Popular reviews

• 

  Review by davidehrlich ★★★

  In 2005, an art scavenger named Alexander Parish bought a High Renaissance painting from a small New Orleans auction house for $1,175. In 2017, Christie’s sold a heavily restored version of that same painting — the provenance of which had since become the art world’s hottest controversy — to the crown prince of Saudi Arabia for a cool $450,300,000 (presumably outbidding Kenneth Branagh’s character from “Tenet”). Mohammad bin Salman’s record-shattering purchase consecrated the idea that “Salvator Mundi” is an original Da Vinci better than any historian ever could, but if the origins of this oil-on-walnut portrait weren’t so intensely disputed, perhaps no one would have spent as much to assert its value. If only Orson Welles were still alive to…

• 

  Review by Matt Neglia ★★★★

  My favorite documentaries are the ones that start off one way & then surprisingly evolve into something else entirely. THE LOST LEONARDO does exactly that with its deep exploration into the modern art world & the authenticity of a recently discovered painting potentially by Leonardo da Vinci. Fascinating stuff!

• 

  Review by Allison M. 🌱 ★★★★

  Tribeca Film Festival

  The Lost Leonardo is a documentary that traces the discovery of the lost Salvator Mundi painting assumedly by Leonardo da Vinci. The documentary interviews art professionals who make an attempt to convince us that it’s a da Vinci work that appeared from out of the blue.

  Dianne Modestini worked on restoring the painting that was initially purchased for $1,175 in 2005. She talks about how the painting contains a pentiment, a layer underneath that shows that the thumb was initially in a different position. When discussing the value, the detractors will talk about how some passages were damaged and overpainted. Modestini had an interest in the sale, which was a definite conflict of interest in her evaluating…

• 

  Review by ❄️ Cammmalot ❄️ ★★★ 2

  ”This is simply a matter of economics when you boil down to it… and greed.”

  But is it art?

  This is a fascinating story of a mysterious painting, but sadly much like the painting, this documentary needs some restoration and a fresh coat of paint.

  The narrative is spackled together by various participants of the story, which is a problem, because outside of one or two speakers, most of them weren’t all that energetic or interesting to listen to. And so as they drone on and on with little tid-bits and not much context, it became a struggle to stay engaged with a story that I really wanted to be engaged with.

  It also makes several attempts to keep the…

• 

  Review by Marianna Neal ★★★★½ 2

  If this was a fictional thriller, people would say there are too many plot twists, and half of them are ridiculous. But this is a documentary, and it's what most thrillers wish they could pull off. Absolutely fascinating!

• 

  Review by Crøw The Poet ★★★★½

  A fascinating look at the mystery of the Salvator Mundi.

  If any secretly insanely wealthy art people are reading this, can I have just like 1 mil? I won’t tell anyone.

• 

  Review by Dave Taylor ★★★★

  A documentary that starts off simply enough, discussing a painting that may or may not have been created by Leonardo da Vinci and how, in the end, perception can be bought and sold, and is really all that matters.

  But within this straightforward story there are also tangents looking at money laundering in the art world, Freeports (which was particularly cool due to the Tenet association), deception, lies, political gain and mysterious motives. In other words, there is a lot being covered in this two hour runtime!

  Honestly, I think a four part documentary on a streaming service would have been the best medium for this subject matter. Part one sets up the premise, part two dives into Freeports and…

• 

  Review by LeSchroeck ★★★½ 2

  Tenet, Velvet Buzzsaw und irgendwie auch Syriana, aber in echt: was diese Doku an Informationen, Meinungen, Verstrickungen, Schauplätzen und dann eben auch an Geschichten aufreiht und aufbaut, ist im wahrsten Sinne Stoff für mehrere Filme. Und dabei wird nicht mal alles an Potential ausgeschöpft, wenn man bedenkt, dass zur entscheidenden Restaurateurin, zum angeblichen Käufer Mohammed bin Salman oder zu der Fehde zwischen einem russischen Oligarchen und einem Schweizer Freeport-Besitzer (also ein Real-Life-Sator) nur die fürs Gesamtbild notwendigen Details erzählt und eingearbeitet werden. Denn letztendlich geht es doch vor allem um dieses Bild, diesen verlorenen Jesus von Leonardo da Vinci, der für ca. 1200 Dollar in New Orleans gekauft wurde und innerhalb von 12 Jahren für ca. 450 Millionen Dollar im…

• 

  Review by noir1946 ★★★★½ 2

  I love art docs. I love mysteries. With The Lost Leonardo, we have both in one film. Director Andreas Koefoed never resolves whether the Salvator Mundi that surfaced in 2008 is the real thing, a missing Leonardo da Vinci, because the experts can’t agree. But enough of them say it’s probably authentic for its value to rise from $1,175 to $450,000,000, primarily because of its similarity to the Mona Lisa. Its journey from bargain to priceless is a fascinating look at the greed and deception in the contemporary art world with a colorful cast of characters, including a sleazy Swiss art dealer and a desperate Russian billionaire. My favorite part of the doc, which has no dead spots, is Koefoed’s…

• 

  Review by reed 📽 ★★★★½

  I need to make a list of my favorite documentaries and when I do this one will go right at the top 🤯 just incredible. Maybe the film isn’t a 10/10 but it’s fascinating and totally engrossing - I couldn’t let my eyes off of it if I wanted to!

• 

  Review by Jake ★★★

  pretty fascinating and satisfying takedown of an artworld consumed by politics and money.

• 

  Review by ejhageman ★★★½

  i kept making jokes about this being about leonardo dicaprio and then boom he was in it