“MADNESS! SEX! FAILURE! DEATH! Painters & Painting Through the Lens of Popular Culture”
from 18 OCT 2013 to 20 OCT 2013
Classic films selected by artist Mel Bochner and filmmaker Lizbeth Marano.The myth of the artist’s life dies hard. In the popular imagination it has always been a fantasy of ‘sex, madness, failure, and death’. Obviously this heady cocktail fulfils a psychological thirst of the culture at large. (Artists suffer for our sins!) Hollywood has done much to perpetuate this myth, in films like the four presented in this program (although, of course, one of them is a French production, based on what is perhaps one of the earliest examples of the literary genre, Balzac’s The Unknown Masterpiece).(Mel Bochner and Lizbeth Marano)
Free Entrance. Tickets available at the Museum Reception.
18 oct, 21:30The Agony and The Ecstasy (1965), Charlton Heston, Director - Carol Reed, 138’The Agony and The Ecstasy is the story of Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel. Based on the best-selling novel by Irving Stone and directed by Carol Reed, starring Charlton Heston as the artist, and Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II, it bears little resemblance to the actual story of the work, or to the artist, who was short, stocky, and gay. Heston rants and raves and plays the part as if it were an extension of his Moses in The Ten Commandments. (Mel Bochner and Lizbeth Marano)
19 oct, 16:00The Horses Mouth (1958), Alec Guinness, Director - Ronald Neame, 95’The Horses Mouth stars Alec Guinness, who also wrote the screenplay, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Cary. It is a rollicking tale of a bohemian artist, Gulley Jimson, who has outlived his moment. He is rowdy and bawdy and doesn’t abide by any of society’s niceties. But he is truly dedicated to his painting and will let nothing get in the way of his vision. The paintings seen in the film (and which are pretty damn good) were painted by the noted British ‘kitchen sink school’ artist, John Bratby. Best line: When a young admirer tells him that he too wants to be a painter, Jimson says, ‘don’t worry it’s like the flu, you’ll get over it.’(Mel Bochner and Lizbeth Marano)
19 oct, 18:30Lust For Life (1956), Kirk Douglas, Director - Vicente Minnelli, 122’Lust For Life, based on another best-seller by Irving Stone, stars Kirk Douglas as Van Gogh, and Anthony Quinn as Gauguin. It was directed by Vicente Minnelli, who filmed on location and left nothing to the imagination in the reconstruction of the paintings, the ‘Potato Eaters’ being a prime example. (Douglas bears an uncanny resemblance to Van Gogh, and Quinn looks like he just stepped out of a Gauguin self-portrait.) Of course, as is true of all these movies, the drama and melodrama, goes way over the top. Best line: Gauguin attacks Van Gogh saying, ‘you paint too fast.’ To which Van Gogh shouts in reply, ‘you look too fast!’(Mel Bochner and Lizbeth Marano)
20 oct, 16:00La belle noiseuse (1991), Michel Piccoli, Director - Jacques Rivette, 238'La belle noiseuse is very loosely based on the Balzac novel. It’s directed by Jacques Rivette, and stars Michel Piccoli as the rich, but tormented painter, and Emmanuelle Béart as the model who inspires him to paint again. There are interminable scenes of paintings being painted (by the French artist Bernard Dufour). However, by the end, no masterpiece, known or unknown has been produced, but Piccoli has ‘suffered’ an excruciating amount of vintage French angst.(Mel Bochner and Lizbeth Marano)
Free Entrance. Tickets available at the Museum Reception.
18 oct, 21:30The Agony and The Ecstasy (1965), Charlton Heston, Director - Carol Reed, 138’The Agony and The Ecstasy is the story of Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel. Based on the best-selling novel by Irving Stone and directed by Carol Reed, starring Charlton Heston as the artist, and Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II, it bears little resemblance to the actual story of the work, or to the artist, who was short, stocky, and gay. Heston rants and raves and plays the part as if it were an extension of his Moses in The Ten Commandments. (Mel Bochner and Lizbeth Marano)
19 oct, 16:00The Horses Mouth (1958), Alec Guinness, Director - Ronald Neame, 95’The Horses Mouth stars Alec Guinness, who also wrote the screenplay, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Cary. It is a rollicking tale of a bohemian artist, Gulley Jimson, who has outlived his moment. He is rowdy and bawdy and doesn’t abide by any of society’s niceties. But he is truly dedicated to his painting and will let nothing get in the way of his vision. The paintings seen in the film (and which are pretty damn good) were painted by the noted British ‘kitchen sink school’ artist, John Bratby. Best line: When a young admirer tells him that he too wants to be a painter, Jimson says, ‘don’t worry it’s like the flu, you’ll get over it.’(Mel Bochner and Lizbeth Marano)
19 oct, 18:30Lust For Life (1956), Kirk Douglas, Director - Vicente Minnelli, 122’Lust For Life, based on another best-seller by Irving Stone, stars Kirk Douglas as Van Gogh, and Anthony Quinn as Gauguin. It was directed by Vicente Minnelli, who filmed on location and left nothing to the imagination in the reconstruction of the paintings, the ‘Potato Eaters’ being a prime example. (Douglas bears an uncanny resemblance to Van Gogh, and Quinn looks like he just stepped out of a Gauguin self-portrait.) Of course, as is true of all these movies, the drama and melodrama, goes way over the top. Best line: Gauguin attacks Van Gogh saying, ‘you paint too fast.’ To which Van Gogh shouts in reply, ‘you look too fast!’(Mel Bochner and Lizbeth Marano)
20 oct, 16:00La belle noiseuse (1991), Michel Piccoli, Director - Jacques Rivette, 238'La belle noiseuse is very loosely based on the Balzac novel. It’s directed by Jacques Rivette, and stars Michel Piccoli as the rich, but tormented painter, and Emmanuelle Béart as the model who inspires him to paint again. There are interminable scenes of paintings being painted (by the French artist Bernard Dufour). However, by the end, no masterpiece, known or unknown has been produced, but Piccoli has ‘suffered’ an excruciating amount of vintage French angst.(Mel Bochner and Lizbeth Marano)
