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To encapsulate the life of a person within the constraints of a film is a daunting task; to encapsulate the life and essence of an artist, perhaps even more so. With only a few minutes and the medium's limitations in hand, biopic movies about artists are ambitious efforts that try to convey what made the creative in question such a crucial part of art history, whether that's through a traditional biopic narrative or a more abstract structure.

Many filmmakers have set out to portray the lives of certain painters and sculptors. From Oscar laureates like Lust for Life to more underappreciated arthouse masterpieces like Andrei Rublev, these artist biopics succeed at showing the life that brought these icons to put out such extraordinary work while adding some creative elements to dive even deeper into their psyche and individuality.

10 'Big Eyes' (2014)

Director: Tim Burton

Though her work earned little acclaim from critics, audiences absolutely loved the "Big Eyed Waifs" of Margaret Keane, who's known for having started a movement characterized by painting subjects with unusually large eyes. Big Eyesis a drama about her success story, touching on the legal difficulties she had with her abusive husband, who claimed credit for her works in the '60s.

Despite his distinctive and instantly recognizable style, director Tim Burton has shown admirable versatility when it comes to working on different genres, and the biopic genre suits his storytelling sensibilities beautifully. With Big Eyes, he made one of the best biopics of the 2010s, with a phenomenal performance by the ever-great Amy Adams and his equally gifted sparring partner, Christoph Waltz. Big Eyes is the kind of unique portrayal of Keane that one might expect from a singular creative mind like Burton.

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9 'Pollock' (2000)

Director: Ed Harris

Jackson Pollockwas one of the most noteworthy American artists of the 20th century, a leading figure in the Abstract Expressionist movement, characterized by spontaneous brushstrokes and movements. Ed Harris makes his directorial debut and stars in Pollock, a biopic about the controversial painter's life and work, his problems with alcoholism, and his troubled marriage with Lee Krasner.

The film's two main performances are fantastic, with Harris earning an Oscar nomination for his work and Marcia Gay Harden winning Best Supporting Actress. More so than just plainly depicting his subject's life, however, Harris seems to be more interested in the nature of creativity and the creative process as reflected in Pollock's work. It's an interesting approach, certainly one that not many artist biopics take.

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8 'Camille Claudel' (1988)

Director: Bruno Nuytten

One of the most overlooked artists in European history, the French Camille Claudelwas a massively talented sculptor in her own right; alas, today, she's best known for having been Auguste Rodin's muse and mistress. Bruno Nuytten's Camille Claudel examines their relationship and Claudel's struggle to escape Rodin's shadow.

Isabelle Adjani got an Oscar nomination for playing Claudel, and Gérard Depardieu is terrific as Rodin. Camille Claudel is exquisitely poignant, as beautiful as its main characters' sculptures, and with a truly jaw-dropping performance by Adjani, an essential French film that everyone should watch at least once. It's an accurate character study with some outstanding production qualities, but its exceptionally sad, profoundly compelling story is the main attraction.

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7 'Frida' (2002)

Director: Julie Taymor

To this day,Frida Kahlois still recognized as one of Mexico's most important and renowned painters, best known for her intensely surreal work on topics like identity and the human body. One could talk about her for hours on end without running out of topics for conversation; her life was a story like no other, full of pain, always reflected as sheer beauty in her art. As such, Frida had a lot of ground to cover, and it did a fantastic job. With an unconventional approach to the biopic genre, this film shows how the artist channeled the pain of a crippling injury and her tumultuous marriage into her work.

Salma Hayek earned an Oscar nomination for playing Kahlo, and it was well deserved. Her performance is a tour de force that's marvelously complemented by Alfred Molina as Diego Rivera, Kahlo's husband and an eminent, galavanting artist. The relationship between these two complicated people is the main driving force behind Frida, but it does just as sharp a job of portraying what made the titular character so unique as an individual.

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6 'Maudie' (2016)

Director: Aisling Walsh

An exceptional folk artist from the province of Nova Scotia in Canada, Maud Lewisled an extraordinarily simple life. Though she wasn't a trained artist, her work is beautifully cheerful and optimistic. Aisling Walsh's Maudie is the story of her cozy rural life, as well as her unlikely romance with the recluse fish seller Everett Lewis.

