Tarkovsky's mysterious masterpiece that charts the life and times of an obscure 15th Century Russian icon painter. Rublev's character is recreated, through 8 separate chapters, as a symbol of Russian suffering at the hands of Tartar invaders. Beautifully told, a fantastic and brilliantly directed tale. find out more...

The moving and superbly directed account of the life of the talented sculptor Camille Claudel and her tempestuous affair with the already famous Rodin, which lasted 15 years during which time she inspired some of his greatest works, but suffered with her own sanity. Depardieu and Adjani excel. find out more...

"I am dying in time to the splash of their oars - if arms as steady as these had embraced me in life...". This film is Jarman's vision of the life of the Italian painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1573 - 1610). Caravaggio revisits periods of his tempestuous life in a series of deathbed flashbacks and prose-poem voice-overs, focusing particularly on the intense relationship between himself and a couple who model for him in Rome, Lena and Ranuccio. This sexual and violent love triangle eve find out more...

Saved from a group of drifters by Kim Byung-moon uncouth and self-taught painter Jang Seung-up offers a drawing as a means of thanks. Examining the picture, Kim realises Jang's extraordinary potential and becomes his mentor, encouraging him to pursue the life of an artist. find out more...

A lush dramatization, starring John Malkovitch in the title role, of the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt whose lavish, sexual paintings came to symbolize the art nouveau style of the late 19th and early 20th century. find out more...

Painter Modigliani, an Italian Jew, has fallen in love with Jeanne, a beautiful Catholic girl. The couple have an illegitimate child, but Jeanne's bigoted parents send the baby to a faraway convent to be raised by nuns. Distraught by the loss Modigliani vows to find the money to raise his child and with the arrival of Paris's annual art competition he sees, as does his friend and rival Pablo Picasso, his opportunity. An enjoyable, if perhaps slightly imaginative, dramatization of the artist's ri find out more...

A largely fictional biopic depicting the solitary and star-crossed life of Toulouse Lautrec. We must all suffer for our art! The first half-hour is full of energy and verve as we trawl through the colourful Montmartre of Paris in the 1890's. find out more...

A portrait of the artist L.S. Lowry and the relationship with his mother, who tries to dissuade him from pursuing his passion.
As the title indicates, this is very much a film about Lowry's mother Elizabeth, a chronically il find out more...

A powerful and poetic depiction of the great Dutch painter from 1642, the year of the painting of the Night Watch of the Civic Guard and the death of his wife, to his position of social pariah, financial ruin and death in 1669. Rembrandt is an atmospheric and moving film with a truly awesome performance by Charles Laughton in the lead role. find out more...

Supposedly a biography of Michelangelo, it is much more that of Pope Julius II, who, when not on the battlefield uniting Italy, nags Michelangelo, in an engaging and witty script, to speed up his painful work painting the Sistine Chapel, and wonders when he will finsh. The transformation of the chapel ceiling, which was originally dotted with stars, to an opulent statement of high renaissance is engrossing. find out more...