A Slash of Genius

With varying degrees of success, photographers and filmmakers have sniffed for clues about the nature of the creative process by trying to catch painters in the act of making art. For his 1950 documentary, Visit to Picasso , Belgian filmmaker Paul Haesaerts asked the Spanish master to apply his magical brushstrokes to large glass plates as Haesaerts filmed from the other side. Around the same time, Hans Namuth was photographing Jackson Pollock from all angles as the American artist dripped, splashed and poured paint onto canvas.

Fifteen years...