With so many good documentaries about art available, it’s time to update my list. Add them to your queue, watch them online when you can, or find clips on YouTube.
These are too good to miss.
Tops on My List
The PBS series art: 21. A pioneering series on artists making art today. Don’t miss a single episode.
How to Draw a Bunny – The mysterious art, life, death of Ray Johnson. I haven’t seen it in a long while, but it made an impact and is still at the top of my list.
The Woodmans – I watched this in 2011 and had to move it toward the top of the list. The artistic family of ceramist Betty Woodman, the tragic death of her talented daughter, photographer Francesca Woodman, and how their art triumphs. (The rest here are in no particular order.)
My Architect – The life of Louis Kahn, through his son’s eyes.
Glaring omission from the original list (thanks for catching it, John) – #20: Rivers & Tides – Follows “landscape sculptor” Andy Goldsworth as he creates ephemeral works of art using objects found in nature. Terrible website, by the way – not at all reflective of the film.
A documentary on Morris Louis that I saw in his traveling retrospective. But I have no title or resource for it. It’s just terrific and I’d love to see it again.
Painters Painting - An amazing 2-part film featuring key figures in American art from 1940 to 1970.
Helvetica -Yep, a whole film about the typeface. Very fun to hear all of these designers talking about typefaces and visual communication.
Herb & Dorothy - Who hasn’t seen this lovely film about two unlike art collectors?
Valentino: The Last Emperor – I adored this movie about fashion designer Valentino. It’s gorgeous to look at.
Exit Through the Gift Shop – Banksy’s film about street art. Is it a documentary or not? It certainly makes us question how art is made.
Waste Land – More than a film about art, this is about an artist (Vik Muniz) affecting social change through art. The stories are heartwarming, the people are beautiful
Others Worth Watching
Rothko’s Rooms – About Mark Rothko’s Seagram paintings at the Tate Modern and the demand he put on exhibiting his work. Often available for viewing on OvationTV
Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision
Any film about Christo and Jeanne-Claude – All of them show the amazing, unconventional (and laden with red tape!) process that these artists go through to make their vision a reality.
The Rape of Europa - The story of American GI’s whose duty it was to return art stolen by the Nazis.
The Art of the Steal – Definitely a one-sided view of relocation of the Barnes Collection from Merion, PA to Philadelphia.
Sketches of Frank Gehry – The Sydney Pollack documentary about the famed architect.
Matthew Barney: No Restraint – An inside peek at Barney’s work, with his partner and collaborator Björk, aboard a whaling ship. A little too bloody for my taste, if I recall.
Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow – About the personal universe created by German artist Anselm Kiefer on the grounds of his estate in the South of France. Haunting soundtrack!
Add your own art documentary choices in a comment.
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{ 50 comments… read them below or add one }
What an awesome list! There are many here that I have not seen. I’m going to put this on the studio education “plan” for 2012.
Another great idea is to host a “SALON” evening…”Dinner and a Paintbrush”…etc. Invite no more than 8 friends to watch, and host a guided discussion afterwords with some challenging questions around the film. It’s a great way to extend the conversation – stimulating and fun.
Recently, we watched “Coco Before Chanel”. I’d recommend it as well.
The PBS series art:21 is a favourite. So inspiring, and well produced.
Loved Coco, but not a documentary. Of course you probably didn’t intend that.
Pollock, with ed harris
Not a documentary. It will be on my other list.
“A Bigger Picture,” David Hockney. I’ve watched this movie several times and am fascinated by his love of life, and his continued evolution in art.
Oooo. Why haven’t I heard of this? I’m going to add it to my queue right now. I think he’s having a big show right now.
Rivers and Tides (Andy Goldsworthy working with time)
Netflix summary:
This astonishing documentary from Thomas Riedelsheimer shadows renowned sculptor Andy Goldsworthy as he creates works of art with ice, driftwood, leaves, stone, dirt and snow in open fields, beaches, rivers, creeks and forests. With each new creation, he carefully studies the energetic flow and transitory nature of his work. The film won the Golden Gate Award Grand Prize for Best Documentary at the 2003 San Francisco International Film Festival
Dang it all! I’m adding that to the list right now. I can’t believe I overlooked R&T. I own it on DVD!
