National Gallery Behind the Scenes of a London Institution
Frederick Wiseman's NATIONAL GALLERY takes the audience behind the scenes of a London institution, on a journey to the heart of a museum inhabited by masterpieces of Western art from the Middle Ages to the 19th Century. NATIONAL GALLERY is the portrait of a place, its way of working and relations with the world, its staff and public, and its paintings. In a perpetual and dizzying game of mirrors, film watches painting watches film.
Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and the New York Film Festival. Nominated for Best Documentary Film at the Cesar Awards.
"Indeed, he's America's foremost practitioner of documentary-as-metaphor, building sweeping arguments of small details." -Ben Kenigsberg, RogerEbert.com
"This is one of Wiseman's richest and most thought-provoking films, and easily one of his best." -Budd Wilkins, Slant Magazine
Running Time
174 mins
Year
2014
Kanopy ID
3008550
Filmmakers
Languages
Subjects
Show More
Related videos
Goya: The Secret of the Shadows - A Look into Art, Authorship, and Spanish History
A photographer purchases an anonymous 19th-century portrait in Barcelona. He believes that it is an original Goya painting but is it real or fake? The acquisition of the portrait is the starting point of a journey d'auteur, a look into the authorship of his canvases and a reflection on art…
John Richardson: The Art of Picasso: 1927-1973
The celebrated art historian John Richardson has devoted his life to writing the definitive biography of Pablo Picasso. This film captures Richardson as he is writing the fourth and final volume of his biography. He shares his insights and observations on this period in Picasso's life, whom Richardson first met…
Everybody Knows... Elizabeth Murray - The Life of a Great Contemporary Painter
This intimate portrait of the groundbreaking artist Elizabeth Murray explores the relationship between Murray's family life and career and reconsiders her place in the contemporary art history.
Murray's personal journals, voiced in the film by Meryl Streep, give viewers a privileged window into Murray's internal struggles and incredible ambition. Verite…
Joaquin Sorolla: Journeys of Light - A Portrait of a Great Spanish Painter
Joaquin Sorolla's unique style captivated the world of international art; he was the first Spanish artist to achieve success in the United States at the beginning of the 20th century.
In this insightful documentary, Sorolla's granddaughter, Blanca Pons Sorolla; artist Antonio Lopez; and art historians Felipe Garin and Tomas Llorens;…
Exhibition on Screen: Cezanne, A Portrait of Life
Described by Picasso and Matisse as "the father of us all" Paul Cezanne is considered one of the greatest artists of all time.
During his life Cezanne painted almost a thousand works, two hundred of which were portraits. Despite this proliferation he remains the least well known of the impressionists…
Exhibition on Screen: Canaletto and the Art of Venice
Canaletto & the Art of Venice is an immersive journey into the life and art of Venice's famous view-painter. No artist better captures the essence and allure of the city than Giovanni Antonio Canal, known as Canaletto.
This film offers the chance to step inside two royal residencies - Buckingham…
Exhibition on Screen: The Artist's Garden, American Impressionism
Taking its lead from French artists like Renoir and Monet, the American impressionist movement followed its own path which over a forty-year period reveals as much about America as a nation as it does about its art as a creative power-house. It's a story closely tied to a love of…
Painters Painting
Originally released in 1973 but never before available, Painters Painting is the definitive documentary on the New York School of painters, from 1940-1970. Director Emile de Antonio (Point of Order and Millhouse) interviews artists in their studios about their art from the period of Abstract Expressionism, through Hard Edge and…
David Hockney: A Bigger Picture
Filmed over three years, this documentary is an unprecedented record of a major artist at work. It captures David Hockney's return from California to paint his native Yorkshire, outside, through the seasons and in all weathers. It tells the story of a homecoming and gives a revealing portrait of what…
Melancholia
Acclaimed filmmaker Lars von Trier grapples with his own experiences with depression to this dark sci-fi drama and Palme d'Or nominee. Justine (Kirsten Dunst) and Michael (Alexander Skarsgard) celebrate their marriage at a sumptuous party in the home of Justine's sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and brother-in-law John (Kiefer Sutherland). Despite…
Robert Morris: Retrospective
This retrospective exhibition gives brilliant insight into the artist's work of the last 4 decades. Credit for this highly sensitive selection of Morris' work goes to Rosalind Krauss, who curated the exhibition. We invited artist and curator to come back to the Guggenheim Museum for a second look at the…
The Key to Dalí - Researching a Possible Dalí Original Painting
Spanish scientist Tomeo L'Amo bought a painting in 1989 that he believed to be an original Dali. After 25 years of searching for the truth, an art expert in Paris changes his life.
Comments (3)
Far too long. Talking points are repeated by museum staff constantly and certain scenes are interminable. In the last hour or so, all Wiseman does is string one gallery/painting discussion after another, with no attempt to shape or contrast the different talks. And far too much emphasis is ...Read more
Far too long. Talking points are repeated by museum staff constantly and certain scenes are interminable. In the last hour or so, all Wiseman does is string one gallery/painting discussion after another, with no attempt to shape or contrast the different talks. And far too much emphasis is given to Old Masters, and I mean no disrespect by that remark. Near the end, he shows us some more modern, Impressionist work but it's too little, too late. The Louvre City (and even Francophonia) is a much better, similarly-styled documentary that doesn't try one's patience, and leaves one with more to think about than this.
Read lessBeautifully shot but dramtically inert, at three hours it's too much. Wiseman hasn't shaped the footage into a compelling narrative to justify its lenght.
very interesting. made me look and understand important paintings a second time around!