Gather round, art lovers, as we dig into the 11 best art documentaries on Netflix Instant in 2015.
Art has always fascinated people, both those talented enough to create it and a vast majority of us not blessed with that ability. One reason art documentaries are so popular is because they reveal the side of art we don’t get to see much: how art is created, what the process is behind masterpieces we admire, and what motivates artists in their work. These are the questions filmmakers tried to find answers to in these art documentaries available on Netflix in 2015. While all may not agree that documentaries are a true art form, some of the movies on this list manage to achieve that elusive status and qualify as art pieces themselves. They may lack the appeal of the best animal documentaries on Netflix, but they still manage to reach a wide audience.
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To rank best art documentaries on Netflix instant in 2015, we had to devise a system. Going simply by IMDb rating just wouldn’t cut it, although we did include it in our final ranking. We also went over a dozen lists on most popular sites in order to get an accurate feel on public opinion. We mixed it all together and came up with a genuine Insider Monkey ranking. Let’s see who made it to our list of 11 best art documentaries on Netflix instant in 2015.
11. Just Like Being There
Rank by site 4, Rank by IMDb 1; Overall score = 5 points
Directed by Scout Shannon
At first glance, concert posters seem like a dying art in the digital age. But instead of slowly disappearing into the darkness, gig poster artists are actually increasing in numbers and their art is finding its way from the clubs’ billboards into the people’s homes. Some feel that this rising popularity of the gig poster genre is detrimental to the art itself, creating tension in the industry.
10. The Art of the Steal
Rank by site 2, Rank by IMDb 5; Overall score = 7 points
Directed by Dan Argott
When Albert C. Barnes dies in 1951, he left a lasting legacy in the form of the Barnes Foundation and its art collection — universally considered the world’s most important Post-Impressionist art collection, it’s valued at $25 billion. Barnes intended for his foundation to become a place of learning where art students can study the masterpieces he collected. He didn’t want to create just another museum. That’s why he added an important stipulation to his will: neither the collection nor any of its pieces can ever be moved from Merion, Pennsylvania. Despite Barnes’ explicit wishes, the collection was moved to Philadelphia. Dan Argott tells a story of what is known as the biggest heist in history.
9. The Rape of Europa
Rank by site 1, Rank by IMDb 7; Overall score = 8 points
Directed by Richard Berge, Bonni Cohen, and Nicole Newnham
The Rape of Europa was described as “having enough drama for at least three Hollywood movies” by SF Weekly and they’re right. The story of how Hitler’s troops pillaged Europe’s art treasures during the dark days of the Third Reich is absolutely riveting. It has all the elements of a Hollywood blockbuster and then some. The film is based on Lynn H. Nicholas’ book of the same title, which described the efforts of the Monuments Men, a special unit founded by the US Army in 1943 to protect and recover stolen art in warzones.
8. Gerhard Richter Painting
Rank by site 7, Rank by IMDb 2; Overall score = 9 points
Directed by Corinna Belz
Gerhard Richter, one of the most important contemporary painters, always claimed that talking about visual art was pointless because words can only convey so much. That’s why he kept his creative process hidden from the public eye, which gained him a reputation of a reclusiveness. It came as a great shock to all who knew him that he granted permission to Corinna Belz to observe his work and make a film about it. She spent three years filming. The result is Gerhard Richter Painting, which reveals how modern art pieces are created and the pitfalls an artist encounters along the way.
7. Drew: The Man Behind the Poster
Rank by site 5, Rank by IMDb 4; Overall score = 9 points
Directed by Erik Sharkey
What do Rambo, Star Wars, Back to the Future and Indiana Jones have in common? The answer is Drew Struzan. This iconic Hollywood poster artist is responsible for more than 150 movie posters since 1977. It was his talent that brought posters into the spotlight and made them recognizable as a genuine art form as well as a marketing device. Sharkey’s film features interviews with Struzan and his family as well as famous directors he worked with, including Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Harrison Ford and Michael J. Fox also chime in with opinions and impressions of Struzan’s work.
6. Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present
Rank by site 3, Rank by IMDb 8; Overall score = 11 points
Directed by Matthew Akers and Jeff Dupre
“But why is this art?” is the question that’s followed Marina Abramovic for her whole career. She finally has a chance to answer it during the retrospective of her work presented by The Museum of Modern Art in New York. The Serbian artist has a new art piece called The Artist is Present. She remains true to her principle that in order to create art an artist must have a participating audience.
5. Cutie and Boxer
Rank by site 8, Rank by IMDb 3; Overal score = 11 points
Directed by Zachary Heinzerling
Heinzerling’s film reminds us that not all art is famous and not all artists are highly paid. It deals with more down-to-earth art as it reveals the life of Ushio and Noriko Shinohara, a pair of Japanese artists struggling to make it in New York. The husband and wife manage to use their love as a backbone of their art and supplement each other’s work.
4. Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child
Rank by site 6, Rank by IMDb 9; Overall score = 15 points
Directed by Tamra Davis
Based on an interview Tamra Davis did with Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1985, the film reveals — through interviews with the people who knew him — the shocking details of Basquiat’s fame and infamy, his constant battle against racism, and the personal demons that threatened to destroy his talent. The brash New York art scene of the 1980s supplies a perfect backdrop for one of the best art documentaries on Netflix Instant in 2015.
3. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
Rank by site 10, Rank by IMDb 6; Overall score = 16 points
Directed by Alison Klayman
Architect, conceptual artist, photographer, blogger, social critic, and activist are just some of Ai Weiwei’s facets, and Klayman explores them all in her film. Often referred to as the “Chinese Andy Warhol,” Ai is so much more. One of the rare dissident voices in China who the government can’t control or suppress, he uses his art to show the world – and his own government – that there’s something rotten in the state of Denmark. The movie interviews his family and colleagues, and follows his art installations and infamous 2011 arrest, subsequent disappearance and release. The bravery Ai shows in constant clashes with Chinese officials hell-bent on shutting him down is beacon of hope.
2. Bill Cunningham New York
Rank by site 9, Rank by IMDb 10; Overal score = 19 points
Directed by Richard Press
Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue, once said, “We all dress up for Bill.” Prowling the streets of New York on his legendary Schwinn bicycle, photographer Bill Cunningham of the New York Times has been documenting fashion for decades. The film shows us his work and life as well as the impression his art has left on people he photographed during the years. People like Tom Wolfe and Brooke Astor, true legends of the New York fashion world, share their memories of Cunningham — how they looked forward being photographed by him and dreaded being ignored by his camera.
1. Exit Through the Gift Shop
Rank by site 11, Rank by IMDb 11; Overall score = 22 points
Directed by Banksy
Described as the world’s first street art disaster movie by its screenwriter, Exit Through the Gift Shop started as a hobby project for Thierry Guetta, a young French shopkeeper from Los Angeles. He decided that it would be interesting to film graffiti artists and tell them he’d make a movie about them. The only catch is that Guetta had no intention of making it, and even if he did, he was a terrible filmmaker. Both facts were quickly revealed when he ran into Banksy. Banksy turns the tables on Guetta and makes him the subject of his own movie. The result is one of the most hilarious art movies ever made, which is probably the reason why is it on the first place among best art documentaries on Netflix Instant in 2015.
