How the Art Nouveau movement flourished in the burgeoning cities of Europe at the end of the 19th century.
Social & External
Self - Presenter
Treasures of Ancient Rome is a 2012 three-part documentary written and presented by Alastair Sooke. The series was produced by the BBC, and originally aired in September 2012 on BBC Four. In the documentary Sooke sets out to "debunk the myth that Romans didn't do art and were unoriginal". This is based on the view that Romans heavily incorporated Greek style in their art, and hence produced nothing new or original. Sooke has received some criticism from the media owing to the fact that there is no consensus among academics on this topic, and hence no 'myth' exists in the first place.
Danny Baker, Simon Callow, Richard E Grant, Cerys Matthews, Miriam Margolyes and Michael Sheen follow in the footsteps of their favourite British artists.
Art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon travels through time to unlock the world of Russian art.
An educational French TV documentary series which goes into depth during each episode into the analysis of a single painting.
Contemplate the "anti-art" spirit of Dadaism, its nihilistic yet humorous indictment of civilization and bizarre use of unconventional media. In the sensibility of Surrealism, observe its compelling focus on the subconscious and two substyles - dream imagery, with its juxtaposition of objects and settings, and "automatic drawing," eliciting unplanned images from the unconscious.
Comedic ornithological series, Painting Birds with Jim and Nancy Moir will follow prolific artist Jim and his wife Nancy as they explore some of Britain’s best beauty spots, joined along the way by a few famous friends. Their challenge? Create an original piece of bird art celebrating the unique species native to that region over the course of a weekend. Accompanied in each episode by local twitchers, artists and conservation experts, Jim, and Nancy will be guided through forest and fen as they venture through wild countryside and local bird sanctuaries to gather inspiration. They’ll spend meditative weekends sketching and painting their feathery subjects, tackling everything from grouse to goshawks and bitterns to bearded tits.
Documentary miniseries about contemporary artists who create challenging views of the human body. One of a 3-part series exploring how contemporary photography is challenging some of our deepest-held taboos about the human body. "American photographer Joel-Peter Witkin discusses his dark visions of human bodies.
John Berger's Ways of Seeing changed the way people think about painting and art criticism. This watershed work shows, through word and image, how what we see is always influenced by a whole host of assumptions concerning the nature of beauty, truth, civilization, form, taste, class and gender. Exploring the layers of meaning within oil paintings, photographs and graphic art, Berger argues that when we see, we are not just looking - we are reading the language of images.
A history of American art with Waldemar Januszczak
Art historian Waldemar Januszczak uncovers the secret meanings hidden within some of the greatest paintings by Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne and Seurat .
Rococo art is often dismissed as frivolous. But Waldemar Januszczak disagrees and in this three-part series he tries to bring Rococo art closer to us, and argues that the Rococo was the age in which the modern world was born.
Dr James Fox explores how, in the hands of artists, the colours gold, blue and white have stirred our emotions, changed the way we behave and even altered the course of history.
The beautiful Italy
The Australian Ballet has evolved to become our nation's most treasured performing arts company and an icon of dance. 'And We Danced' looks back to reveal what has shaped this world-class institution and made it uniquely ours.
Long regarded as mere subjects for amateur or specialist nature photographers, animals are increasingly inspiring art photographers to produce surprising creations, sometimes with a social message. Five photographers present their work and their perspectives on the animal world.
Dr James Fox looks at the art and culture of Japan.
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