Maud has become an iconic part of modern Canadian culture, and Sally Hawkins portrays her magnificently, with Ethan Hawke playing her husband equally well. Although the film never dives particularly deep into Lewis' remarkable life and achievements, it never aims higher than it needs to. Simultaneously tragic and life-affirming, Maudie is a touching slice of the creative essence of an admirable woman.

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5 'Mr. Turner' (2014)

Director: Mike Leigh

Undeniably great yet infamously eccentric, English Romantic landscape painter J.M.W. Turnerhad an expressionistic grasp of color and lighting like no one else in his day, heavily influencing Impressionism. Mike Leigh, one of England's most acclaimed directors, had the daunting task of directing Mr. Turner, a biopic about the last quarter century of this legendary figure's life.

Though it's a biopic on the longer side, clocking in at 150 minutes, Mr. Turner is worth every second. Timothy Spall is masterful in the role of the eponymous painter, utterly transforming into Turner with all his different layers and cantankerous quirks. Leigh's approach to the biopic genre is delicate, slow, and refreshing; thus, Mr. Turner is a different kind of portrait, as singular and interesting as the man at its center.

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4 'Lust for Life' (1956)

Director: Vicente Minnelli

When one hears the word "painting," it's hard for the legendary Vincent Van Gogh not to be one of the first people to come to mind. The magnificent Dutch Post-Impressionist has had his life portrayed on film on many separate occasions; however, few have been as successful as the lauded Lust for Life, which examines Van Gogh as much more than just the archetypical tortured artistic genius.

Director Vincente Minnelli nails both the hauntingly sad nature of Van Gogh's life and the incomparable beauty of his art. The great Kirk Douglas is simply perfect as Van Gogh, his intense and passionate style fitting the role like a glove. Anthony Quinn, chief among Mexican actors who made it big in Hollywood, is also fantastic as Paul Gauguin. Visually striking and fittingly plaintive, Lust for Life is a touching portrait of one of history's most fascinating men.

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3 'Loving Vincent' (2017)

Directors: Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman

In a rather unconventional twist of the biopic genre, DK and Hugh Welchman's Loving Vincent isn't exactly about Van Gogh and his life. Rather,it's the story of a young man who arrives at Van Gogh's hometown to deliver the artist's final letter, ending up investigating his final days there. This was the first oil-painted feature film, and the result is a movie as visually gorgeous as it is narratively gripping.

Experimental, deliberately paced, and full of the kind of melancholy that today permeates Van Gogh's entire body of work, Loving Vincent is regarded by many as one of the best animated movies of the 2010s, and rightfully so. There certainly is no other movie like it, and that alone makes it a must-see, whether you're a Van Gogh fan or not.

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Director: Jim Sheridan

Christy Brown is nothing short of one of the most impressive and admirable artists of all time. Born with cerebral palsy, he was unable to control any of his limbs except his left foot. It was with only this extremity that he became one of the most noteworthy Irish novelists, painters, and poets ever, which director Jim Sheridan potently captured in My Left Foot.

By the late '80s, audiences didn't yet fully know what Daniel Day-Lewis was capable of. It was in his astonishing transformation into Brown in My Left Foot - which earned him his first Oscar - that he started showing signs of being one of the best actors of all time. But although it's Day-Lewis that brings most audiences to the film, it's the poignantly sincere script, eye-opening story, and Sheridan's phenomenal directing that give My Left Foot its staying power.

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1 'Andrei Rublev' (1966)

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky

Andrei Rublev is considered the greatest Medieval Russian painter of Orthodox icons and frescoes. Little is known about his life, so the illustrious Soviet director Andrei Tarkovsky, perhaps cinema's greatest poet, wasted no time in making Andrei Rubleva traditional biopic. As slow-burning, poetic, and philosophical as the rest of the director's work, it's a historical epic touching on religion, spirituality, and art and how the three are more deeply interconnected than most people give them credit for.

Undebatably one of its director's greatest works, Andrei Rublev is a fascinating arthouse drama full of rich symbolism and thought-provoking themes, an insightful exploration of Medieval Russian history, and one of the most unique biopics ever made. It's a beautiful way to get familiar with the work of its titular subject and a must-see masterpiece for all those who enjoy outstanding cinema.

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