Top 10 Movies About Great Artists


Art is a great way of expressing your feelings. The film industry has chosen some world-famous artists to make a few movies and show their vision and life.


Usually, movies about painters are sad, heartbreaking but have a triumphant ending. Beautiful and true as they are, they might not contain every aspect of their lives. But if you are bored and want some inspiration, you should certainly check the top 10 movies based on famous artists.


Top 10 Movies About Great Artists

Why Artists?

An artist's life is not an easy one. They think differently than the whole world. This thinking gets criticized by the society because it is against the conventional practices. Apart from defying of the general public and own parents, becoming famous is another struggle they face.


The way directors show their life is honestly quite moving and encouraging even for people who are not artists. This background helps in making the best films about artists. Moreover, painters contribute their whole life to art (which is not an easy task to do), and sometimes even leave their family to follow their passion.

Here are some other points why directors choose to make movies about artists:

  1. Showing true stories;

  2. Evoking different thought process;

  3. Offering inspiring and motivating plot;

  4. Providing engaging storyline.


Top 10 Movies About Great Artists

Top 10 Best Films About Artists

If you want to view a single artist film, it could be a difficult task. There are lots of variety and choices. Most of the movies are the biography of famous painters. Now, it is time to list the best movies!

1. La Belle Noiseuse

With a high IMDb rating of 7.8, this movie is undoubtedly a must watch. It belongs to the list of best movies about famous painters.


The movie takes you through a tumultuous journey of budding passion towards art and love. The main character Frenhofer (played by Michel Piccolo) takes his brush after a term of denial to make a painting based on his wife called the beautiful nuisance. But it was completed when he met a young artist's girlfriend. When it came out in 1991, it won a ton of awards.

2. The Best Offer

The next in the list is another award-winning movie called The Best Offer. It portrays the life of a lonely and rich artist called Virgil Oldman whose life changes completely when he gets a phone call from a woman called Claire. A perfect combination of drama, mystery, love, and art.

3. Lust for Life

As interesting as the name sounds, the movie is based on the famous and tortured painter "Vincent Van Gogh." His unending talent has made him famous.


The interesting part of the movie is the struggles he had and how he defied them to become one of the most famous artists. If you are also struggling with homework and want to concentrate on art, you can pay to do assignment. He was also tortured by mental illness, failures and unsuccessful relationships.


Top 10 Movies About Great Artists

4. Frida

A biography of a popular and valiant painter "Frida Kahlo." It is a perfect portrayal of her life which consisted of mostly art and numerous sensual relationships. She had forward thinking which was opposed by the society of the 90s. Beautifully played by Salma Hayek, this movie swept all awards along with Oscar Nomination.


Top 10 Movies About Great Artists

5. The Agony and the Ecstacy

The name is a perfect match for the famous artist Michelangelo. He was lured into painting the ceiling of Sistine Chapel. Although it is an honor for any painter, the movie showed the troubles too.


As the Pope urges him to finish faster, he faces some serious difficulties while working on the frescoes. It made through few noted awards and nominations and grabbed a rating of 7.2 out of 10 in IMDb.

6. My Mother's Smile

The movie is filled with humor, melodrama, and mysticism. It might seem as absurd or unethical from a religious point of view. But if you think of it as a painter, you will understand the pain behind the smile.


A famous artist called Ernesto faces a huge turn down in his life when he gets to know that his mother (whom he hated tremendously) is a candidate for canonisation. How he deals with this news and how his art affected is definitely something to watch.

7. Séraphine

Acted by Yolande Moreau, this movie had a clear depiction of what a painter has to go through at the beginning. Also, it was the time when Modern art was not considered as art. She was doing odd jobs until her works were found by Wilhelm Uhde (an Art Enthusiast). Cinematic and well directed, this movie shows the hardships and success of a modern art painter.

8. Pollock

This is an Oscar-winning movie based on an American painter "Jackson Pollock". It is one of the unforgettable films about famous artists. Irrespective of where the artist comes from, mental illness seems to play a common role in a painter's life. His short-lived success was consumed in his ego and chronic alcoholism.

9. Painted Fire

The movie is based in the revolting nineteenth-century Korea where an untrained painter discovers that he has immense talent. It is similar to Séraphine with poor begging but becoming rich and famous later on. A truly inspiring movie for those artists who think that only people who are better off will become famous.

10. Mr. Turner

Mr. Turner (2014 release) shows that J.M.W Turner is a famous painter well respected by the public and royalty. Timothy Spall’s role as the film painter was truly breathtaking. The movie reveals his relationships and the related problems. He once strapped himself to a few ships just to get a clear picture of a snowstorm.

Top 10 Movies About Great Artists


Movies are a way to bring the real word to the audience in a cinematic way. Those are the best movies about painters from the IMDb list with highest ratings. You may also check some featured movies about painters on Netflix that include “The 100 Years Show” and “Art of Conflict: The Murals of Northern Ireland” among others And you can view this website for sports-related motivational movies.


Author Bio: Bryan Davis of EduBirdie is an inspirational writer. His passion for writing is unimaginable, and he wishes to help everyone with his gifted talent of original pieces of writing. He gets inspired by people who struggled to reach a certain point in their life. Their fight with their own faults when they’re still becoming successful - that is something that interests him.