Whether one is a designer or a fine artist…Milton Glaser is fabulous…! We rented it through Netflix. Thanks for your great list…can’t wait to dig in…
While it’s not about visual artists, “It Might Get Loud” is one of my favorites for how it illustrates the creative process. It’s a documentary on the electric guitar featuring guitarists from three different generations: Jack White from The White Stripes, The Edge from U2, and Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin. There’s great stuff, even in the deleted scenes and the Toronto Film Festival press conference “bonus” footage. When these guys talk about creativity and the creative process, there’s no sense of navel-gazing about it (well, maybe a tiny bit, but it’s clarified in the press conference. What you get instead is a look behind the curtain at how three artists approach their craft.
Great List… I would add The Gleaners & I
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0247380/
for a great review read
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C01E0DA173DF933A0575AC0A9669C8B63
For all you art lovers, art makers and consumers out there….any left?
Definitely going to look up your list on Netflix. These are a few that I’ve seen recently:
“Bill Cunningham New York”- LOVED this; very touching story; 80-yr old photographer- the original “street style” watcher before the blogs; worked for the NY Times Style section
“In the Realms of the Unreal”- animated story bringing to life the work of Henry Darger; very interesting life and work
“Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child”- admittedly I like the film Basquiat better, but this is a good documentary
I would definitely add “Between the Folds” to the list. It profiles contemporary origami masters. Mesmerizing and mind-blowing.
http://www.greenfusefilms.com/
(available on Netflix instant play currently!)
Ooh, forgot one. I saw this awhile back- “The Devil and Daniel Johnston.” Loved this as well, he was a musician, manic depressive, and a visual artist. He’s unknown, yet influenced so many. The “Hi, How Are You” character that Nirvana used was actually his drawing. For anyone that hasn’t seen this, it’s a must.
The PBS Series “Craft in America” is also excellent. New episode due out later this year.
http://www.craftinamerica.org/
This is wonderful- I was looking for this list and now I have more than I can watch
Thanks to all
You have to add “Who the @#$%&* is Jackson Pollock.” Not only do I think it’s excellent and entertaining, but it got a 100% rating on Rottentomatoes.com. Also “Rivers and Tides” by/about Andy Goldsworthy.
Thanks for the list… Looking forward to working my way through them.
Lou
You probably get a lot of him in the States, but Dale Chihuly the glass sculptor is a wonderful novelty for us up in Canada. I have found a few docs on DVD at the library. The vibrant colours almost make me forget the cold outside. For those of you who get CBC (or perhaps they have videos on the website), there are some fascinating docs on Peter von Tiesenhausen, who is the Canadian answer to Christo. Re: “Exit Through the Gift Shop”, I found the first 1/3rd a bit tedious, but well worth it in the end.
Don’t know if this one fits your documentary theme or not, but it is fascinating! An Abraham Lincoln History lesson while sculpting! Can’t you just hear the 9mm film sound in the darkened elementary classroom? 1954.
One that meant a lot to me, as a painter…. “A Life Lived”. Philip Guston talking about his own work, with lots of shots of him painting (and smoking!) On the occasion of a retrospective at the SFMOMA , filmed in the 80′s. Priceless.
Nanci: I love Guston! I’m definitely checking this out.
How about “The Making of the Dinner Party”? Judy Chicago and all It is old though, and I dont know if it is still available.
One of the better things I have ever watched on a plane is the BBC documentary David Hockney: A Bigger Picture http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lk119
I enjoyed “Art and Copy”. Also, “Van Gogh: A Brush With Genius”. Both were on Netflix when I watched them.. not sure if they’re still available there.
Wondering what “Art and Copy” is. I’ll check it out, Jennifer.
About a year and a half ago I saw a documentary called “Jimmie Jones: Red Rock Painter”, on KUED, a PBS station in the Salt Lake City area. He painted more than 1400 paintings in his lifetime, many of them focusing on the landscapes and canyonlands of southern Utah and northern Arizona. What was remarkable was that some of his most brilliant works were done right before he died at the age of 76. Incredible painter, excellent movie.
Who Does She Think She is – http://www.whodoesshethinksheis.net/ As a mum and artist I found this amazing and extremely inspiring.
