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 […]
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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
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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
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Art That Made Us episode 8: In the 1950s and 1960s, the generation of artists who recorded the shocks of global war gave way to an explosion of new voices from across the British Isles, reinventing the arts and creating a richer, more diverse culture. Young artists rebelled against the old establishment, kicking against the confines of class, sex, nation
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Art That Made Us episode 7: Art goes to war during the first half of the 20th century: war with the old imperial order, war with convention and war with the very idea of what it means to be human. This is a story of artists grappling with the destruction, fighting back and transforming the culture of the Isles.
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Art That Made Us episode 6: The 19th century saw a decisive shift in power from the countryside to the cities. With the industrial revolution transforming the British Isles, a divide opened up between the urban and the rural, forcing artists to respond to the upheaval to lives and the landscape. Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson reflects on the inspiration of
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Art That Made Us episode 5: This episode traces the story of Britain during the 18th century, a period that saw an explosion of creativity and a country with enough money, from trade and conquest, to pay for it. But the money had a dark side: sculptor Thomas J Price visits Harewood House to see the elaborate Robert Adam-designed interiors,
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Art That Made Us episode 4: A splintering of politics and religion in the British Isles under the Stuart kings leads to more questioning art, new science and architecture. Architect Amanda Levete climbs the Tulip Stairs in the Queen’s House, Greenwich, and reassesses Inigo Jones’ elegant and innovative design, while portrait artist Tai Shan Schierenberg encounters Van Dyck’s monumental portrait
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Art That Made Us episode 3: In the 16th century, the British Isles experienced a religious revolution, as the kingdoms of England and then Scotland turned Protestant. Artists and experts today reveal how, during the reign of Elizabeth I, Protestants and Catholics used art, language and new technology to wage a battle for power in the Isles, creating surprising and
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Art That Made Us episode 2: An alternative history of the Black Death of the Middle Ages and its bitter – but profoundly creative – aftermath. Contemporary artists and performers, alongside historians and curators, reveal how a century of creative renewal emerged from the chaos of plague as survivors found their voice, questioning authority and challenging status and class. Above
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Art That Made Us episode 1: This episode immerses us in the turbulent era that followed the Roman occupation of Britain. Once known as the ‘dark’ ages, in reality it’s a time of glittering art and extraordinary cultural fusions. This alternative history of the British Isles, told through art, brings together encounters between contemporary artists and ancient art, and interviews
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The Allure of Art Nouveau episode 3 – Vienna: Stephen Smith explores how Vienna’s artists rebelled against the establishment in the late 19th century and brought their own highly sexed version of art nouveau to the city. In a story that combines scandal and revolution, cultural correspondent Stephen Smith explores how Vienna’s artists rebelled against the establishment in
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