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Frida in the first book describing how Hollywood portrayed the lives of great artists
21 July 2025
"The Hollywood History of Art" by Christopher Frayling is based on many years of archive research and interviews with participants.
Since the early days of sound cinema, Hollywood and its collaborators have produced a wide array of lavish biopics centered on famous artists. These films have featured a variety of notable actors in iconic roles: Fredric March as Cellini, Charles Laughton as Rembrandt, George Sanders as Gauguin, José Ferrer as Toulouse-Lautrec, Kirk Douglas as Van Gogh, Charlton Heston as Michelangelo, Mel Ferrer as El Greco—and in more recent times, Jeffrey Wright as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Derek Jacobi as Francis Bacon, Ed Harris as Jackson Pollock, and Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo, among others.
In pursuit of commercial success, these movies often portray artists’ lives as dramatic arcs—tracing their paths from poverty and obscurity to fame, indulgence, despair, and often an early death. Though often overlooked or criticized by art scholars and curators, such films provide valuable insight into how art and the figure of the artist have become embedded in the broader culture of the West.
Christopher Frayling (born 1946) is is an award-winning broadcaster, a writer and a cultural historian. He is Professor Emeritus of Cultural History at the RCA and a Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge. His previous books with Reel Art Press include The 2001 File (2015), Frankenstein: The First Two Hundred Years (2017), Once Upon a Time in the West: Shooting a Masterpiece (2019) and Sergio Leone by Himself (2024).
Remarkably, until now, no comprehensive book has been written on this compelling intersection between Hollywood and the art world.
Other info on the book at the link below.