Elizabeth: Oh, yes. This is a good one! Not great, but good to watch – especially for women and especially for mothers.
p.s. thanks for the list and everyone’s additions especially “In the realms of the unreal” I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy!
Elizabeth: I wasn’t that crazy about “In the Realms of the Unreal,” which is why it’s not on my list. But it’s nice that it has inspired others.
The Chuck Close video is also a good one!
Christine: I’ll bet! I just saw a Close exhibit. I’m guessing there is more than one film on him since he’s ubiquitous.
Christine & Alyson: Have you heard the Radiolab podcast with Chuck Close and Oliver Sacks? A great talk about overcoming difficulties more than working on art, but both are highly amusing and encouraging. http://www.radiolab.org/2011/apr/01/
Rivers and Tides is excellent as is the Art:21 series and many others that people have suggested. Also I loved the Joan Mitchell documentary, Joan Mitchell: Portrait of an Abstract Painter. I’ve watched it several times. Also, Our City Dreams- about women artists in NYC- is pretty good.
Thanks for the Joan Mitchell rec, Julia. After reading her bio, I’d love to see the documentary.
Hi Everyone,
The BBC created an excellent series in 2005 about Art through-out the ages. Its so so coooool. As a lecturer, I often used to show snippets to many of my bachelors and masters students who were studying Art and Design in Australia. Here is a link to the introduction to the first episode of “How art made the world”.
http://youtu.be/_DdRXJiZVdA
The series is broken up into small bite sized chunks (10mins) on Youtube. But you could also buy it online ($25) in a dvd format from – http://www.amazon.com/How-Made-World-Nigel-Spivey/dp/B000FFJYCK
Enjoy,
Simon Brushfield
I enjoyed the documentary on Francis Bacon featuring his work, his studio, and interviews by Melvyn Bragg. It was one of the South Bank Shows back in the ’80s and you can see it now on ubuweb, a great resource for such things: http://ubu.com/film/bacon.html
You know, many of these aren’t available on Netflix. I’m wondering if there is a better source. Is anyone aware?
Thank You all for sharing. Along those lines, I want to recommend checking out iTunes audio and video podcasts for even more education/inspiration sources (free). The audio podcasts are also perfect for killing time while driving.
VIDEO:
Art21 – weekly video podcast content (more content then the DVD’s)
TateShots – video interviews of acclaimed artist – like Art21
Whitney.org – video from the Whitney in NYC
National Gallery of Art – Videos (art history refreshers)
KQED: Spark Art Video Podcast – San Fransisco Artist interviews
KQED: Gallery Crawl – video of SF gallery exhibits
The Art of Photography – dialog and discussion of all things photographic
AUDIO:
National Gallery of Art – Notable Lectures
National Gallery Podcast
MOCA Audio Podcasts
MoMA Talks: Conversations
SFMOMA Artcasts
Norton Simon Museum Podcasts
KCRW’s Art Talk (Los Angeles art happenings)
LensWork – Photography and the creative process
Richard: Yep, Art21 is top on my list.
I need a post on audio. Care to be a guest blogger for me?
I would be happy to be a guest blogger on the audio portion. Though, I am also a huge fan of the video podcasts which is a rich and ever growing resource that may provide artist-relevant inspirational content. Can you fill me in on the process and content you think is most relevant?
Just watched “Waste Land” last night based on your recommendation, Alyson. Great film on so many levels! Very poignant.
I’m glad you liked it, Amy!
Great list and comment thread.
Here are a few of my faves:
John James Audubon: Drawn From Nature
Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight
Marwencol
Rebecca: Thanks for those additions. Very curious as to what Marwencol is. I have no idea.
Ok, can I add one more …
You have to watch ” In a dream” about mosaic artist Isaiah Zagar. Directed by his son. Heck of a personal portrait about a talented and obsessed artist.
Rebecca: I saw this. He’s the Philadelphia artist, right? It wasn’t my favorite doc, but I guess I’m glad I saw it and know about him — especially since his name came up when I was in Philly last fall.
Between the Folds is another must see.
This is about origami and I think was in my queue forever until I finally took it out. You rally liked it, Amy?