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RESOURCES

Recommended Books


  • Acting: The First Six Lessons by Richard Boleslavsky
  • Andrew Wyeth: A Secret Life by Richard Meryman
  • The Andy Warhol Diaries by Pat Hackett
  • The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein
  • Berthe Morisot by Anne Higonnet
  • Birth of Rock 'n' Roll, The by Peter Guralnick [read this article]
  • Brief Happiness: The Correspondence of Theo Van Gogh and Jo Bonger by Theo Van Gogh, et al
  • Capote: A Biography by Gerald Clarke
  • Cezanne: A Biography by John Rewald
  • Creating Minds: An Anatomy of Creativity as Seen Through
    the Lives of Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham, and Gandhi by Howard E. Gardner
  • A Dream Within a Dream: The Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Nigel Barnes
  • Edouard Manet: Rebel in a Frock Coat by Beth Archer Brombert
  • John Lennon: One Day at a Time : A Personal Biography of
    the Seventies by Anthony Fawcett
  • La Grande Therese : The Greatest Scandal of the Century by Hilary Spurling
  • Last Train to Memphis by Peter Guralnick
  • Leonardo’s Notebooks
  • Le tresor des humbles (The Treasure of the Humble) by Maurice Maeterlinck
  • Letters of Vincent Van Gogh
  • The Life & Writings of Abraham Lincoln ed.  Philip Van Doren Stern
  • A Life of Picasso by John Richardson (3 volumes)
  • Lost Earth: A Life of Cezanne by Philip Callow
  • The Lure of the Exotic: Gauguin in New York Collections
  • Mary Cassatt: A Life by Nancy Mowll Matthews
  • Matisse the Master by Hilary Spurling (2 volumes)
  • Matisse, His Art and His Textiles
  • Moanin' at Midnight: The Life and Times of Howlin' Wolf by James Segrest and Mark Hoffman
  • Noa Noa: The Tahiti Journal of Paul Gauguin by Paul Gauguin, et al
  • Paul Gauguin by David Sweetman
  • The Philosophy of Andy Warhol : From A to B and Back Again by Andy Warhol
  • Pioneering Modern Painting: Cezanne And Pissarro 1865 To
    1885 by Joachim Pissarro
  • Popism: The Warhol ’60s by Andy Warhol & Pat Hackett
  • The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
  • Renoir: An Intimate Record by Ambroise Vollard
  • Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll by Peter Guralnick
  • Selected Letters of Dylan Thomas
  • The Sorcerer’s Apprentice: Picasso, Provence, and Douglas
    Cooper by John Richardson
  • Suzanne Valadon: The Mistress of Montmartre by Suzanne Valadon & June Rose
  • Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation: A History of Literary
    Paris in the Twenties and Thirties by Noel Riley Fitch
  • Toulouse-Lautrec and the Fin-De-Siecle by David Sweetman
  • Van Gogh: His Life and His Art by David Sweetman
  • Van Gogh’s Van Goghs by Richard Kendall
  • Vincent and Theo Van Gogh: A Dual Biography by Jan Hulsker, Johann Van Gogh
  • Vincent Van Gogh: The Drawings (Metropolitan Museum of Art
    Series)

DOCUMENTARIES


50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. And Mrs. Kraus (2013)

A Cook’s Tour (2002– )

After Hitler (2016 TV Movie)

A.K.A. Doc Pomus (2012)

Allman Brothers: After the Crash (2019)

The Armstrong Lie (2013) 

Amy (III) (2015)

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (2005– )

The Art of Flight (2011) 

The Art of the Steal (2009)

Becoming Frederick Douglass (2022)

Becoming Frida Kahlo (2023)

Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blache (2018)

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927)

The Big Interview w/Dan Rather

Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me (2012)

Blues Story (2003) IMDB

Bowie: Moonage Daydream  (2022)

Buena Vista Social Club (1999)

Chuck Leavell: The Tree Man 

Classic Albums - Elvis Presley's First Album (2002)

Cold Blue, The (2018)

Commandant's Shadow, The (2024)

Craigslist Joe (2012)

Daft Punk Unchained (2015)

David Crosby: Remember My Name (2019)

Deep Blue (2003)

Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words (2016)

Elvis Presley: The Searcher (2018)

Elvis: That's the Way it is (1970)

Eric Clapton: A Life in 12 Bars (2017)

Eric Clapton: The 1970s Review (2014)

Festival (1967)

Film, the Living Record of Our Memory (2021)

For All Mankind (1989)

For No Good Reason (2012)

Friedkin Uncut (2018)

The Gatekeepers (2012) 

George Michael: Freedom (2017 TV Movie)

The Great Pretender (2012 Video) 

Grey Gardens (1975)

Harlan County U.S.A. (1976)

Harry Nilsson - The Thing About Harry (1997)

Heaven Adores You (2014)

History of the Eagles (2013– )

History of the World in 2 Hours (2011 TV Movie)

Hitchcock/Truffaut (2015)

Hitsville: The Making of Motown (2019)

