Art and Craft

One of my favorite types of documentaries is definitely the "eccentric character study," and this entry is no slouch. I don't know whether to applaud or despise Landis.

I recommend it.

"Art and Craft" from 2014 is about art forger Mark Landis.

Mark Landis is an odd person with ears that stick out. He looks like he's about 70, except at the time of the film, he was 59. He speaks softly, sometimes in incomplete thoughts.

And he has a strange hobby. He copies art and donates the art to museums, taking no money or tax deduction, and claims that it was his mother or sister Emily's wish that the museum have this particular piece. He doesn't have a sister Emily.

After years, an art registrar, Mark Leininger, caught onto him as he was doing his due diligence on some of the donated art. He realized that there were as many as six copies of the same painting donated around the country.

He actually hasn't broken any laws because it was up to the museum experts whether or not to accept the art.

Leininger decided to give Landis an art show, where viewers would be able to see the frauds and learn about them. Leininger said that he had no idea what he would say when he saw him - what he said was, "Glad to see you." He's such an unassuming man, you can't see him as evil. And he isn't. Mischievous maybe.

The documentary is really remarkable - to see this man put on a priest collar - he gave away art using several aliases, pick up a briefcase, and, slumped over, walk to his car and go to the next museum. One of Leininger's theories about Landis is that he likes putting one over on the experts. He was encouraged at the show to display his talent by painting his own original works.

An only child, Landis was very close to both of his parents and had a nervous breakdown when his father died. He took care of his mother after Katrina, and her death is still very upsetting to him. His apartment is filled with her things and photos. He now goes to Menninger Clinic and sees a psychiatrist there and receives medication. He's a sad man, but doing the art work gives him adventures.

The most interesting thing about this documentary is Landis himself, though seeing how he does the forgeries is fascinating. He is very talented, and he gives the copy place a lot of business (he does a lot with copying things to different sizes).

Recommended -- no question, he's an oddball. Not sure what he's doing now - he said at the end he really can't continue giving away art work, now that everyone has his number. But he did put on that priest collar...don't put anything past him.

I really wish the film Art and Craft had been made a few years ago before I retired from teaching. This is because in my psychology classes, I occasionally showed my students films about strange people and we'd discuss the possible diagnoses that you could give to the folks portrayed in the film. Well, in the case of Art and Craft, this really would have opened up some wonderful discussions, as the man featured in this documentary, Mark Landis is one odd character...and that's putting is mildly!

So what is it about Mark that makes him unusual you may ask. Well, he's a world-class forger and has made hundreds of copies of great works of art. This in of itself is not so unusual. Hold on to your hats. Mark then DONATES these paintings to various art galleries across the United States! He receives no money for this and his only reward is knowing that he's tricked the museums into hanging his fakes. In some cases, he's even gone to extremes to put over these fakes--such as posing as a priest or a variety of other people!

At this point you are probably wondering what makes him tick--and that is what makes the film so interesting. Landis is obviously mentally ill--but not necessarily in a traditional sense. Does he have a personality disorder? Well, a true antisocial personality would do this for money and personal gain--but where is the gain? He's been diagnosed as schizophrenic and I'll admit that he's odd and a tad delusional-- but can such a person normally be able to convince so many people that he's a great philanthropist?! He also reminds me quite a bit of someone with an Autism Spectrum disorder, as his social skills are incredibly poor in some ways and he has a savant-like ability to copy paintings almost exactly. Yet, interestingly, he cannot make anything really original. His one 'original' picture that he talks about is just a drawing of a photograph. So, he's an amazing artist with no apparent ability to abstract or create something on his own.

But there is still far more to the story--including another individual who sure shows a lot of Obsessive-Compulsive traits--so much so that he appears to have given up his job in order to follow Landis and identify his fakes! All in all , this is one very strange documentary...but also one that you cannot stop watching because it IS so strange and compelling. Additionally, some of the special features on the DVD (which came out this week) are pretty interesting. So why an A- and not a higher score? Because although the film is interesting, it does leave a lot unsaid and unexplained- -such as how Landis can afford his supplies and to travel the country posing as a philanthropist even though he has no job. Odd but definitely worth your time.

Art and Craft is one of the most fascinating documentaries about art that I have ever seen. It's well made, well put together, and delivers a very satisfying experience overall. In fact, this film fascinated me more than some live action movies have.

Art and Craft is a documentary that follows a few days in the life of famous art forger, Mark. A Landis. Mr. Landis is a savant who has spent 30 years deceiving museums with his drawings by making them believe that they actually have art by a famous artist, when, in fact it's just him. Landis has the amazing ability to copy a painting almost exactly like the original artist, although Landis is not a very good artist, rarely paints original art of his own, and prefers instead to cheat and copy. This film explores Landis as we see him go through his childhood, learn how he became obsessed with art, how his fraud was eventually exposed, and also see him prepare for an exhibit based upon his "fake" work.

This documentary was a very pleasant surprise. After weeks of films that were okay, but lackluster, Art and Craft's high quality was a breath of fresh air. This documentary doesn't portray Landis as a criminal or villain, or glorify him as some sort of hero. Instead, it just portrays him as a real human being who is a curiously strange person. In total, Landis has given 47 forged paintings to 46 art museums around America. In the film, we see interviews with Landis himself where he explains why he became a forger, what his life is like, and his understanding of his mental problems. We also see interviews with people who have met Landis, or people who worked at various art museums that Landis has tried to give forged paintings to, and how they may or may not see him as a villain. This documentary method is quite effective and allows us to see perspective from both sides.

Some of the directing choices in this film were interesting as well. Filmmakers Sam Cullman and Jennifer Grausman really show they know how to use a camera. Sequences such as the one where we see Landis's photo gallery and his forged art really help to emphasize him as a person. While I quite liked how the regular scenes kept being intercut with movie clips from films like Casablanca and Charlie Chan, as Landis is shown to be a bit of a classic film fan, having grown up watching a lot of television and movies.

Art and Craft is a wonderfully made documentary about one of the most fascinating characters of real life art. I've watched plenty of great documentaries in the past, but this one reminds me of why I find filmmaking to be interesting in the first place. I definitely recommended this film.

Everybody loves art, it doesn't matter what form of art, it's something we enjoy looking at. So to have somebody like Mark A. Landis copying some of the greatest artists' works is worth debating. It's clear Landis needs some help, he's clearly on the spectrum. Should he be in prison? I don't think so. Should he been instutitionalized? Probably, or certainly if he continues plagerizing, because that's what he basically does, and that's still punishable by the law. It doesn't matter if he donates his copies, he still does it with the intention to fool everybody, so yes he perfectly knows what he's doing. Everybody can have his opinion about the matter but to me he's definitely a criminal. If he would copy all those art pieces and hang them in his house, that's a whole other thing. That would be his hobby and personal collection. But that's not what he's doing, he signs his works with the signature of the original artist and that's a crime. Landis is a weird person, he reminded me of Norman Bates from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, talking about his 'mother' in an almost obsessive way. That man needs help, that's for sure. I will never get why he's just not painting his own stuff, he's clearly talented. Matthew Leininger on the other hand reminds me of Bookman from Seinfeld. He's a bit too obsessed by the whole case, it was almost sad to see his daughter being dragged into this, but without him those falsified works would probably still hang in all those museums. So a big thanks to him for his persistance. The documentary is well made, it's awkward but informative. I have no clue why Landis hasn't been on trial yet because he should. I guess they have bigger things on their mind than preserving the integrity of the artwork.