I enjoy reading about art, watching movies about art, and consuming anything that has to with art. I’m fascinated with museums and galleries, and love to immerse myself with materials about art, the art process, and artists. I feel that I can learn a lot from other artists and their processes, and am so inspired by them!
So here are three recommendations from recent movies I watched, I hope you enjoy them, too!
The Documentary – The Secret Life of Lance Letscher
This documentary is a beautiful piece of art about the life of this amazing American collage artists, Lance Letscher. Letscher is well-known for his colorful collages, rich in tiny details that he so meticulously cuts out by hand from vintage books and magazines. This is the story of his personal and professional life, and it digs in deep, giving the viewer a glimpse into his sub-conscious, his background, inspiration, and story. Throughout the story his collage work is presented, and it’s so detailed, colorful and interesting, while Letscher’s personality is really captivating in his vulnerability and honesty. I loved it, and I’m sure you will too. It’s free for Amazon Prime members, and you can watch the trailer here.
The One From Hollywood – Big Eyes
This movie from 2014 is based on the real story of Margaret Keane. In the sixties, Keane painted numerous paintings of sad, big eyed kids, and the movie is about her incredible life story, which I cannot write about, as it will spoil the movie. Just watch it! I have to say the movie itself is not a masterpiece, but an important one because of the story itself. Keane is a living artist, and her art is displayed in her own gallery in San Francisco, to this day!
And A Recent One – Maudie
Well, relatively recent, compared to the above two! This is a small, sad, but sweet film, with great acting. It is the story of Maud Lewis, a Canadian artist who died in 1970. Lewis was a woman with disabilities who found work as a cleaner in a local fish monger’s house, in the very small town where she lived. She would sit in his tiny house, looking out the window, and painting whatever she saw. She painted on every single piece of wood she could get her hands on, and when she was done with wood, she painted all the walls, stairs, windows and doors, and went on to paint the stove and everything else around the house! Painting made her happy, and her naive, outsider art did make it into people’s hearts, and she was able to get recognition during her lifetime. After her death, the couple’s whole house was moved into a museum. You can watch its reconstruction here. The two lead actors, Ethan Hawke and Sally Hawkins, do an amazing job!
I’d love to hear if you watched any of these three movies! Did you enjoy them?
