Author: Christopher FraylingEver since the dawn of the sound era, Hollywood has made a series of elaborate feature films about the lives of the great visual artists. These films have represented the lives of artists in ways that ‘chime’ with public expectations and public attitudes, telling us a great deal about how art and artists have entered the cultural bloodstream of modern Western societies. This generously illustrated volume explores the historic interplay between film, filmmakers, art and artists.Artists depicted include (among many others) Charles Laughton as Rembrandt; George Sanders as Gauguin; José Ferrer as Toulouse-Lautrec; Kirk Douglas as Van Gogh; Charlton Heston as Michelangelo, Wright as Jean-Michel Basquiat; Derek Jacobi as Francis Bacon; Ed Harris as Jackson Pollock; Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo (at last a female artist!); and many others, pitched at more niche audiences. These films have represented the lives of artists in ways that ‘chime’ with public expectations and public attitudes – with stories that take audiences on a journey from garret to gallery to glamour to gutter to grave. So, although they are often dismissed out of hand by art historians and curators, the films can tell us a great deal about how art and artists have entered the cultural bloodstream of modern Western societies. What can they reveal about the changing public image of the visual artist? What assumptions did Hollywood screenwriters and filmmakers make about awareness of the history of art in society at large? And what assumptions did they reflect/promote about the artists’ private lives–as well as their gender and ethnicity? What was thebackground to the making of these films? And what impact have they had on the real art world – its exhibitions, auctions, collections, and artists?There has never before been a full-length book devoted to the fascinating story of THE HOLLYWOOD HISTORY OF ART, in all its glory. This generously illustrated volume will fill this surprising gap. It is based on many years of archive research, as well as on interviews with participants and the author’s long experience of teaching art history. It will appeal to museum and gallery-goers, readers interested in the history of art and of film, film buffs, collectors, viewers of TV miniseries and films about artists–and of course those with fond memories of José Ferrer wandering the streets of Montmartre on his knees, Kirk Douglas gritting his teeth and being attacked by crows, Charlton Heston swallowing a mouthful of paint as he frescoes the ceiling of a 70mm Sistine Chapel, Ed Harris in a T-shirt dripping brushfuls of paint onto a huge canvas and Salma Hayek being transported at speed in a four-poster bed to a contemporary art gallery in Mexico City...CHRISTOPHER FRAYLING is an award-winning broadcaster and writer. He was Rector of London’s Royal College of Art (RCA) from 1996 to 2009, a professor of Cultural History at RCA for over 30 years and is a Professor Emeritus. He was Chairman of the Arts Council of England and is the longest serving trustee of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He was knighted in the year 2000 for ‘services to art and design education’.ISBN 9780956648785. Reel Art Press. hb. 368 pages. 300 colour ills. 30.4 x 24.5 cm.available
