Help me find some movie-related art...
February 2, 2009 8:40 AM   Subscribe

I am big movie buff and I'm looking for some art which has some connection to movies. Any suggestions?

The art could have inspired the whole movie or some small aspect. Or the art could even have been the second product. The subtler the connection the better. I'm looking to pay homage to my favorite movies and also have some great conversation pieces. I prefer wall art, but all suggestions are appreciated.

Some examples:
- The inspiration for Norman Bate's house in Psycho
- Eli Cash's interesting art work in the Royal Tennebaums
- The Nixon poster from the Big Lebowski
- The Time magazine Mirror from the Big Lebowski

Any tips on where to get these items are also greatly appreciated. As always, thanks in advance.
posted by coolin86 to Media & Arts (27 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
The Son of Man / Thomas Crown Affair
posted by mikepop at 8:44 AM on February 2, 2009


Brandon Bird is pretty damned talented, and he references several movies in his work:

Magnolia
Spiderman
Highlander
X-Men
Star Wars (I want this one really badly)
Robocop
posted by scarykarrey at 8:50 AM on February 2, 2009


Painting plays a big part, symbolically, in "What Dreams May Come".
posted by elendil71 at 9:05 AM on February 2, 2009


H R Geiger

Fantastic realism and biomechanical otherwordly landscapes: " ...served as the visual inspiration for director Ridley Scott’s film Alien..."
posted by hellboundforcheddar at 9:07 AM on February 2, 2009


Cindy Sherman — "The Untitled Film Stills are all black and white photos in which Sherman places herself as an unnamed actress in shots reminiscent of foreign films, Hollywood pictures, B-movies, and film noir."
posted by letourneau at 9:15 AM on February 2, 2009


you might try contacting places that do production rentals to find out if you can acquire pieces of art that were used as set dressing in movies. phyllis stein art is one gallery that does this, for example.
posted by jimw at 9:18 AM on February 2, 2009


I have poster in my office and it never fails to attract the attention of passerbys.
posted by Rad_Boy at 9:20 AM on February 2, 2009


I immediately thought of Christina's World in 2001: A Space Odyssey but it was in the book, not the film. Forrest Gump and Tideland, though, have subtle connections to the painting.
posted by hecho de la basura at 9:39 AM on February 2, 2009


Girl with a Pearl Earring was inspired by the Vermeer painting of same.

Not strictly a movie, but Sunday In The Park with George was inspired by Seurat's "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte".
posted by jquinby at 9:48 AM on February 2, 2009


What, no Red Dragon?
posted by adipocere at 9:58 AM on February 2, 2009


Not a movie, but certainly in the interesting canon: a photo portrait of Laura Palmer from Twin Peaks.
posted by cowbellemoo at 10:04 AM on February 2, 2009


this might be the opposite of what you're looking for, it's a movie that references a specific piece of art.

But at least one scene in About Schmidt references/mimics the classic painting Death of Marat
I can't remember exactly when plotwise, but Jack Nicholson has fallen asleep in the bath.

Also, I was never able to notice if there were more painting references throughout the movie or in other Alex Payne movies.
posted by dahliachewswell at 10:09 AM on February 2, 2009


Reg the art in Wes Anderson's movie done by his brother, Eric Anderson:
You could dismantle this book and frame the pages.

You can also buy Miguel Calderon's work (the Eli Cash painting) but if he's at Andrea Rosen, be ready to pony up a bundle.
posted by HolyWood at 10:15 AM on February 2, 2009


Or you can dismantle and frame this book (Miguel Calderon).
posted by HolyWood at 10:18 AM on February 2, 2009


There was a movie that emulated several paintings in its scenes, was it "Vanilla Sky," or "What Dreams May Come?" Something like that, sorry I can't be more precise.
posted by rhizome at 10:18 AM on February 2, 2009


OR shop ebay and other places for movie props (returned or sold after shooting) and display those. I'd love to have Margot's dress hanging on my wall. Obviously I have thought about doing this too. Apologies for the multiple posts.
posted by HolyWood at 10:21 AM on February 2, 2009


the introduction part of "Moulin Rouge!" is a sweep through Paris stopping a few times to show scenes that are straight out of Toulouse Lautrec's various painting from that same period.
posted by alchemist at 11:19 AM on February 2, 2009


Some critics would draw a connection between Velázquez's Las Meninas and the 1960 move Peeping Tom. My Film Theory teacher at AUP, Jerome Charyn, talked in great detail about this connection. Both pieces of art raise interesting, troubling questions about the viewer and their role in the piece.

Las Meninas is ostensibly a painting about the Spanish Court, but if you look at the end of the painting, you see a mirror reflecting the Spanish King & Queen. The strange thing is...the way the mirror is positioned, could also be reflecting the viewer, making you part of the painting.

Peeping Tom is (spoiler alert) about a guy that kills people with what is essentially a video camera that has a mirror and a bayonet mounted on it. This means that when he kills people, he gets a video of people watching themselves being killed. Twisted, huh? But is that any different than what we do, when we sit and watch horror movies? Are we any less voyeuristic than the killer? Wikipedia also has a good section on the themes and Roger Ebert's take.
posted by charlesv at 11:27 AM on February 2, 2009


* "Bad Route" by Miguel Calderon is a great painting, but I've not had any success finding prints for sale. Apparently Wes Anderson owns the original.

* There's some great schwag on davidlynch.com, including a "12-pack of 8x10 Eraserhead off-set prints from polaroids taken during the first days of filming, June 1972".

* Personally I would love a print of one the photographs from Blow Up on my wall, like this one (er, if anyone knows where to get one, please let me know!)
posted by hot soup girl at 11:35 AM on February 2, 2009


How about "Six Degrees of Separation" (either the play or the film) and Kandinsky? Or other art, as the couple in the story are art dealers/collectors.
posted by Gorgik at 12:51 PM on February 2, 2009 [1 favorite]


I always wanted a full-size copy of Beaugard's "After the Hunt" from Animal Crackers, until I learned that there never was a Beaugard. Alas. Maybe someone with some screen-cappin' and colorin' skills could make themselves a fine print.
posted by Spatch at 12:56 PM on February 2, 2009


Several works by Francis Bacon appear over the opening credits of Last Tango In Paris.
posted by Joe Beese at 2:05 PM on February 2, 2009


Two movies by Robert Altman:

1) Murals painted by someone named Bodhi Wind figure prominently in 3 Women.

2) Quintet was filmed in the abandoned interiors of Montreal's Expo 67, in which were installed large photographs from a collection entitled "Man and His World". Altman liked the photographs so much that he paid to have them moved to his California home - where their obtrusive presence was recorded for the March 1990 issue of Architectural Digest magazine.
posted by Joe Beese at 2:15 PM on February 2, 2009


All The Vermeers In New York
posted by Joe Beese at 2:17 PM on February 2, 2009


If I recall correctly, Rose in Titanic is bringing home a Picasso that looks like a study for Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.
posted by Joe Beese at 2:20 PM on February 2, 2009


Art works by Bernard Dufour, executed on screen in real time, are the "plot" of one of my all-time favorite films: Jacques Rivette's La Belle Noiseuse.
posted by Joe Beese at 2:23 PM on February 2, 2009


Chuck Connelly's abstract expressionist paintings figure prominently in the Martin Scorsese segment of New York Stories.
posted by Joe Beese at 2:25 PM on February 2, 2009


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