March Schedule for "Art Goes To The Movies"

image above from "Chihwaseon (Painted Fire)", 2002

Art Goes To the Movies, Part II

A class taught by film critic Robert Denerstein and artist Sandra Kaplan at the Art Students League of Denver, 200 Grant Street, Denver, on Thursday nights from 6:30 to 9:30.

Part 1 of "Art Goes To the Movies" focused on the artistic process as captured in a series of fascinating documentaries. Part II switches to the lives of artists as interpreted by a variety of directors.

1. March 3. Chihwaseon (Painted Fire). (2002). Korean master Im Kwon-Taek examines the life of 19^th century artist Jang Seung-up. Im’s stirring and evocative drama takes place against a backdrop of political turmoil, but it’s Im’s cinematic artistry and Jang’s vivid paintings that make for a potent exploration of the ways in which artists learn to speak with original voices.

2. March 10. Camille Claudel (1988). French director Bruno Nuytten chronicles the life of 19^th Century sculptor Camille Claudel (Isabelle Adjani), a woman who worked in the shadow of Auguste Rodin (Gerard Depardieu), the famed sculptor who initially took Claudel on as a student. Building his movie around the stormy relationship between Claudel and Rodin, Nuytten takes a fascinating look at the passion and obsession that can drive an artist to greatness or possibly to madness.

3. March 17. Basquiat (1996). Artist Julian Schnabel began what has been a remarkable second career as a film director with this look at the rise of young Jean Michel Basquiat, a painter who began his career as a New York street artist and became an art star of the 1980s. The movie features an extraordinary performance by Jeffrey Wright as Basquait. Schnabel – no stranger to fame – examines the intoxicating (and perhaps fatal) mix of art and celebrity.

4. March 24. Serpahine. (2008) The amazing story of a maid who was recognized as a profoundly gifted artist. Director Martin Provost obtains a brilliant performance from Yolande Moreau as Seraphine de Senlis, an artist whose work was discovered by art critic Willhelm Uhde (Ulrich Tucker). Provost illuminates much about the impact of recognition on a woman who may not have regarded herself as an artist in any conventional sense.

5. March 31. Mystery of Picasso. Make-up class.