In what way is it useful to think of the late great American film director Stanley Kubrick (1928-99) as an artist? I do not just mean in terms of his films but in considering the fine art influences on him, the material he generated as part of his modus operandi and that which has been developed in response to him: the touring exhibition of his artefacts (including at London’s Design Museum in 2019), art shows inspired by his work—Daydreaming with Stanley Kubrick at Somerset House, London in 2016 featured the artists Gavin Turk, Sarah Lucas, Mat Collishaw, Haroon Mirza and Anish Kapoor—and the beautiful books about his films, such as Taschen’s 2009 limited edition on the unmade epic Napoleon.
