For Julian Schnabel’s new film “At Eternity’s Gate” — starring Willem Dafoe as Vincent van Gogh — the film’s prop department painstakingly re-created van Gogh’s paintings, but for his self-portraits, they tweaked the images to look like Dafoe.
Schnabel displayed two of the Dafoe-as-van Gogh prop paintings in his Manhattan home at a Saturday party for the film.
We hear that a third artwork on display of Dafoe as van Gogh had actually been created by Schnabel himself, in the style of one of his famed “broken-plate paintings.”
A source pointed out: “Van Gogh was known for painting from paintings, and that is what Julian accomplished when making the self-portrait of Willem as van Gogh.”
We hear that Schnabel even touched up the prop versions on set while he was shooting, prompting one guest at the party to wonder, “How valuable are the props?” (Schnabel said they’re not for sale.)
The film also stars Rupert Friend.
Swedish interior designer Louise Kugelberg, also Schnabel’s girlfriend, co-wrote and co-edited the film, and she co-hosted the reception for such guests as Brian De Palma, Barry Levinson and Steve Buscemi.
On set, we hear, Schnabel even taught Dafoe how to paint.