Day of the Painter is a 1960 American short film directed by Robert P. Davis. It is a satire which portrays a typical day in the life of a "drip and splatter style" abstract artist, from the time he begins his paintings until he finishes. The film won an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.
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 t
... he “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.
