Mubi, Painting Inspired Films

http://mubi.com/lists/painters-and-films

Just a little something I thought might be useful! 

Final Decision

Okay so I still cant decide.

Im completely torn between Sassoferrato's 'The Virgin in Prayer' and Philip Burne Jones' 'Rudyard Kipling'.

The Virgin in Prayer

Rudyard Kipling

"The Virgin in Prayer", Sassoferrato, 1650

I think the colours of this painting are beautiful. The subject of the painting looks so peaceful yet striking in appearance. I believe this could be remade really successfully if the details were exact,for example, the folds in the cloth would have to be replicated exactly but I think this could be achieved with a bottle of starch and some careful placing. It might be best if the fabrics were dyed specifically for this remake so that I could achieve the exact colours required as I feel that it is one of the most important things about this painting and thus crucial to the remake. The background is plain, but the lighting is strong which would suggest a studio shoot. I think that a model would be hard to find looking similar to this but it could be set in a modern day context quite easily too, perhaps within a different culture to consider how the symbols of religion have evolved  with Christians very rarely covering their heads any  more.It may be worthwhile considering  the contrast with other religions which cover the hair. I think this would be an interesting concept but possibly a little disrespectful but something I find it fascinating, the differences of religious meaning between cultures and the meanings of covering the head.

Another take on this and modernising it could be turning the character of the virgin into a man or young boy, with his head covered by a hoody with more layers over the top, I don't think this would be as powerful but I think it would be a successful way of modernising the image.

"Ram Gopal", Feliks Topolski, 1972

I think that the abstractness of this painting is what caught my eye, there would be a lot of room for interpretation which would be fun and I could be creative with it but then catching the essence of it might be quite tricky as it is so abstract. It could go either way with a remake of this, there is so much potential but if it went wrong I would envisage it to go very wrong. 

Pendit Ram Gopal, (1912-2003), a dancer, choreographer and teacher, 'pioneer of classical Indian dance in this country'. Born in Bangalore and classically trained in an Indian dance style, Kathakali. There appears to be quite a few 'Ram Gopals' who have lots of videos on you tube as they all seem to do producing and performing which is swaying me away from this as a remake as I do not feel I will be able to do it justice if I do not know the character in question well enough.

Topolski was an official war artist and travelled around many areas of distress including concentration camps and the Levant. He also made face to face portraits of some of the most influencial people of the 20th century from Gandhi to Churchill and Martin Luther King.

This blog shows some beatiful illustrations from Topolski.

http://illustrationart.blogspot.co.uk/2007/11/feliks-topolski.html

"(Joseph) Rudyard Kipling", Sir Philip Burne Jones, 1899

Surface Opinions

I love the atmosphere of this painting. I think the colours are beautiful and so delicate. There are lots of little details that would need to be catered for if I choose to re create this painting, for example the books, which would need to be the same colours, widths and in the right places to make it as effective as possible. I really like the hazy quality of the painting which is something hopefully that a photographer would be able to help me with. I find this so peaceful to look at and that is what I would want to achieve in a remake. The colours must be spot on, the lighting is quite soft and could be recreated in a studio. I think the door would prove to be quite tricky to replicate or find but other props such as the wicker basket, the pipe and painting would all be things that could be sourced easily.

Digging Deeper

Sir Philip Burne-Jones was reflected upon as 'a very unhappy man' by his niece Angela Thirkell. Through out his life he was shadowed by his father, Edward Burne-Jones, a Pre-Raphaelite painter. Phillip was persuaded by his father to work 'properly' rather than just cartoons which he found troubling as his often felt uncomfortable in following his fathers footsteps and being compared to his works along the way.

Rudyard Kipling famous for writing  'The Jungle book' and many other books.

