Day of the Painter

A gent arrives at the end of a rickety old pier and places a large piece of white cardboard on the mud flat below. Then he prepares a dozen or so tins of what look like standard house paint, stirs a little with the end of his brush then proceeds to just lob the contents straight from the cans onto the "canvas" below. With two of his friends looking on almost as bemusedly as the birds milling about on the water, this man creates something that I believe they call splash and drip. His work of art is then retrieved from the ground and cut up into squares just in time for the arrival of a small seaplane. This comes from the "Galerie des Abstractes" - New York and Paris, don't you know - from which emerges a dapper gentleman. He peruses this collection - but will he buy anything? It's quite a jolly little satire, this, poking a bit of fun at the superciliousness of art and the artiste whilst also quite clearly demonstrating that anyone can have a go, and that any beauty created is in the eye of the beholder! It's not the most environmentally friendly film you will ever watch, as you might notice at the end - but it's tongue is in it's cheek and though a little repetitively scored, is still quite enjoyable.

42 years later the images from this extraordinary little film still remain clearly imbedded...wish i could find out how to get a copy.

i believe that this won an academy award.

arguably the best short film ever made.

I saw this wonderful and clever short early in the 1960's, and have been retelling the whole story dozens of times ever since, in several different parts of the world, in fact. It's just as highly relevant to the arts today as it was back then. It's a great wordless and humorous commentary on how some of the "modern" artists appear to create their works, and how they manage to sell them once the artists' reputations are established.

"Day of the Painter" is ideally suited for television showings, either as a "filler" after a full-length show has ended with about ten minutes (or less) to spare; or as a superb entry for any festival or competition for "Best Humorous Short in Film History".

This is a delightful short subject from 1960. If memory serves me there is no dialogue, and there is some mystery to what the film is leading up to, but everything becomes abundantly clear by the surprise ending.

A nicely paced film. Excellent cinemaphotography using a very scenic area as background. I believe this film won an Oscar in 1960, which was well deserved.

If anyone knows how to get a copy of this film, preferably in a contemporary format, PLEASE let me know.

I worked at the Fine Arts theater in Beverly hills in 1960 where this "Short" premiered. I probably saw it a hundred times. Members of the Academy came to view it, including celebrities. It was well loved, and yes, it won the Academy Award for the best Short 1960. I would love to see it again, if anyone can find it.

The two other wonderful movies that had exclusive long term showing while I was there......"Never on Sunday" with Melina Mercouri. A romantic Greek comedy, with subititles It was up for awards. The theme song won.

The other movie was "Sons and Lovers", based on D. H,. Lawrences novel. Jack Cardiff recieved an Oscar nomination for Director.

I feel so lucky to be exposed to the high quality movies of this era as a teenager.