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Biopics on artists influence the popular perception of artists' lives and work. Projected Art History highlights the narrative structure and images created in the film genre of biopics, in which an artist's life is being dramatized and embodied by an actor. Concentrating on the two case studies, Basquiat (1996) and Pollock (2000), the book also discusses larger issues at play, such as how postwar American art history is being mediated for mass consumption.
This book bridges a gap between art history, film studies and popular culture by investigating how the film genre of biopics adapts written biographies. It identifies the functionality of the biopic genre and explores its implication for a popular art history that is projected on the big screen for a mass audience.
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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 An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Inc 1385 Broadway 50 Bedford Square New York London NY 10018 WC1B 3DP USA UK www.bloomsbury.com 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<