The Best Art Movies that are Truly Artistic and Worth a Watch, Even if You Claim You Can’t Draw

Unforunately, most of us don’t have a history of taking art lessons throughtout the years that by adulthood, we’ve adapted to communicating only with the most basic stick figures and smiley faces. Although that sometimes brings us a good laugh during games like pictionary, we can all agree that being able to creatively express yourself with art is a really cool asset to own. No wonder your grandparents have decided to return to school and take up a few drawing lessons themselves. And if you need some artsy inspiration, look no further! These movies are not only about art, but the life of artists as well.

1

Exit Through the Gift Shop

Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Thierry Guetta
Banksy
2010

Banksy is a graffiti artist with a global reputation whose work can be seen on walls from post-hurricane New Orleans to the separation barrier on the Palestinian West Bank. Fiercely guarding his anonymity to avoid prosecution, Banksy has so far resisted all attempts to be captured on film. Exit Through the Gift Shop tells the incredible true story of how an eccentric French shop keeper turned documentary maker attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner.

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8 IMDB
2

Loving Vincent

Douglas Booth, Eleanor Tomlinson, Robert Gulaczyk
Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman
2017

The film brings the paintings of Vincent van Gogh to life to tell his remarkable story. Every one of the 65,000 frames of the film is an oil-painting hand-painted by 125 professional oil-painters who travelled from all across the world to the Loving Vincent studios in Poland and Greece to be a part of the production. As remarkable as Vincent’s brilliant paintings are his passionate and ill-fated life and mysterious death.

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7.8 IMDB
3

Midnight in Paris

Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Kurt Fuller
Woody Allen
2011

A romantic comedy about a family traveling to the French capital for business. The party includes a young engaged couple forced to confront the illusion that a life different from their own is better.

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7.7 IMDB
4

Frida

Salma Hayek, Alfred Molina, Mía Maestro
Julie Taymor
2002

A biography of artist Frida Kahlo, who channeled the pain of a crippling injury and her tempestuous marriage into her work.

7.4 IMDB
5

Séraphine

Yolande Moreau, Ulrich Tukur, Anne Bennent
Martin Provost
2008

The tragic story of French naïve painter Séraphine Louis aka Séraphine de Senlis (1864-1942), a humble servant who becomes a gifted self-taught painter. Discovered by prominent critic and collector William Uhde, she came to prominence between the wars grouped with other naïve painters like Henri Rouseau only to descend into madness and obscurity with the onset of Great Depression and World War II.

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7.4 IMDB
6

Big Eyes

Amy Adams, Christoph Waltz, Danny Huston
Tim Burton
2014

The story of the awakening of painter, Margaret Keane, her phenomenal success in the 1950s, and the subsequent legal difficulties she had with her husband, who claimed credit for her works in the 1960s.

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7 IMDB
7

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Scarlett Johansson, Colin Firth, Tom Wilkinson
Peter Webber
2003

This film, adapted from a work of fiction by author Tracy Chevalier, tells a story about the events surrounding the creation of the painting "Girl With A Pearl Earring" by 17th century Dutch master Johannes Vermeer. A young peasant maid working in the house of painter Johannes Vermeer becomes his talented assistant and the model for one of his most famous works.

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6.9 IMDB
8

The Mill and the Cross

Rutger Hauer, Charlotte Rampling, Michael York
Lech Majewski
2011

What would it be like to step inside a great work of art, have it come alive around you, and even observe the artist as he sketches the very reality you are experiencing? From Lech Majewski, one of Poland's most acclaimed filmmakers, The Mill and the Cross is a cinematic re-staging of Pieter Bruegel's masterpiece "Procession to Calvary," presented alongside the story of its creation.

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6.9 IMDB
9

Mr. Turner

Timothy Spall, Dorothy Atkinson, Marion Bailey
Mike Leigh
2014

Eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner lives his last 25 years with gusto and secretly becomes involved with a seaside landlady, while his faithful housekeeper bears an unrequited love for him.

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6.8 IMDB
10

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus

Nicole Kidman, Robert Downey Jr., Ty Burrell
Steven Shainberg
2006

In 1958 New York Diane Arbus is a housewife and mother who works as an assistant to her husband, a photographer employed by her wealthy parents. Respectable though her life is, she cannot help but feel uncomfortable in her privileged world. One night, a new neighbor catches Diane's eye, and the enigmatic man inspires her to set forth on the path to discovering her own artistry.

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6.5 IMDB
11

Mona Lisa Smile

Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles
Mike Newell
2003

The story of Katherine Ann Watson, a feminist teacher who studied at UCLA graduate school and in 1953 left her boyfriend behind in Los Angeles, California to teach at Wellesley College, a conservative women's private liberal arts college in Massachusetts, United States.

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6.5 IMDB
12

Art School Confidential

Max Minghella, Sophia Myles, John Malkovich
Terry Zwigoff
2006

Starting from childhood attempts at illustration, the protagonist pursues his true obsession to art school. But as he learns how the art world really works, he finds that he must adapt his vision to the reality that confronts him.

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6.3 IMDB
13

The Monuments Men

Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, George Clooney
George Clooney
2014

Based on the true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history, The Monuments Men is an action drama focusing on seven over-the-hill, out-of-shape museum directors, artists, architects, curators, and art historians who went to the front lines of WWII to rescue the world’s artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and return them to their rightful owners. With the art hidden behind enemy lines, how could these guys hope to succeed?

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6.1 IMDB