"Dame Ellen Terry", George Frederic Watts, 1864

This painting is even more interesting after learning more about the artist and the sitter, Watts was a known for his portraiture and studies of women, in the 1860's he was introduced to two actresses, Kate and Ellen Terry. Watts was fascinated by Ellen's looks and planned to adopt her but then married her instead on the 20th of February 1864 when she was believed to be 16 and Watts 46, which is quite an age gap. She sat for him for many paintings but after a year their marriage broke down and Watts prompted a legal separation as Ellen was sent back to her parents. Watts would continue to finish paintings of her that he has begun.

I think this would be fantastic to replicate, It reminds me of the remake of 'Pot Pourri' by >>>>> which I love for its delicacy which is something that I feel I would be able to bring to this as a remake. The character of Dame Ellen Terry looks very similar to a friend, Ruby, who could pull this off beautifully. There is not a lot of costume showing in this image so it would be fundamental for the collar, sleeve and jewellery to all be perfect. The atmosphere of this could be fairly easily reproduced using a box light in a studio which I feel is one of the most crucial things to achieve. The foliage may prove problematic if they do not fit perfectly or if the colours are slightly off and getting them to sit in place may look unnatural.

First Tutorial 22nd March

• Find a photographer and book a studio 
• Choose a few paintings to look at in detail, find a back story and mark them out of ten for potential and think of how it could be changed and modernised.  
• Start collecting props for chosen painting.
• Consider the amount of people in the painting, too many people is unrealistic in this time scale. 1-3 people maximum.
• Paintings to look further into
• Rudyard Kipling, Philip Burne Jones
• Dame Ellen Terry, George Frederic Watts 
• The Virgin in Prayer, Sassoferrato 
• Ram Gopal, Feliks Topolski

The National Gallery

"The Coronation of the Virgin", Bernardo Daddi, 1345

I think the positioning of the two characters in this is really interesting and in the same way that the representation of Klimts 'The Kiss' the patterns in the background are quite well defined and would look effective in a photograph.

"The Arnolfini Portrait", Jan Van Eyck, 1434

I think this would be a really tricky one to replicate perfectly but I think it would look fantastic in a modern day context as it is such a famous and interesting painting. I always believed that in this picture Arnolfini's Wife is pregnant but she is infact lifting her dress in a way which was fashionable at the time. However I think as a photograph this would not be as effective as the painting as the reflection of Arnolfini and his wife would also show the camera and photographer which would not be desireable!

"The Annunciation", Fra Filippo Lippi, 1453

I am really interested in renaissance art and I find 'The Annunciation' particulalry fascinating as I have seen Fra Angelico's 'Annunciation' in San Marco, Florence (1455) which is later than this version. I think the composition of renaissance art is really interesting and I love how they use opposite colours on the reflections of the characters, which I think is really important especially as art was a lot more mathematical in these times, even using the same character but reflected and in the opposite colours in some works, for example 'The Madonna el Parto', Piero della Francesca, 1457.

"The Seven Saints", Fra Filippo Lippi, 1453

"Saint Jerome in His Study", Anontello da Messina, 1475

"The Virgin in Prayer", Sassoferrato, 1650

I think this could be really beautiful if the lighting was handled well and the costume although fairly simple could be looked at in detail in regard to the folds in the fabric.

"An Old Man Holding a Pilgrim-Bottle", Unknown Artist, 1650

"The Four Times of Day, Midday", Nicholas Lancret, 1741

I think this would work fabulously in a modern setting, the colours could still be applied but I think a similar setting could be really tricky to find, but it is a beatuiful and delicate painting.

"La Chocolatier, A Lady Pouring Chocolate", Jean-Etienne Liotard, 1744

This would be fabulous to replicate as accurately as possible. Despite the angle of the table which is slightly weird angle. The fabric is represented really beatifully and it would be a good challenge trying to get the fabric to fall in the same way as this, inclusing the creases in the skirt.

"An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump", Joseph Wright 'of Derby', 1768

I think this is such an atmospheric painting, a lot of the work could be done with lighting and the costumes left to interpretation as they are not particularly clear. I just love the composition.

