Projected Art History: Biopics, Celebrity Culture, and the Popularizing of American Art

365 Pages·2014·2.479 MB·English

by  Doris Berger

Projected Art
History
InternatIonal texts In CrItICal
MedIa aesthetICs
Volume 8
Founding Editor
Francisco J. Ricardo
Series Editor
Jörgen Schäfer
Editorial Board
John Cayley
George Fifield
Rita Raley
InternatIonal texts In CrItICal MedIa aesthetICs
Projected Art
History
Biopics, Celebrity Culture, and the
Popularizing of American Art
dorIs Berger
Bloomsbury Academic
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Bloomsbury is a registered trade mark of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published in English 2014
Translated from German to English by Brigitte Pichon and Dorian Rudnytsky.
© Doris Berger, 2014
Original title: Projizierte Kunstgeschichte: Mythen und Images in den Filmbiografien über
Jackson Pollock and Jean-Michel Basquiat (Bielefeld: transcript, 2009).
The translation of this work was funded by Geisteswissenschaften International – Translation
Funding for Humanities and Social Sciences from Germany, a joint initiative of the Fritz
Thyssen Foundation, the German Federal Foreign Office, the collecting society VG WORT
and the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (German Publishers & Booksellers
Association)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or
any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the
publishers.
No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from
action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or the
author.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Berger, Doris, 1972-
[Projizierte Kunstgeschichte. English]
Projected art history: biopics, celebrity culture, and the popularizing of American art / Doris
Berger; [translated from German to English by Brigitte Pichon and Dorian Rudnytsky].
pages cm -- (International texts in critical media aesthetics; Volume 8)
Summary: “Examines the biopics of two artists in order to analyze a popular art history as it
is created by a film genre”-- Provided by publisher.
Original title: Projizierte Kunstgeschichte : Mythen und Images in den Filmbiografien über
Jackson Pollock and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Bielefeld: transcript, 2009.
ISBN 978-1-62356-032-4 (hardback)
1. Artists in motion pictures. 2. Biographical films--United States--History and criticism.
3. Art and popular culture--United States. 4. Art, American--20th century--Public opinion.
5. Basquiat (Motion picture) 6. Pollock (Motion picture) I. Berger, Doris, 1972- Projizierte
Kunstgeschichte. Translation of: II. Title.
PN1995.9.A76P7613 2014
791.43’657--dc23
2013049439
ISBN: 978-1-6235-6734-7
Typeset by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NN
Contents
Acknowledgments viii
List of Figures xi
1 Artists’ biographies in film as popular art history 1
On the complicated relationship of art and film 3
Art history in biopics 6
Gender in genres 9
Artists’ myths and star legends 11
What, why, how: On choice and methodology 13
2 Pollock: A popular historiography 23
A public image through life: Life Magazine as image
producer 26
The Pollock myth: Its ideological use in media 30
The biopic Pollock and its models in different media 36
The production of film myths 40
“The Life Painter”: A prelude 45
The myth of the tragic hero 48
The painter and his creative processes 57
The white canvas: Artistic virtuosity and media game 59
Photography as an agent of death: The artist becomes an
icon 68
The radio as medium of information 71
Film in film: The turning point 75
Myths and media: A momentous marriage 86
vi Contents
Lee Krasner: From an ambitious artist to a successful woman
in the background 92
Situating Lee Krasner 94
Decisions of an artist 97
Representing Krasner in the film 100
The artist disappears 103
The absence of the artist 110
Clement Greenberg: The influential referee 113
The art critic in the film 116
Peggy Guggenheim: The eccentric patron 121
The gallery owner and collector in the film 124
The staging of artistic authorship 130
The authorships of Ed Harris 134
3 Basquiat and celebrity culture 159
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s image as artist 162
Telling stories: From the gutter to the gallery—from the
sprayer to the artist 166
Creating icons: The artist portrayed 170
An artist’s image: The marketing of an American artist 186
The director: An artist on being an artist 194
The producers: Between educational and economic
ambitions 201
The artist’s life in film: Three sequences 205
Hungry for a genius 205
How to become a star 208
Speedy rider 210
“Black painter”: Identity discourses 213
Looks and habits: Artists’ images 218
Just do it! Spontaneous creativity 223
René Ricard: The desired and desiring critic 233
Idols and rivals: Models and counter-models 236
Andy Warhol superstar 237
Contents vii
David Bowie’s mimicry 242
The staging of difference: “Both played each other’s
other” 245
Cinematic autobiography via side glances at celebrity
culture 256
Painterly filmmaker 258
The authorship of an “interartist” 262
Under the banner of hybridity 265
4 Hollywood’s art histories: A web of artists’ myths
and star legends 295
Filmic images in comparison 296
Interwoven authorships 302
Exploring the center and the margins of biopics 305
Filmography 311
Bibliography 315
Index 345
aCknowledgMents
My wish to make this book available to an English-speaking
audience finally came true. Had it not been for a chance encounter
with Francisco J. Ricardo through an introduction by Candy
Coleman at a museum opening in Los Angeles in 2011, this book
would probably not exist. Francisco’s enthusiasm and support,
along with his wonderful contacts Katie Gallof at Bloomsbury
and Jörgen Schäfer, his co-editor in Germany, presented me with
the opportunity to transform my wish into a reality. Without
the generous grant from “Geisteswissenschaften International –
Translation Funding for Humanities and Social Sciences from
Germany” and the Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Getty Research
Institute, this book would not have been possible either. My deepest
gratitude goes to all of these people and institutions. When Jörgen
Schäfer referred me to the German-American translator team of
Brigitte Pichon and Dorian Rudnytsky, the journey could begin.
Brigitte and Dorian always found good solutions for complicated
thoughts and I thank them for their dedication to helping transfer
my voice into English. I am grateful to Jessie Park who helped me
with rights and permissions and to Robert Levine for his critical
reading.
The book was first written and published in German by transcript
in Bielefeld, Germany. I would like to thank Christine Jüchter for
being so willing to set out on this cross-continental adventure.
Although I updated and corrected parts of the book, the main
research and narrative are based on the original publication. That
research was the result of my dissertation, which was conducted
using archives and interviewing key protagonists in Berlin, New
York, and Los Angeles. I am indebted to the generosity and inval-
uable insights that Ed Harris granted me regarding his decisions
and experiences in making the biopic Pollock. Additional thanks
go to Julian Schnabel, who allowed me to accompany him on a
aCknowledgMents ix
full workday while he reflected on his time making Basquiat; and
Peter Brant, who spoke with me about his role as a film producer
for both biopics. I would also like to thank Paul Tschinkel, the
Museum of Modern Art Archives in Queens, the Pollock-Krasner
House and Study Center in East Hampton, the Staatsbibliothek
and the Kunstbibliothek of the Staatliche Museen in Berlin, the
John F. Kennedy Institute for North America Studies at the Freie
Universität in Berlin, the archives of the Deutsche Kinemathek in
Berlin as well as the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, for
granting me access to important material.
The original research was funded by a scholarship at the
Graduate Program InterArt at the Freie Universität, Berlin, as well
as by the generous support of my mother Monika Berger. For the
scholarly encouragement I would like to express my gratitude
to Katharina Sykora and Gertrud Koch as well as to Sabine
Kampmann, Alma-Elisa Kittner, and Anja Herrmann in Berlin and
beyond. And last but not least, I would like to thank my husband,
Steven Steinman, who was always there whenever I needed him
most, for both versions of the book, in Germany and the United
States. To him I dedicate this book.