About

Pentimenti is excited to premiere the Art Documentary Database, a free, new online educational resource! The Art Documentary Database is an open-access, living archive that features an ever-growing catalog of documentary films about art. The project was originally ideated during the quarantine as an educational resource to continue our mission of producing, supporting, and exhibiting films about art and artists. The database currently includes over one-hundred films, with new titles added every month. Entries include a short description and are cataloged based on artistic medium, in addition to other tags, such as “Woman Filmmaker,” “Black Art,” and “LGBTQ+ Art.” Films can be filtered via these tags; for example, search for “painting” and “woman filmmaker” and you’ll find Halina Dyrschka’s Beyond the Visible, a documentary about pioneering abstract painter Hilma af Klint. Find a brief video tutorial on how to navigate the Art Documentary Database here. Please note, the database is a research tool for discovering new films: titles are not accessible or viewable within the database itself; however, we do link their official website or IMDb page for streaming options.

The Art Documentary Database was developed with an open-access ethos in mind; in addition to being free to use, anybody is welcome to submit an art documentary for inclusion in the database via this form. Our intent is not to curate the database, but instead provide an exhaustive and comprehensive catalog of art documentaries, irrespective of popularity or obscurity. Indeed, the ultimate goal of the project is to include every art documentary ever made. The database is a spiritual successor to Pentimenti’s Chicago Imagist Archive, an interactive, encyclopedic resource surveying the who, what, when, where, and why of Chicago Imagism.

The database is currently in beta, and we are continuing to update its interface and functionality. Please address any comments, questions, or ideas to harrison@pentimentiproductions.org