"Mrs Siddons", Thomas Gainsborough, 1788

"Corner of a Cafe-Concert", Edouard Manet, 1880

"Bathers at Asnieres", Georges Seurat, 1884

"Beach Scene", Hilaire-Germaine-Edgar Degas, 1870

"The Beach at Trouville", Claude-Oscar Monet, 1870

"The Two Friends" Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1894

"Mother by a Cradle", Vincent van Gogh, 1887

"Dona Isabel de Porcel", Francisco de Goya, 1805

The National Portrait Gallery

"The Somerset House Conference", Unknown Artist, 1604

"Michael Dahl", Michael Dahl, 1691

"The Three Witches from Macbeth", Daniel Gardner, 1775

"Sarah Siddons" Sir William Beechy, 1793

"Sir James Brooke", Sir Frances Grant, 1847

"Emily Bronte", Patrick Bromwell Bronte, 1848

"Dame Ellen Terry", George Frederic Watts, 1864

This reminded me of the 'Pot Pourri' remake that I thought was so successful in that it is really delicate and the appearance of flowers. Plus she looks quite a bit like Ruby.

"Gertrude Elizabeth, Lady Colin Campbell, Giovanni Boldini, 1897

"(Joseph) Rudyard Kipling", Sir Phillip Burne Jones, 1899

I LOVE THIS. I think this is such a beautiful painting and its already fairly modern, the lighting is really soft yet falls onto the jacket beatifully. Its just so serene. So far one of the top few I would like to reproduce.

"Lytton Strachey" Dora Carrington, 1916

"Martita Hunt", Robert Duckworth Greenham, 1944

I got a cheeky picture of this which is lucky as there was not a post card or even an image online, but I just thought it was so dramatic, I love the textures surrounding her face and the contrast in colours with her black collar, bright red hair and pale skin. Another of my favourites, though finding a model with the same features may be tricky and this is what I said I would steer clear from in my research.

"Sir Nikolaus Pevsner", Hans Schwarz, 1969

"Ram Gopal", Feliks Topolski, 1972

This image does not do this painting justice. Its huge and the colours are so vivid and its so imposing. I think this would be a really good painting to replicate because of the abstractness of the painting and it would give me lots of room for interpretation.

"Self-Portrait: Hockney Pillow", R.B Kitaj, 1994

The National Gallery and The National Portrait Gallery

Its really exciting knowing that I have now seen the painting that I will be recreating, though I still do not know which of the ones I have seen I will choose. There are so many beautiful paintings in these galleries and so many that caught my eye. 

At this stage I want to think as openly as possible so that I do not restrict myself. I will investigate these paintings that have caught my eye a little further and see what has the most scope to do something fabulous with despite already having a few particular favourites.

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Originally painted by Johannes Vermeer between 1665 and 1667 and is one of the most famous paintings in the world. In 2003 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' was released on film and is perfect to watch in conjunction with this project. It was really interesting to see the back story to the painting and why it looks the way it does, searching for more than just and image as she becomes a real person. Vermeer sits Greit in the position which is familiar as the painting and was a perfect insight into how I may be asking my model to sit for me. It was also interesting to see how the film crew interpreted the styling of Greit. Though the part of her headdress that hangs down is just a little too long! 

"Girl with a Pearl Earring", Johannes Vermeer, 1667

"Girl with a Pearl Earring" film remake, Dien van Straalen, 2003

Supper at Emmaus

I think this remake is really sucessful and the transition to modern day as no affected it too much. The styling of Christ (in red) is beautiful and the shadow behind due to the lighting is exact which is why I think that this remake is so well done. In my opinion the other characters could have been styled more effectively with more appropriate colours to make this even better.

This has shown me how important the background and lighting is.

"Supper at Emmaus", Caravaggio 

"Supper at Emmaus" remake,  Jeff Hazelden