Artists Must Live (1953)

Little in life comes free: one question that should be asked of any art form is who's paying for it. It's the question asked by this interesting film on visual artists in early postwar Britain, established and struggling alike - including well-known names like John Piper and Patrick Heron, as well as others long-forgotten. The film provides several answers to the question, one of them being the Arts Council - who paid for the film.
Art historian Basil Taylor presents the film and interviews several of its subjects, in between leisurely sequences surveying paintings and sculptures to the strains of the BBC Radio Orchestra. A fairly modest but well-mounted production, it's of some historical importance as the first of many films sponsored by the Arts Council - in this case co-producing with the BBC. A hybrid of early factual television and the older tradition of sponsored documentary, it's an early work by director John Read, who would be the BBC's prime specialist in fine art documentaries over some 40 years.
Subscribe: bit.ly/subscribetotheBFI.
Watch more on the BFI Player: player.bfi.org.uk/
Follow us on Twitter: / bfi
Like us on Facebook: / britishfilminstitute
Follow us on Google+: plus.google.com/+britishfilmi...

[@tortera]

Thankyou so much

[@dzadza7775]

Looks like Anthony Blunt interviewing and commenting

[@ericbenjamin2908]

Lots of. very busy music to be heard but no mention of who wrote or performed it.

[@TheScreamingFrog916]

This is an interesting look into the lives of English artist, back in 1953. It's a little hard to imagine thousands of artists painting, and what their interactions must have been like. How hard to break out, as original. Lots of smoking tobacco back then, lol.

[@felixbode5751]

Easier than nowadays!!

[@matthewstokes1608]

Smoking was everywhere until the 90s

[@MrDanty64]

would have been nice to have seen how these guys made money outside of art, doing whatever, but then again, that's another doc by itself. At the same time this one stands on its own because there is so much of this style and technique that needs to be adhered to today...

[@TheSimMan]

8:44 Keith Vaughan

[@shoshana-xs4cm]

These were the post war years when money was scarse and the country was recovering, while still paying back war loans. I was born in this decade and I love these artists and the fact that the film is in black and white.: requires more imagination.The voracious publicists had not yet emerged to promote ‘investment’ over genuine talent.

[@TheScreamingFrog916]

This is a great documentary, shame it's not in color. Thanks for posting.

[@marceltzara3253]

In 1953 Post War England was still in Black and White. It wasn't until LSD that colour came into existence in Britain during the 60's

[@TheScreamingFrog916]

@@marceltzara3253 That certainly explains the Beatles phenomenon. LOL I was born in 1960, and I clearly remember getting our first Color TV. Those were exciting times :-)

[@marceltzara3253]

@@TheScreamingFrog916 yes i clearly remember the same thing. Our old TV was housed in a wood and wickerwork box on legs like some kind of Edwardian furniture - Then C O L O U R arrived ; it really was something and the game of snooker started to make sense

[@TheScreamingFrog916]

@@marceltzara3253 LOL, great point about snooker in BW, vs Colour. Good memories.

[@neilsaunders9309]

Thank God it's not in colour! Colour is great in its place, when it is - dare I say? - artistically appropriate, but the black and white images here evoke the era. The current fad for colourising old films is nothing less than criminal vandalism.

[@dzadza7775]

But on second thoughts not him.

[@marceltzara3253]

Fabulous, I don't think there is one female artist mentioned. In 1953 women had the task of supplying tea and making biscuits and were therefore unable to attend art school...

[@666-fire2]

Women painted during 1953 they just didn't like the poverty and risk of doing it full time.

[@MrDanty64]

@@666-fire2 very bold and well put. heck it would be good to see a doc on them

[@neilsaunders9309]

Rubbish! Women in 1953 had no such task and plenty of them attended art colleges.

[@matthewstokes1608]

Few women have any talent - this is the issue.

[@Rusland55]

English modernism always seems so tentative.

[@saeedurrahman2056]

This video was taken 66 years ago