Over at Modern Art Notes, Tyler Green has posted an interesting little challenge to his fellow bloggers. In response to the announcement of the production of a movie based on a Thomas Kinkade painting, he has suggested five paintings that might make better movies. Then he suggests that his readers do the same.

It strikes me as an excellent way to engage students on the subject of art analysis; to look at paintings and speculate about the story in the context of a movie adaptation.

..and as an art teacher and film enthusiast, how can I resist?

1. Figure at Window


One of Dali's early paintings, Figure at Window has always struck me as one of his most interesting - ironically enough. I picture the girl staring out into the distance and imagining the sort of strange and unusual things that are to come in the artist's future work. What a great opening scene...

2. L'etoile


When I first saw this painting as a child, it frightened me because the girl looks so ghost-like in the footlights. Then there's the half-visible man standing just offstage. A little creepy, right? The movie that I'd envision made from this painting would probably have nothing to do with Degas' original intent.

3. Course of Empire


This was Thomas Cole's five painting series about the rise and fall of a fictitious empire. The one pictured here is the fourth painting, Destruction. The movie version will have to be a five-part epic (one for each painting, and to up the ante from Lord of the Rings).

4. I and the Village


The pitch meeting for Chagall's masterpiece at the studio would go like this: "Think Fiddler on the Roof meets The Hulk". Yeah, that joke would have worked better if I selected "The Violinist". Oh well, I've just always liked this painting better.

5. L'Assassin Menace


This was actually one of the first paintings that came to mind, but on second thought, I'd hate to see this made into a movie. Magritte creates enough mystery in this single frame - why spoil it with a few thousand more?