
Votes: 17,719 | Gross: $3.30M
29. Edvard Munch (1974 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 210 min | Biography, Drama, History
This biopic of Norwegian Expressionist painter Edvard Munch focuses on the influences that shaped his art, his devastating affair with a married woman that will haunt him for the rest of his life
Director: Peter Watkins | Stars: Geir Westby, Gro Fraas, Kerstii Allum, Eric Allum
Votes: 3,381 | Gross: $0.04M
30. Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present (2012)
Not Rated | 106 min | Documentary, Biography, History
A documentary that follows the Serbian performance artist as she prepares for a retrospective of her work at The Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Directors: Matthew Akers, Jeff Dupre | Stars: Marina Abramovic, Ulay, Klaus Biesenbach, David Balliano
Votes: 6,475 | Gross: $0.09M
31. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (2012)
R | 91 min | Documentary
A documentary that chronicles artist and activist Ai Weiwei as he prepares for a series of exhibitions and gets into an increasing number of clashes with the Chinese government.
Director: Alison Klayman | Stars: Ai Weiwei, Dan Ai, Lao Ai, Lee Ambrozy
Votes: 4,527 | Gross: $0.53M
32. Tim's Vermeer (2013)
PG-13 | 80 min | Documentary, History
Inventor Tim Jenison seeks to understand the painting techniques used by Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer.
Director: Teller | Stars: Tim Jenison, Penn Jillette, Martin Mull, Philip Steadman
Votes: 8,557 | Gross: $1.66M
33. Incognito (1997)
R | 108 min | Crime, Romance, Thriller
Harry Donovan is an art forger who paints a fake Rembrandt picture for $500,000. Marieke, the woman he meets in Paris and gets into bed with, turns out to be the art expert whom Harry's ... See full summary »
Director: John Badham | Stars: Jason Patric, Irène Jacob, Thomas Lockyer, Ian Richardson
Votes: 4,083
34. The Draughtsman's Contract (1982)
R | 108 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
A young artist is commissioned by the wife of a wealthy landowner to make a series of drawings of the estate while her husband is away.
Director: Peter Greenaway | Stars: Anthony Higgins, Janet Suzman, Anne-Louise Lambert, Hugh Fraser
Votes: 11,096
35. Little Ashes (2008)
R | 112 min | Biography, Drama, History
About the young life and loves of artist Salvador Dalí, filmmaker Luis Buñuel and writer Federico García Lorca.
Director: Paul Morrison | Stars: Robert Pattinson, Javier Beltrán, Matthew McNulty, Marina Gatell
Votes: 9,626 | Gross: $0.48M
36. La Belle Noiseuse (1991)
Unrated | 238 min | Drama
The former famous painter Frenhofer revisits an abandoned project using the girlfriend of a young visiting artist. Questions about truth, life, and artistic limits are explored.
Director: Jacques Rivette | Stars: Michel Piccoli, Jane Birkin, Emmanuelle Béart, Marianne Denicourt
Votes: 9,376 | Gross: $0.41M
37. Artemisia (1997)
R | 98 min | Biography, Drama, History
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653) was one of the first well-known female painters. The movie tells the story of her youth, when she was guided and protected by her father, the painter ... See full summary »
Director: Agnès Merlet | Stars: Valentina Cervi, Michel Serrault, Predrag 'Miki' Manojlovic, Luca Zingaretti
Votes: 2,206 | Gross: $0.38M
38. Carrington (1995)
R | 121 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
The platonic relationship between artist Dora Carrington (Dame Emma Thompson) and writer Lytton Strachey (Jonathan Pryce) in the early twentieth century.
