Mona Lisa descending a staircase

United States, 1993

Please note

Sorry, we don't have images or video for this item.

Source: Some information on this page may have been sourced as part of the 2023 Wikimedia Australia Partnership Projects grant, with the purpose of improving and expanding the use of Wikidata on our website. Wikidata is a free and open knowledge base that can be read and edited by both humans and machines. Read more about this project here.

Using the innovative technique of clay painting, artist and filmmaker Joan Gratz takes the viewer on an entertaining and colourful journey through the development of Modern Art. Starting with the brilliant landscapes and haunting self-portraits of impressionism, “Mona Lisa descending a staircase” moves through cubism and surrealism, then finishes with vibrant images of contemporary pop art and hyper-realism. Featuring some 55 paintings and 35 artists from Van Gogh to Warhol, the video shifts seamlessly from image to image to make this artistic presentation as emotionally gripping as it is visually fascinating.

Content notification

Our collection comprises over 40,000 moving image works, acquired and catalogued between the 1940s and early 2000s. As a result, some items may reflect outdated, offensive and possibly harmful views and opinions. ACMI is working to identify and redress such usages.

Learn more about our collection and our collection policy here. If you come across harmful content on our website that you would like to report, let us know.

How to watch

This work has not been digitised and is currently unavailable to view online. It may be possible for approved reseachers to view onsite at ACMI.

Learn more about accessing our collection

Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

producer/director

Joan C. Gratz

production company

American Film Institute

National Endowment for the Arts

Pyramid Film and Video

Duration

00:07:00:00

Production places

United States

Production dates

1993

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

305818

Language

English

Subject categories

Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Warhol, Andy, 1928-1987

Crafts & Visual Arts → Art - History

Crafts & Visual Arts → Art appreciation

Crafts & Visual Arts → Art, Modern

Crafts & Visual Arts → Cubism

Crafts & Visual Arts → Gogh, Vincent van, 1853-1890

Crafts & Visual Arts → Impressionism (Art)

Crafts & Visual Arts → Painting, Modern

Crafts & Visual Arts → Pop art

Crafts & Visual Arts → Surrealism

Crafts & Visual Arts → Warhol, Andy, 1928-1987

People → Gogh, Vincent van, 1853-1890

People → Warhol, Andy, 1928-1987

Short films

Short films → Short films - United States

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Holdings

VHS; Access Print (Section 1)

Wikidata

Q1749230

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/84503--mona-lisa-descending-a-staircase/ |title=Mona Lisa descending a staircase |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=24 April 2025 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}