How They Got Over (2018)

I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life & Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal (2007)

If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd (2018)

Image Makers: The Adventures of America's Pioneer Cinematographers (2019)

Imagine: John Lennon (1988)

Jaco (2015)

Janis: Little Girl Blue (2015)

Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child (2010)

Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)

The Keepers (II) (2017)  

The Last Waltz (1978)

The Layover (2011– ) 

Leadbelly (1976)

Leonard da Vinci (2024)

Lincoln (2006)

Listen to Me Marlon (2015)

Living with Lincoln (2015 TV Movie)

Lost Songs: The Basement Tapes Continued (2014)

Love to Love You, Donna Summer (2023)

Mae West: Dirty Blonde (2020)

Marathon: The Patriots Day Bombing (2016)

Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love (2019)

Marley (2012)

The Melies Mystery (2021)

Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (2012)

The Men Who Built America (2012)

Meru (2015)

Moonage Daydream (2022)

Moonlanding (2019) [related article]

Moon Machines (2008– )

Muscle Shoals (2013)

The Newspaperman: The Life and Times of Ben Bradlee (2017) 

Nuremberg: Its Lesson for Today (2022)

Picasso and Braque Go to the Movies (2008)

Queen: A Night at the Opera (2006)

The Real Charlie Chaplin (2021)

Rolling Like Thunder (2021)

Salesman (1969)

Salinger (2013)

Secrets of the Whales (2021)

Sinatra: All or Nothing at All (2015– )

Sisters with Transistors (2020)

Stax: Soulsville U.S.A. (2024)

Stephen Foster

Stop at Nothing: The Lance Armstrong Story (2014)

They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)

Third Reich: The Rise & Fall (2010– )

Tina (2021)

Under the Volcano (2021)

We Stand Alone Together (2001)

What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015)

Winged Migration (2001)

Wings of Desire: The Angels Among Us (2003)

Winston Churchill: Walking with Destiny (2010)

You See Me Laughin': The Last of the Hill Country Bluesmen (2001) IMDB

Art Films


  • Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams [fiction]
  • Artemisia
  • The Art of the Steal
  • At Eternity’s Gate (about van Gogh)
  • Basquiat
  • Cezanne: Riddle of the Bathers
  • Da Vinci Detective, The
  • For No Good Reason
  • Frida
  • Frida Kahlo
  • Gauguin: The Full Story
  • Girl with a Pearl Earring (about Vermeer)
  • Haiti Treasures: Out of the Rubble
  • The Impressionists – The Other French Revolution
  • In a Dream (about Isaiah Zagar)
  • Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child
  • Loving Vincent
  • Lust for Life (about van Gogh)
  • Magic, Sex, Death (about Picasso)
  • Mary Cassatt: A Brush With Independence
  • Mistral’s Daughter [fiction]
  • Moulin Rouge (1952) (about Toulouse-Lautrec)
  • Moulin Rouge (2001)
  • The Mystery of Picasso
  • Paris: Luminous Years
  • Picasso
  • Picasso: A Film by Didier Baussy-Oulianoff
  • Picasso and Braque Go to the Movies
  • Picasso: Magic, Sex, Death
  • Pollock
  • Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol
  • Surviving Picasso
  • Toulouse-Lautrec and Montmartre
  • Van Gogh’s Van Goghs
  • Vincent & Theo
  • Without Gorky

ART Lessons

 

Impressionism and Post-Impressionism


Impressionism (and Post-Impressionism) is, without a doubt, the most popular movement in art… for a very good reason. Even those who know very little about art can often spot a Renoir [‘Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Painter’] a van Gogh or a Monet. Today Vincent van Gogh draws crowds the way the Beatles did in the ’60s. [‘Van Gogh’s Van Goghs’] One Gauguin exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC I attended was packed for weeks, maybe months. [‘The Lure of the Exotic: Gauguin in New York Collections’] Visiting a Monet exhibit a few years ago at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, I had to stand in line for hours! One of the finest shows I’ve seen on the Impressionists was ‘Impressionist Still Life’ at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston… incredibly moving! [See: ‘Pissarro’ … ‘The Impressionists – The Other French Revolution’ … ‘Manet’]


In the former studio of the photographer Nadar at 35 boulevard des Capucines, Paris, April 15, 1874, a group of artists, rejected by the juries of the Salon, offered their work for public view. Although some critics appreciated the “new painting,” most subjected the artists to ridicule. The work of the “Impressionists” eventually led to what is now recognized as Modern Art… and the great movements of the Fauves, Matisse, Picasso, Basquiat… and so on. The father of modern art, Paul Cezanne, inspired most of the greatest artists of the 20th century. [‘Cezanne Biography’] And we never seem to be able to get enough of their gorgeous colours, their intensity and luminosity, and want to be moved by them over and over.