Director: Christopher Hampton | Stars: Emma Thompson, Jonathan Pryce, Steven Waddington, Samuel West
Votes: 5,779 | Gross: $3.24M
39. Goya - oder Der arge Weg der Erkenntnis (1971)
136 min | Drama
As a painter in the court of King Carlos IV, Goya - played by the great Lithuanian actor Donatas Banionis (The Red Tent, Solaris) - has attained wealth and reputation. He believes in King ... See full summary »
Director: Konrad Wolf | Stars: Donatas Banionis, Olivera Katarina, Fred Düren, Tatyana Lolova
Votes: 383
40. Bride of the Wind (2001)
R | 99 min | Biography, Drama, Music
This movie is a biopic of Alma Mahler, the wife of composer Gustav Mahler (as well as Walter Gropius and Franz Werfel), and the mistress of Oskar Kokoschka.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Sarah Wynter, Vincent Perez, Jonathan Pryce, Simon Verhoeven
Votes: 706 | Gross: $0.42M
41. Andrei Rublev (1966)
R | 189 min | Biography, Drama, History
The life, times and afflictions of the fifteenth-century Russian iconographer St. Andrei Rublev.
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky | Stars: Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Ivan Lapikov, Nikolay Grinko, Nikolay Sergeev
Votes: 57,081 | Gross: $0.10M
42. For No Good Reason (2012)
R | 89 min | Documentary, Biography, History
Johnny Depp pays a visit to Ralph Steadman, the renown artist and the last of the original Gonzo visionaries who worked alongside Hunter S. Thompson.
Director: Charlie Paul | Stars: Ralph Steadman, Johnny Depp, Hunter S. Thompson, Terry Gilliam
Votes: 1,588 | Gross: $0.07M
43. Banksy Does New York (2014)
Not Rated | 79 min | Documentary
Documentary chronicling the famed street artist's "31 works of art in 31 days" in New York city.
Director: Chris Moukarbel | Stars: Beth Stebner, Keegan Hamilton, Jaime Rojo, Steven P. Harrington
Votes: 2,314
44. Boogie Woogie (2009)
R | 94 min | Comedy, Drama
A comedy of manners set against the backdrop of contemporary London and the international art scene.
Director: Duncan Ward | Stars: Gillian Anderson, Alan Cumming, Heather Graham, Danny Huston
Votes: 4,186 | Gross: $0.00M
45. Goya in Bordeaux (1999)
R | 100 min | Biography, Drama, War
Francisco Goya (1746-1828), deaf and ill, lives the last years of his life in voluntary exile in Bordeaux, a Liberal protesting the oppressive rule of Ferdinand VII. He's living with his ... See full summary »
Director: Carlos Saura | Stars: Francisco Rabal, Jose Coronado, Dafne Fernández, Eulàlia Ramon
Votes: 2,308 | Gross: $0.72M
46. A Sunday in the Country (1984)
G | 90 min | Drama
An elderly painter whose son visits with his family on the weekends, is also surprised by a visit from his still-single daughter.
Director: Bertrand Tavernier | Stars: Louis Ducreux, Michel Aumont, Sabine Azéma, Geneviève Mnich
Votes: 3,130 | Gross: $2.41M
47. All the Vermeers in New York (1990)
87 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Anna, a French actress, is approached by financial broker Mark in the Vermeer room of a New York gallery. However, romance does not ensue.
Director: Jon Jost | Stars: Emmanuelle Chaulet, Stephen Lack, Katie Garner, Grace Phillips
Votes: 1,066 | Gross: $0.14M
48. Museum Hours (2012)
Not Rated | 107 min | Drama
When a Vienna museum guard befriends an enigmatic visitor, the grand Kunsthistorisches Art Museum becomes a mysterious crossroads that sparks explorations of their lives, the city, and the ways in which works of art reflect and shape the world.
Director: Jem Cohen | Stars: Mary Margaret O'Hara, Bobby Sommer, Ela Piplits, Marcus O'Hara
Votes: 2,282 | Gross: $0.08M
49. The Forger (2012)
PG-13 | 94 min | Drama, Family, Mystery
A teenager wanders into Carmel, California, where he is soon introduced to the art-forgery community.
Director: Lawrence Roeck | Stars: Lauren Bacall, Josh Hutcherson, Alfred Molina, Billy Boyd
Votes: 4,853
50. Dialogue avec mon jardinier (2007)
109 min | Comedy, Drama
A successful artist, weary of Parisian life and on the verge of divorce, returns to the country to live in his childhood house. He needs someone to make a real vegetable garden again out of... See full summary »
Director: Jean Becker | Stars: Daniel Auteuil, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Fanny Cottençon, Alexia Barlier
Votes: 3,768
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