Art through a lens: watching exhibitions on screen

For centuries the activity of viewing and appreciating art has become second nature; a pastime seared into the cultural consciousness.  Visits to galleries can nourish the soul and nurture our artistic curiosity.  Seeing the works of a particular artist, sometimes all in the same room can be a profound experience, viewers can almost feel an artist’s energy emanate from the canvas. However, seeing art in person is not the only way to enjoy it.  

Viewing exhibitions and art on the big or small screen can also be a thoroughly rewarding and practical way to connect with an artist.  Some might wish to argue that it is, in fact, a better way to enjoy art.

Phil Grabsky, a multi award winning documentary film director, producer, and writer best known for his outstanding BAFTA winning documentary, ”My Childhood, My Country: 20 Years in Afghanistan” during which he filmed Mir Hussein, an Afghan boy, for two decades growing up in Kabul, champions the experience of seeing exhibitions on screen and in 2011 created the highly innovative ”Exhibition on Screen” series.  

Given exclusive access to art and exhibitions from around the world, Mr. Grabsky films them as well as conducting in-depth interviews with art historians and curators, then shows the work in cinemas and on streaming platforms such as Marquee TV which currently has seven of his art films. His first; The National Gallery’s Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition (2011) – the largest exhibition of the artist’s work ever staged in the UK was shown in forty-two cinemas.  Since then, Mr. Grabsky’s art films have been released globally in seventy countries.  

Filmed in high definition the documentaries give us a unique insight into an artist’s life, their work, exhibitions and resounding portfolio.  Meticulously researched, highly informative and beautifully filmed, they provide the viewer with a front row seat from which to enjoy their favorite artist.  ”I am absolutely not trying to dissuade people from going to art galleries. Quite the opposite”  Mr. Grabsky says.  ”These art exhibitions can sometimes take five or six years to organize and are wonderful but not everyone can get to them.  As a producer and a director, I am very keen to look at the artwork being rigorously researched and letting the facts drive the story.”

”Klimt and the Kiss,” an in-depth exploration and analysis of Austrian Artist, Gustav Klimt’s most famous painting which hangs in Vienna’s, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere provides the viewer with cinematic close ups capturing the texture of the paint and brushstrokes alongside intimate observations on composition.  Painted in 1907 – 1908 the gold leaf-soaked embrace is famous around the world.

 

”It is of course a celebration of nature in many ways with the flowers, with the leaves, with the tendrils that wrap themselves around the lover’s body” says cultural historian and author Gavin Plumley of the painting.

”Frida Kahlo” looks at the feisty Mexican painter’s vibrant and autobiographical portfolio, turbulent private life, and legacy and is revelatory in answering questions about the artist’s life and personal relationships.  ”We also like to focus on the Why.  For example, why and how did Frida Kahlo become the most popular artist in history in Mexico City?  While showing you the art we also like to answer these questions” Mr. Grabsky says. Featuring Kahlo’s most notable work, ”The Two Fridas” (Museum of Modern Art, Mexico City) – an imposing double self portrait painted in 1939 about her separation from Diego Rivera, the high-definition photography adds a resonance that perhaps viewers may not experience looking directly at the painting in a crowded room.

 

Capturing the mood and solitude of American life, the painter Edward Hopper is considered by some as one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century ”totally of his time and generation.” Contemplative and slightly surreal, his images project a sense of mystery and alienation whilst also being connected to society. ”Hopper: An American Love Story” written and directed by Mr. Grabsky, is a deep dive into the artist’s complex relationships, personal reflections, and artistry. ”Some films are not based on exhibitions but just have a really strong biography and are based on our desire to make a film around a specific artist” Mr. Grabsky says.

Intense high quality close ups are gripping and hone in on Hopper’s work.  It is possible to gaze at the artist’s actual pen and brush strokes.

 

One of Hopper’s most recognizable works is the atmospheric ”Nighthawks” painted in 1942 (The Art Institute of Chicago) depicting four people in a diner late at night.  Evocative and eerie, sensual and melancholy its composition is intriguing. No one really knows its true meaning. 

”Vermeer: The Greatest Exhibition” was sold out at The Rijksmuseum in the spring of 2023.  The largest ever collection of the Dutch artist’s work it exhibited twenty-eight of Johannes Vermeer’s paintings.  While over six hundred and fifty thousand people came to see it there are many thousands who could not.  But for those that missed it,  the exhibition can now be seen on Marquee TV.

 

”It’s as if he’s taken the most mundane thing and transformed it, transfigured it into something that feels completely magical” says one leading historian in a compelling and insightful commentary on the artist’s work.

The paintings close up are immersive and mesmerizing and provide a totally unique and rare look at Vermeer’s technique, color, and composition.  All the artist’s most famous works are included from ”The Girl with the Pearl Earring,” ”The Milkmaid,” and ”Woman Holding a Balance.”  Everything is worthy of our attention and thanks to the seductive slow camera work we get to see the paintings for as long as we would do were we standing right in front of them.  

”Degas: Passion for Perfection” at the Fitzwilliam Museum (October 2017 – January 2018), marked the centenary of the artist’s death with a celebration of his lifetime’s achievement.  This film looks at the impressionist painter’s working methods and quest for perfection.

Excerpts from Degas’s personal diary spring to life amid close ups of his rarest works in oils, pastel, and pencil and the stories behind them.  Artists and curators talk candidly about what the painter means to them with one saying, ”He brings only happiness.” Best known for his oil paintings and pastels of dancers in the studio such as ”The Ballet Class” (1874) and ”Ballet Rehearsal on Stage” (1874) Edgar Degas is one of the most celebrated French painters of the nineteenth century.  

 

Described by critics as ”undeniably Impressive” and ”authoritative” this unique and innovative way of seeing art is worth its weight in gold especially given that most of us cannot usually drop everything and jump on a plane or a train to Europe or America when our favorite artist’s work comes to town. This specialist filmmaking is to be savored.