The twilight of the fin-de-sicle era [‘Explosive Acts: Toulouse-Lautrec, Oscar Wilde, Felix Feneon, and the Art & Anarchy of the Fin de Siecle’] – Paris at the turn of the century – was a magical time for painters such as Toulouse-Lautrec, ‘Suzanne Valadon: The Mistress of Montmartre’, Degas and the others who were pioneers of an exciting new style… as wonderfully depicted in the original movie, ‘Moulin Rouge,’ and the recent ‘Moulin Rouge.’ Monet was the great master of Impressionism… and Mary Cassatt was bold, smart, driven… a woman ahead of her time who paved the way for so many artists. [See: ‘Mary Cassatt: A Life : A Life’… ‘Mary Cassatt: A Brush With Independence’] … ‘Berthe Morisot’ managed to have it all – home, family and a career! Paul Gauguin became the mystic savage painter of Tahitian visions… he was a colourist extraordinaire. [‘Paul Gauguin: A complete life’] …and his wonderful diary remains a testament to his motives – [‘Noa Noa: The Tahiti Journal of Paul Gauguin’]. The greatest biography on Toulouse-Lautrec and the Fin De Siecle.


Vincent van Gogh, supported by his devoted brother, Theo, was the mystic and visionary painter of golden azure… [‘Van Gogh: His Life And His Art’] You’ll thoroughly enjoy ‘Lust for Life’ – one of the most wonderful films about van Gogh… and ‘Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams’. And the definitive biography ‘Vincent and Theo Van Gogh: A Dual Biography’ by Jan Hulsker is a true masterpiece in itself!


The fascinating story of the Impressionists and the Post Impressionists is a never-ending journey, which never ceases to inspire new artists to reach for new heights. And, to think… it all really began with Manet’s “Olympia” – [‘Edouard Manet: Rebel in a Frock Coat’]. One of the most amazing exhibits was in 2006 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC – Cezanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde – truly a great education about dealer extraordinaire, Ambroise Vollard, and how he was always in the right place at the right time.  He was instrumental in the careers of all the major players of Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, on into the era of the Fauves and modern art.


One of the greatest stories about art in the early 20th century is "The Art of the Steal" - a documentary that follows the struggle for control of Dr. Albert C. Barnes' 25 billion dollar collection of modern and post-impressionist art. If you're ever in Philadelphia, visit the Barnes Collection. See Sandy's pics here.


Modern Art


Modern Art brought forth exciting, new, creative self-expression.  The Fauves (wild beasts) were named for their use of colour.  The original Fauve was Henri Matisse.  There is a marvelous biography called ‘The Unknown Matisse’ by Hilary Spurling, a brilliant scholar, which tells of the beginnings of Fauvism.  Also, look for the second volume: ‘Matisse the Master : A Life of Henri Matisse: The Conquest of Colour: 1909-1954’. And here’s an excellent site about Matisse/Picasso.


‘The Mystery of Picasso’, a ’50s documentary, is almost literally a day in the life of Picasso – the camera watching him paint, draw and create through a transparent screen that makes the viewer feel as if he or she is participating in the actual creation of his works. John Richardson’s series of biographies on Picasso are the best: ‘Life of Picasso – Vol. I’, ‘Life of Picasso – Vol. II’, ‘Life of Picasso – Vol. III,’ and the documentary: ‘Magic, Sex, Death.’  A wonderful feature film (though the Picasso estate refused to allow any of Picasso’s paintings to appear in the movie) is ‘Surviving Picasso’ starring Anthony Hopkins, loosely based on Francois Gilot’s ‘Life With Picasso.’  You’ll enjoy reading Gertrude Stein’s writings about Picasso, and her enigmatic, ‘Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas,’ which opens up the world of art in early 20th century Paris.

Frida Kahlo‘s life with Diego Rivera was depicted beautifully by Salma Hayek and Alfred Molina in the film, ‘Frida’.  A documentary: ‘Frida Kahlo’… and every artist should read The Diary of Frida Kahlo.


‘Jean-Michel Basquiat’, Sandy Frazier’s contemporary, was a graffiti artist, a/k/a SAMO, who died all too young in the ’80s.  The movie, ‘Basquiat’, by Julian Schnabel, tells the story of the turbulent period from the late 1970s to 1988, as his life was catapulted into fame and notoriety.


…And the infamous Andy Warhol Diaries, which is a real page-turner, even at over 800 pages…  You’ll get to know Warhol personally and intimately in this document of his life from 1977 to his death where every day he dictated his expenses and activities from the day before to Pat Hackett.  Warhol was the consummate artist – constantly observing life around him, all the people, moods, movies, fashion, events… creating works of art out of every minute of his life… and loving every minute of it… so much more than 15 minutes.  And read Bob’s definitive biography about Andy Warhol, Holy Terror: Andy Warhol Close Up.


Chester Dale (1883-1962) is best known for the magnificent paintings he bequeathed to the National Gallery of Art, which he acquired with the expert guidance of his first wife, Maud (1876-1953). They assembled one of the finest collections in America of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century paintings: The Chester Dale Collection.

Copyright © 1997-2025, Sandy Frazier / SandyFrazier.com - All Rights Reserved


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