''Art Bastard'' is a 2016 documentary film written and directed by Victor Kanefsky. It details the life of Artist

Robert Cenedella Robert P. Cenedella, Jr. (born May 24, 1940) is an American artist. He became well known for several of his paintings, including commissions by Bacardi, Heinz, Absolut Vodka and Le Cirque. Early life Robert Cenedella was born in Milford, Massac ...

and explains how specific moments and experiences from childhood to present day influenced his style as a New York Artist. The film was well received by critics and audiences alike, and garnered attention when it became an Official Selection at the

Newport Beach Film Festival The Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) is an annual film festival in Newport Beach, California, typically held in late April. In 2022, it was announced that the festival have permanently changed its date to be held in October, as the festival be ...

on April 25, 2016. Shortly thereafter, it was publicly released to select movie theaters across the United States on June 3, 2016, and began receiving critical acclaim in both domestic and international film festivals by winning several awards, including Best Documentary at

Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema The Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema (IIFC) is an independent film festival held since 2009 in Idyllwild, California. The festival is run by its founder, director Stephen Savage. The tenth annual IIFC was held March 5 through 10, 2019. ...

(2016), the Manchester Film Festival (2016), East Hampton TV Festival at

Guild Hall of East Hampton Guild Hall of East Hampton in the incorporated Village of East Hampton on Long Island's East End, is one of the United States' first multidisciplinary cultural institutions. Opened in 1931, it was designed by architect Aymar Embury II and inclu ...

(2019), and at the NYC International Film Festival (2019).

Awards

''Art Bastard'' was awarded several accolades before and after its official release on June 3, 2016: Art Bastard - Awards Won by the Documentary

*WINNER – Best Documentary Award – East Hampton TV Festival at

(2019) *WINNER – Best Documentary Award – NYC International Film Festival (2019) *WINNER – Best Documentary Award – Manchester Film Festival (2016) *WINNER – Best Documentary Award –

(2016) *WINNER – Best Director Award –

(2016) *WINNER – Focus on Art Award –

Orlando Film Festival The Orlando Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Orlando, Florida, for independent filmmakers to showcase their work. The festival attracts upwards of 1,000 entries from filmmakers in more than 30 countries every year. History The f ...

(2015) *WINNER – Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Creativity – Utopia Film Festival (2015) It was also the Official Selection at the following film festivals: *Official Selection –

(2016) *Official Selection – Big Apple Film Festival (2015) *Official Selection –

Santa Fe Film Festival The Santa Fe Film Festival is a non-profit organization which presents important world cinema that represents aesthetic, critical, and entertainment standards highlighting New Mexican film. The organization partners with educational groups, schools, ...

(2015)

People interviewed

In order of appearance: *

– Artist, entrepreneur & teacher *Joan Cenedella – Writer, author & teacher (Robert's sister) *Jess Korman – Writer, author & singer-songwriter *Stephen Geller – Magazine publisher & art collector *Liz Cenedella – Fabric artist & business owner (Robert's wife) * Richard Armstrong – Director,

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...

Marvin Kitman Marvin Kitman (born November 24, 1929) is an American television critic, humorist, and author. He was a columnist for ''Newsday'' for 35 years and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1982. He is the author of nine books, ...

– Writer, author, TV critic for New York

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and ...

*Ed McCormack – Managing Editor, ''Gallery & Studio'' art magazine *David Cenedella – Professor,

Baruch College Baruch College (officially the Bernard M. Baruch College) is a public college in New York City. It is a constituent college of the City University of New York system. Named for financier and statesman Bernard M. Baruch, the college operates und ...

(Robert's son) * Jack Rollins – Film producer & business manager for

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

*Paul Zerler (1922–2014) – Art expert & appraiser for the

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unite ...

Victor Navasky Victor Saul Navasky (born July 5, 1932) is an American journalist, editor and academic. He is publisher emeritus of ''The Nation'' and George T. Delacorte Professor Emeritus of Professional Practice in Magazine Journalism at Columbia University. H ...

– Publisher emeritus of

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's ''The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

*Lauren Purje – Illustrator Artist, former

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stud ...

