I watched a beautiful movie this weekend. It is a true story, so the ending is not pretty. It is about the French painter Seraphine de Senlis, born in 1864 to the laborer / farm workers class. Her primary means of making a living is house cleaning, and through that, one of her clients stumbles across an early painting of Seraphine's of apples.
The client happens to be the German art critic and collector Wilhelm Uhde. The path to her fame was not straightforward due to WWI and the depression, but Seraphine continued to paint, totally untrained, and mixing her own colors. Her work is insanely beautiful. Seraphine was not 100% mentally and ended up institutionalized for "chronic psychosis". Like I said, true stories suck.
This movie is mainly, to me, about the artist's need to create. The movie shows Seraphine's appreciation for the feel of water, the view from a tree, the sunlight coming through leaves. By the end of the movie, I really felt how Seraphine needed to paint. She would rather paint than eat or pay her rent. I have not seen another movie that expresses this need so well.
If you liked Bright Star, you will like this movie. I have attached a picture from the movie, as well as a picture of Seraphine herself.
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