Andrew Graham-Dixon delves into the integral role that drawing has played in the realms of technical design and architecture. In this exploration, he studies intricate structures such as the iconic Guggenheim Museum and the innovative Boeing 777.
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In the second episode of “The Secret of Drawing,” Andrew Graham-Dixon explores how the satirical works of artists like James Gillray, Francisco Goya, and William Hogarth have profoundly influenced various modern visual narratives, including photojournalism, American comics, Japanese Manga, and Hollywood storyboards.
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The High Art of the Low Countries episode 2: Andrew Graham-Dixon looks at how the seemingly peaceful countries of Holland and Belgium – famous for their tulips and windmills, mussels and chips – were in fact forged in a crucible of conflict and division. He examines how a period of economic boom driven for the first time by a burgeoning and secular middle class led to the Dutch golden age of the 17th century, creating not only the concept of oil painting itself, but the master painters Rembrandt and Vermeer combining art and commerce together as we would recognise it
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The High Art of the Low Countries episode 3: Andrew Graham-Dixon shows how the Low Countries rose again to become a cultural leader in the modern age, with artists like van Gogh, Mondrian and Magritte. Despite its small and almost insignificant size it produced important forward-thinking artists like van Gogh, Mondrian, Magritte and Delvaux, who changed the face of art forever. Andrew’s journey takes him to a remote beach in north west Holland that inspired Mondrian’s transition to his now-renowned abstract grid paintings. Andrew digs deep into the psychology and social history of the region, exploring how the
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The High Art of the Low Countries episode 1: Andrew Graham-Dixon shows how the art of Renaissance Flanders evolved from the craft of precious tapestries within the Duchy of Burgundy into a leading painting school in its own right. Starting his journey at the magnificent altarpiece of Ghent Cathedral created by the Van Eyck brothers, Andrew explains their groundbreaking innovation in oil painting and marvels at how the colours they obtained can still remain so vibrant today. Andrew describes how, in the early Renaissance, the most urgent preoccupation was not the advancement of learning, humanist or otherwise, but
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Art, Passion & Power – The Story of the Royal Collection episode 4: Andrew Graham-Dixon explores how royal collecting has changed since the days of Queen Victoria. This is a story of the British monarchy’s remarkable survival, while elsewhere the crown heads of Europe crumbled in the face of world wars and revolutions. But it is also an age when women took charge of royal collecting; from Victoria to Elizabeth II, queens and queen consorts have used art to steady the ship of monarchy during this uncertain age. It’s one of the curiosities of the Royal Collection that
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Art, Passion & Power – The Story of the Royal Collection episode 3: Andrew Graham-Dixon continues his exploration of the Royal Collection, the vast collection of art and decorative objects owned by the Queen. In the third episode he has reached the age of the Romantics – the flamboyant George IV who created so much of the visual look of the modern monarchy, and Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, for whom collecting was an integral part of their happy marriage. As Prince of Wales, George was a famously loose cannon – a spendaholic prince whose debts ballooned in
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Art, Passion & Power – The Story of the Royal Collection episode 2: In the year 1660, something miraculous began to happen. After the execution of Charles I, the Royal Collection had been sold off and scattered to the four winds. But now, with the restoration of Charles II, the monarchy was back. And with it their driven, sometimes obsessive, passion for art. Slowly but surely, new pieces were acquired, as others were returned out of fear of reprisal. The Royal Collection had sprung back to life. Andrew Graham-Dixon tells the story of the Royal Collection’s remarkable resurrection,
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Art, Passion & Power – The Story of the Royal Collection episode 1: In a major four-part series, Andrew Graham-Dixon explores the history of the Royal Collection, the dazzling collection of art and decorative objects owned by the Queen. Containing over a million items, this is one of the largest art collections in the world – its masterpieces by Van Dyck, Holbein, Leonardo da Vinci, Vermeer and Canaletto line the walls of Windsor Castle, Hampton Court and many other palaces, museums and institutions around Britain. Andrew argues that on the surface, the Royal Collection projects permanence, but within
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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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