Paris, 1964. The Swiss sculptor and painter Alberto Giacometti, one of the most accomplished and respected artists of his generation, asks his friend, the American writer James Lord, to sit for a portrait, assuring him that it will take no longer than two or three hours, an afternoon at the most.
A portrait of the visionary Dutch artist M. C. Escher (1898-1972), according to his own words, taken from his diary, his correspondence and the texts of his lectures.
Kay Arnold is a gold digger who wanders from party to party with the intention of catching a rich suitor. Jerry Strong is a young man from a wealthy family who strives to succeed as an artist. What begins as a relationship of mutual convenience soon turns into something else.
During the 1970s a student named Gilles gets entangled in contemporary political turmoils although he would rather just be a creative artist. While torn between his solidarity to his friends and his personal ambitions he falls in love with Christine.
Steven Ray was never quite normal. But when tragedy strikes in the form of a deadly hit-and-run incident at a city cross walk, his violent and bizarre behavior becomes uncontrollable. One night, as Steven plots his next murder, he meets Percival, whose unsuccessful attempt at suicide not only interferes with Stevens plans, but the chance encounter also introduces the two into each others sad and lonely lives. Percival believes hes cursed after miraculously surviving each suicide attempt and concludes fate brought he and Steven together. So he hires Steven to assist him in suicide. Steven does not believe in fate and thinks Percival is desperate and delusional. But he accepts the offer. Easy money. After Percival continues to miraculously survive each attempt on his life, Steven starts to believe. He tries to help Percival figure out ways to break the curse. And in the process, they form an unlikely friendship through the common bond of tragedy.
Jojo, a Filipino artist in Paris who has had many lovers, but constantly finds himself desperate to fill the chasm in his life occupied by the mysterious muse of his paintings. For years, his heart is held captive by a woman with no name and no history. Like a compass, Jojo looks for her in every girl he meets, hoping she will be “the one.” One day, a woman named Marie, walks up to Jojo and claims to be the subject of his paintings.
July, 1925. Thurber Phillips, an art collector, is invited by his favorite painter, the elusive and mysterious Richard Upton Pickman, to visit his home, a sinister place where his friend's macabre paintings seem to threaten him from the walls in shadows.
In Tokugawa-era (1637) Shimabara, oppressed peasant Christians revolt against the shogunate with the aid of charismatic Christian rebel leader Shiro Amakusa.
In the 1800s, a stormy love relationship develops quickly between a young medical student and a woman believing herself to be the daughter of his scientist uncle, the student having never heard of her before their chance encounter and both unaware that she is the result of the scientist's illegal experiments with artificial insemination..
Arrested for an unnamed crime, Josef K. is trapped in a surreal bureaucratic maze where justice is unknowable and guilt is assumed.
A misanthropic author, a single mother and waitress, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship after the artist is assaulted in a robbery.
A headstrong young teacher in a private school in 1930s Edinburgh ignores the curriculum and influences her impressionable 12-year-old charges with her over-romanticized worldview.
Millionaire industrialist Steven Taylor is a man who has everything but what he craves most: the love and fidelity of his wife. A hugely successful player in the New York financial world, he considers her to be his most treasured acquisition. But she needs more than simply the role of dazzling accessory.
A journey through the Spain of the Baroque, the glorious 17th century, an unfortunate era of endless wars and political tribulations; but also of great painters and sculptors who created astonishing pieces of art: el Siglo de Oro.
In 1891, the French painter Paul Gauguin leaves Paris and travels to Tahiti to renew his art as a free man, far from the European artistic conventionalism. On his journey of discovery, he faces solitude and disease, but he also knows the beauty of wild nature and the love of Tehura, a young native girl who becomes his wife and model.
Henri Serin (Jean-Pierre Marielle), an umbrella salesman, leads a quiet life between his work, his family and his passion for painting. During his many business trips, Henri indulges in a few amorous escapades, which provide a welcome change from the tiresome daily routine his bigoted wife locks him into. One fine day, Henri decides to drop everything and live on love and fresh water. He ends up in Pont-Aven, where he meets Émile, a local painter imitating Gauguin, with whom he shares his drinking and other feminine attractions.
Artist David Stuart is blinded by a jealous model whose portrait he is painting. His fiance's father generously offers his eyes for a sight restoring operation. There's only one hitch: Stuart has to wait until after the man dies. Not surprisingly, when the benefactor dies a very premature death, suspicion falls on the artist.
A mysterious girl inspires a struggling artist.
Up against his money-grabbing relatives, his compromised superiors, and the state, a firm painter decides to protest by bricking up the windows of his house. Everyone wants to get their hands on his legacy. Will the protectors succeed?
The passionate Merchant-Ivory drama tells the story of Francoise Gilot, the only lover of Pablo Picasso who was strong enough to withstand his ferocious cruelty and move on with her life.