Art

Video documentaries about all art forms

Treasures of Ancient Egypt episode 1

Treasures of Ancient Egypt episode 1

Treasures of Ancient Egypt episode 1: In the captivating first episode of Treasures of Ancient Egypt, Alastair Sooke embarks on an extraordinary journey to unravel the artistic genius of one of the most fascinating civilizations in human history. With the majesty of Egypt’s greatest historical landmarks as a backdrop, Sooke explores 30 remarkable masterpieces that bring the story of Ancient Egyptian art vividly to life. From the sun-scorched dunes of the Sahara to the life-giving waters of the Nile, he delves deep into the origins of a visual style that continues to inspire awe today.

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Luciano Pavarotti

Luciano Pavarotti

When Luciano Pavarotti died in 2007, the world lost one of its finest voices. The ‘King of the High Cs‘ was sought after by all the major opera houses in his early career     Luciano Pavarotti was born in 1935 on the outskirts of Modena in Northern Italy, the son of Fernando Pavarotti, a baker and amateur tenor, and Adele Venturi, a cigar factory worker. Although he spoke fondly of his childhood, the family had little money; its four members were crowded into a two-room apartment. According to Pavarotti, his father had a fine tenor voice but rejected the

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Civilisations episode 4 – The Eye of Faith

Civilisations episode 4 – The Eye of Faith

Civilisations episode 4 – The Eye of Faith: Professor Mary Beard broaches the controversial, sometimes dangerous, topic of religion and art. For millennia, art has inspired religion as much as religion has inspired art. Yet there are fundamental problems, which all religions share, in making god or gods visible in the human world. How, and at what cost, do you make the unseen, seen? Beneath all works of religious art there always lies conflict and risk. And the result is often iconoclasm – the destruction of works of art – which Mary believes can lead on to new forms of

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Looking for Rembrandt episode 3

Looking for Rembrandt episode 3

Looking for Rembrandt episode 3: Desperate for money, Rembrandt takes on commissions that even his pupils have passed by, pupils who are now getting the grand offers that once came through Rembrandt’s door.     Bankruptcy proceedings hound him for years and, although Rembrandt tries various – sometimes fraudulent – ways to divert some money back into his own pocket, his creditors take his house, his copperplates and virtually all his possessions. Yet he paints a self-portrait as the prince of painters, a regal pose that belies his financial and reputational chaos. As Rembrandt ages and enters the twilight of

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Looking for Rembrandt episode 2

Looking for Rembrandt episode 2

Looking for Rembrandt episode 2: As Rembrandt paints his most iconic work, The Night Watch, his wife Saskia lies dying. Her death begins a ten-year decline in Rembrandt’s output as he pours himself into etching instead. Many etchings are erotically charged, perhaps a result of an affair he has begun with his infant son’s nursemaid.     However, that relationship ends with her being committed to a house of correction – a punishment Rembrandt himself apparently played a role in. These moral and sexual ambiguities bleed into other works. Although he finds new love and happiness with a new housemaid,

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Looking for Rembrandt episode 1

Looking for Rembrandt episode 1

Looking for Rembrandt episode 1 : Rembrandt’s art is much loved and admired, but his remarkable life is less well-known. 350 years after his death, his surprising story told from an unusual perspective – his own.     Rembrandt arrives in Amsterdam ‘like a thunderclap’ and his star rises as he is courted by the city’s wealthy elite. But he has grander plans to be a great history painter. His meticulous attention to emotion means he takes far too long to complete important commissions, bringing him into conflict with Amsterdam’s most powerful patrons. He falls in love with and marries

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Art of Scandinavia episode 3 - Democratic by Design

Art of Scandinavia episode 3 – Democratic by Design

Art of Scandinavia episode 3 – Democratic by Design: In the final instalment of Andrew Graham-Dixon’s windswept journey through the art of the Norselands.     We arrive in Sweden – home of Ikea and a tradition of brilliant furniture design stretching back to the early years of the 20th century. Sweden has made its modern democratic mission one of comfort and civilised living for the masses – but has it got there?   Art of Scandinavia episode 3 – Democratic by Design   Swedish art Swedish art refers to the visual arts produced in Sweden or by Swedish artists.

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Art of Scandinavia episode 2 - Once Upon a Time in Denmark

Art of Scandinavia episode 2 – Once Upon a Time in Denmark

Art of Scandinavia episode 2 – Once Upon a Time in Denmark: In episode two of Andrew Graham-Dixon‘s epic journey through Scandinavian art and landscape.     Denmark emerges from modest beginnings to become one of the greatest powers and arbiters of taste in northern Europe – a story of incredible transformation befitting the homeland of the great fairy-tale spinner Hans Christian Andersen, creator of The Ugly Duckling and The Emperor’s New Clothes.   Art of Scandinavia episode 2 – Once Upon a Time in Denmark   Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen in Denmark usually called H.C. Andersen, was

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Art of Scandinavia episode 1 - Dark Night of the Soul

Art of Scandinavia episode 1 – Dark Night of the Soul

Art of Scandinavia episode 1 – Dark Night of the Soul: Scandinavia – a land of extremes, on the edge of Europe.     Andrew Graham-Dixon explores the extraordinary art to come out of the dark Norwegian soul, most famous for producing The Scream by Edvard Munch.   Art of Scandinavia episode 1 – Dark Night of the Soul   Edvard Munch Edvard Munch 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, The Scream, has become one of the most iconic images of world art. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and

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The A to Z of Contemporary Art

The A to Z of Contemporary Art

The A to Z of Contemporary Art: A guide to the brilliant and often baffling world of art, this illuminating program works alphabetically through the complex A-Z of contemporary arts, from Artists, Artspeak and Biennales to Theory, Video Art, Wine and Zietgeist. Capturing and consolidating a love of art with history, theory and criticism, The A-Z of Contemporary Art offers entertaining insights into the contemporary art world.   The A to Z of Contemporary Art – part 1 – A to K     The A to Z of Contemporary Art – part 2 – L to Z    

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The Victorians – Their Story In Pictures

The Victorians – Their Story In Pictures

In The Victorians, Jeremy Paxman takes his love of Victorian paintings as the starting point for a journey into Victorian Britain. Such pictures may not be fashionable today, but they are a goldmine of information about the most dynamic age in British history. The Victorians Part 1: Painting The Town   He investigates the most dramatic event of Victorian Britain: the explosion of great cities. At first the Victorians feared these new monsters in their midst, but then grew to love and transform them. Jeremy explores the canals and sewers, suburbs and back streets, workhouses and magnificent buildings of the

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Gauguin - A Dangerous Life

Gauguin – A Dangerous Life

Gauguin – A Dangerous Life: documentary that sets Paul Gauguin’s artistic achievement against his sexual relationships with young girls in the Pacific and his role in 19th-century French colonialism.     ‘I am indeed a savage. And civilised people sense it. My works surprise and disturb them because they see in them the savage that I can’t repress. That’s what makes my work inimitable.’ Actor Dominic West reads Paul Gauguin‘s self-revelatory words in a new film biography that recognises Gauguin’s formidable artistic achievement but also confronts his sexual relationships with young indigenous girls in the Pacific and his role in

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