according to dietrich’s daughter’s book, josef von sternberg painted. i wouldn’t be surprised if Murnau was an painter too. oh, and Mizoguchi (no surprise) studied painting.
David Lynch and Julian Schnabel first come up in my mind as to those who do.
Schnabel, of course, and Warhol.
Cocteau.
I went to an entire gallery show of Fellini’s paintings and drawings.
I wouldn’t count Warhol as either a filmmaker or a painter.
I’m sorry, but is there a larger point to be made? I mean, why not ask “Directors who play piano?” Or “do photography”, or “write poetry”?
Vincent Gallo was a celebrated painter far before his film career.
Peter Greenaway has painted prolifically, even while making a steady stream of films.
Wim Wenders! He moved to Paris in October 1966 to become a painter. However, it didn’t quite work out & so he became a filmmaker (happily for us!).
Julian Schnabel:
I’m not certain that gluing broken crockery to panels properly qualifies.
Vincent Gallo:
If the examples I’ve seen on his website are any indication, I wouldn’t call him an artist.
Bresson was a painter, which is pretty evident in his style. Jia Zhang-ke was originally going to be a painter, and indeed Still Life looks like a painting moved at 24 frames a second, as does the parts of Platform I’ve seen.
Do?
I’d say Wim Wenders, but he is a photographer. His shots are set up with photos in mind, not from a painterly perspective.
Peter Greenaway & David Lynch, and they do.
Don’t?
I’d imagine Sam Fuller didn’t. Maybe he did. I dunno. I just associate brusque directors with non-painters.
Edit: Great minds, Grey Daisies, just saw your Wenders post.
@Harry Long
These are his primary works. (once at the website click on photos, then click the art tab)
http://www.galloappreciation.com/index2.html
My favorites of his are as follows. (they should have images of these on the link as well)
I’LL ALWAYS REMEMBER AUGUST 1988
TWO 1983
WHEN? 1987
YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT LOVE IS 1988
FOUND IN PIER PAOLO PASOLINI’S HOUSE 1982
EATING ALONE 1984
After being a boxer, then cavalryman in Mexico John Huston went to Paris to study painting- whiich is certainly relevant to his filmography. The aptly named Michelangelo Antonioni also did paintings. On meeting Mark Rothko he compared MR’s paintings with his films- “about nothing…with precision”. There’s a worthwhile short by Antonioni, admiring Michelangelo sculptures, Michelangelo Eye to Eye.
Maurice Pialat
Leni Riefenstahl studied painting, but i don’t know if Hitler was a film-maker
And who could have had a better grounding in painting than Renoir- who tried his hand at pottery
Marcel Camus was an art teacher, Walerian Borowczyk went to art college, Jane Campion took art courses in Europe, Jacques Becker studied painting and music
Alexander Dovzhenko was a painter and political cartoonist, Humphrey Jennings was a painter and critic
it may be interesting trying to gauge any patterns comparing directors with painting and theatre backgrounds, and a few like Browning, Fellini and Jodorowsky even came from circus backgrounds
Oh and Takeshi Kitano did paintings that are an important part of Hana-bi. Like Jason Trochesset, i’m not convinced by Warhol as either painter or film-maker. Fritz Lang trained as a painter in Paris, Satyajit Ray was an illustrator and copywriter for an advertising firm, Ridley Scott studied at art colleges.
It seems apart from painting/art and theatre, the main backgrounds are writing, acting and film itself- i guess film critics straddle two of these. And some come from photography.
Kiarostami, before making films was a painter.
and Pasolini also was a painter. (http://karaart.com/p.p.pasolini/pasolini.html)
Chopin
Alright, list the filmmakers you know who were involved in painting. I’m curious. I would imagine most were and for fun, list a director who you think probably was not involved in painting, without looking it up.
The Ones who did
Teshigahara
Ozu
Kurosawa
Baron (Allen Baron)
Warhol
And those are it who I know did.
Now for my hypothesis for who never did, does
Tarantino
P.T. Anderson
Kubrick? I know one of his wives is a painter though
Hitchcock
Lean
Scorsese
Don’t be criminally offended if I said someone who did not, actually did, does.