Tracy’s Favorite Movies With Art

I think it’s pretty well established that I like movies. A lot. But I’m also fascinated by art and art history, so anything that combines these two interests scores double points with me. There are a surprising number of movies that feature specific works of art as either backdrop or integral aspects of the plot. I like the juxtaposition of one art form within another; the recursive nature of conceptual ‘art about art’ or ‘art within art’ appeals to my inner art student. But enough big words. I want to share with you some of my favorite movies featuring famous works of art (that aren’t actually biographical).

5. Batman (1989)
Yup, I’m talking about the original Batman. The Joker goes on a destructive rampage within Gotham City’s Museum. He delights in destroying Impressionist artworks in particular. Some of the paintings vandalized by the Joker include Vermeer's Woman Weighing Pearls, Rembrandt's self portrait from 1669 from the National Gallery in London, Gainsborough's Blue Boy, the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington, and Two Dancers on Stage by Degas. When the Joker’s thugs get to Francis Bacon’s Figure With Meat, he stops them from defacing it, saying, "I kind of like this one, Bob. Leave it." This particular painting is an incredibly warped, raw, and disturbing painting (in the permanent collection at the Art Institute of Chicago) so it’s rather funny that the Joker seems to like it.

4. Night At The Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

I know it’s silly and inaccurate, but I love it (and its prequel Night At The Museum). It’s a comedy about a night security guard at the Smithsonian Institute where all of the exhibits come to life after dark. Most of the characters are either famous works of art or based on famous works of art and historical figures. Besides it taking place in one of America’s most famous museums, it has many references to art and pop culture. You may recognize some of these:

· American Gothic, painting by Grant Wood
· Balloon Dog, sculpture by Jeff Koons
· Crying Girl, painting by Roy Lichtenstein
· La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans (Little Dancer of Fourteen Years), sculpture by Edgar Degas
· Le Penseur (The Thinker), sculpture by Auguste Rodin
· Venus Italica, sculpture by Antonio Canova
· Nighthawks, painted by Edward Hopper
· V-J day in Times Square, photo taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt
· Sierra Nevada, painting by Albert Bierstadt
· Shad Fishing at Gloucester, Delaware River, painting by Thomas Eakins
· Works by Alexander Calder and Jackson Pollock
3. Amelie

This is a sweet movie about a shy French woman who decides to help others around her despite her struggles with loneliness. It prominently features Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party which Amelie's neighbor continuously copies. Amelie sees herself in the painting Luncheon of the Boating Party represented by the girl drinking from a glass.

2. Angels and Demons & Da Vinci Code

It’s a tie! Both of these movies are based off of fictional novels written by Dan Brown. Whatever your thoughts are on the controversial aspect of these books, you can’t argue that Dan Brown has done a lot of research on art history. Both movies follow professor Robert Langdon through Europe as he solves ancient riddles and saves the world. Da Vinci Code begins with a murder in the Louvre; using clues hidden in Renaissance masterpieces and delving into an extensive knowledge of European art history, the murder is solved and ‘the greatest cover up of mankind’ is exposed. I won’t spoil the ending, I promise. Works by Leonardo da Vinci, especially The Last Supper, are prominently featured in the movie.

Angels and Demons follows the same vain of fast-paced thriller action interspersed with wonderful artistic knowledge and scenery, this time taking place in the Vatican. Langdon has to save Vatican City and four senior cardinals from a ticking bomb by following an ancient path of enlightenment hidden in artwork and architecture. It features works by Bernini, as well as a host of other Renaissance artists that worked in and on St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and Vatican City itself.

1. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Directed by the late great John Hughes, this film is an ode to Chicago and one of the defining movies about growing up in the eighties. As Ferris and friends play hooky from school, they visit all kinds of historic attractions that the city has to offer; one of the scenes involves a trip to the Art Institute and represents a tour of some of the museum’s most well-known pieces of art. The list includes:
· Nighthawks by Edward Hopper
· A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat
· Improvisation 30 (Cannons) by Wassily Kandinsky
· Painting With Green Center by Kandinsky
· Nude Under Pine Tree by Pablo Picasso
· L'Homme qui marche I by Alberto Giacometti
· The Old Guitarist by Picasso
· The Child's Bath by Mary Cassatt
· Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz by Amedeo Modigliani
· Day of the Gods (Mahana No Atua) by Paul Gauguin
· Greyed Rainbow by Jackson Pollock
· Tanktotem No. 1 by David Smith
· Bathers by a River by Henri Matisse
· In the Circus Fernando: The Ringmaster by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
· Portrait of Balzac by Auguste Rodin
· The Red Armchair by Picasso
· Portrait of Sylvette David by Picasso
· Seated Woman by Picasso
· UNESCO Reclining Figure by Henry Moore
· America Windows by Marc Chagall
According to Hughes, the scene at the Art Institute of Chicago was "a self-indulgent scene of mine - which was a place of refuge for me, I went there quite a bit, I loved it. I knew all the paintings, the building. This was a chance for me to go back into this building."

The movie has since become so famous that you can now take a Ferris Bueller Chicago Tour, including visiting the same works of art inside the Art Institute.

~Tracy~