(ASL) student *Kelly Crow – Art reporter,

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

*Morgan Long – Director of Art Investment, The Fine Art Fund Group *

Sarah Thornton Sarah L. Thornton (born 1965) is a writer, ethnographer and sociologist of culture. Thornton has authored three books and many articles about artists, the art market, technology and design, the history of music technology, dance clubs, raves, ...

– Writer, author & sociologist of art *

Judd Tully Judd Tully is an art critic and journalist who writes about artists and the art market. He has been contributor to BlouinARTINFO, The Washington Post, ARTnews, Flash Art and covered topics such as the potential indictment of museum staff in re ...

– Art critic, journalist, editor-at-large,

Art+Auction ''Art+Auction'' is a monthly art magazine published in New York City by Louise Blouin Media. It was started in 1979 and has a circulation Circulation may refer to: Science and technology * Atmospheric circulation, the large-scale movement of ...

magazine *Pamela Fiori – Writer, journalist, magazine Editor-In-Chief *

Sirio Maccioni Sirio Maccioni (5 April 1932 – 20 April 2020) was an Italian restaurateur and author known for opening Le Cirque. Biography Maccioni got his start at Oscar's Delmonico, Delmonico's. Owner Oscar Tucci once stated, "Sirio and with Tony May wi ...

– Entrepreneur, owner of French restaurant,

Le Cirque Le Cirque is a French restaurant that has had several locations throughout the New York City borough of Manhattan for more than forty years. It is currently closed, with its future status unknown. New York City history Le Cirque was establish ...

*George Hudson (1937–2013) – Professor of English, Colgate University *Susan Reingold –

(ASL) art student

Reviews

The documentary received positive reviews from its audience, including an 86% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

based on 22 critic reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. It was reviewed by numerous publications, and was selected as a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' 'NYT Critic's Pick' by

Stephen Holden Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic. Biography Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...

. Below are excerpts from some of the Film Critic reviews for ''Art Bastard'': *

from

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

wrote: **"It's no what they show, it's what they don't show," the painter

complains in "Art Bastard," Victor Kanefsky's robust, plain-talking documentary portrait of this lifelong revel and art-world gadfly." *

Owen Gleiberman Owen Gleiberman (born February 24, 1959) is an American film critic who has been chief film critic for '' Variety'' magazine since May 2016, a title he shares with . Previously, Gleiberman wrote for ''Entertainment Weekly'' from 1990 until 2014 ...

from

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

wrote: **"The madly teeming pop-cartoon paintings of

anchor a lively look at a self-styled superstar of outsider art." *Sheila O'Malley from

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times ...

wrote: **""Art Bastard," Victor Kanefsky's Engaging and thought-provoking documentary about Cenedella, is a beautiful portrait of the man himself, still going strong at age 76, as well as a critique of the art world that has ignored him (and others) because they don't "fit."" * Bob Mondello from

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

wrote: **"'Art Bastard' is a film about a man who has tilted – and continues to tilt – at the art-world equivalent of Don Quixote's windmills." *Stephanie Merry from

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

wrote: **"Cenedella is rough around the edges, yet he remains fascinating." *

Frank Scheck Frank Scheck is an American film critic. He is best known for his reviews in the ''New York Post'' and ''The Hollywood Reporter''. He formerly edited ''STAGES Magazine'' and worked as a theater critic for the ''Christian Science Monitor Ch ...

from

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

wrote: **"Art Bastard shines brightest not as a biographical portrait – an aim in which it succeeds only sporadically – but rather as a showcase for the highly imaginative and thoughtful works by the now 76-year-old, too-little-known painter." *Scott Marks from the

San Diego Reader The ''San Diego Reader'' is an alternative press newspaper in the county of San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With ...

wrote: **"You may not recognize the name going in, but after spending 82 minutes watching director Victor Kanefsky cast a heartfelt lens in Cenedella's direction, you'll never forget him."

References

External links

* * *
''Art Bastard''
on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service p ...

''Art Bastard''
on YouTube
''Art Bastard'' Additional Footage
on YouTube
About ''Art Bastard''
at Robert Cenedella , 60 Years of American Art
Press Articles from ''Art Bastard''
at Robert Cenedella , 60 Years of American Art
Press Kit for ''Art Bastard''
at Robert Cenedella , 60 Years of American Art {{DEFAULTSORT:Cenedella, Robert 2016 films American documentary films Documentary films about painters 2016 documentary films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films