paintings

Smart Secrets of Great Paintings episode 10 – Wassily Kandinsky: The roots of “Colourful Life” (1907), just like those of Vassily Kandinsky himself, were firmly anchored in age-old Russian soil. And yet the painting contains all the elements that were to accompany the painter in the greatest revolution in the history of art: the leap into abstraction.This documentary examines Kandinsky’s …

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Smart Secrets of Great Paintings episode 9 – Eugene Delacroix: As the war of colonization raged in Algeria, Eugene Delacroix was the first French artist to cross the Mediterranean. The naturalism of “Women of Algiers in Their Apartment,” painted in 1834, takes us into the calm and simplicity of a harem as Delacroix saw it with his own eyes. This …

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Smart Secrets of Great Paintings episode 8 – Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun: As the French Revolution approached, Louise Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun painted the queen’s portrait in an attempt to win back public opinion. This documentary examines the historical and social context in which “Marie-Antoinette de Lorraine-Habsbourg, Queen of France and Her Children” was painted. It analyzes the work’s composition …

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Smart Secrets of Great Paintings episode 7 – Francois Clouet: “A Lady in Her Bath” (circa 1571), by Francois Clouet, bears witness to a period in which the pleasure of the senses and the spirit were caught up in religious conflict. It gave rise to the despotic canons of beauty. Official painter to Charles IX, Francois Clouet is considered the …

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Smart Secrets of Great Paintings episode 6 – Paolo Veronese: In “The Wedding at Cana”, Paolo Veronese transposes the biblical tale of Christ’s first miracle to the scene of a sumptuous Venetian banquet. This documentary explores the historical context of 16th century Venice, a wealthy and politically stable city in which artists such as Veronese, Titian, and Jacobo Tintoretto were …

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Smart Secrets of Great Paintings episode 5 – Jean Fouquet: With a tiny and delicate paintbrush, Jean Fouquet adds the golden threads of a tentative humanism to “The Martyrdom of Saint Apollonia” (circa 1450) and unveils a glimmer of the modern era, crouching behind the horizon of the Middle Ages. This film analyzes the illumination for clues of what Fouquet …

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Smart Secrets of Great Paintings episode 4 – Quentin Metsys: 16th century Antwerp was like 1950s New York. The city of craftsmen and fishermen at the entrance to the North Sea became a leading finance hub, facilitated by European exploration and new trade routes. This work by Quentin Metsys is a subtle criticism of that world and its era, warning …

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Smart Secrets of Great Paintings episode 3 – Diego Velazquez: In the mid-17th century, Madrid experienced its Golden Age. The Royal Alcazar of Madrid, a legacy of the Muslim sovereignty that had dominated the region for a long time, became the residence of the royal family and the centre of the Spanish court. Diego Velasquez’ canvas plunges us into the …

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Smart Secrets of Great Paintings episode 2 – Georges Seurat: At the end of the 19th century, Asnieres resembled a seaside resort. The cheering crowd that came to attend the regattas animated the banks of the Seine, and the rowing club was always full. When he painted his canvas, Georges Seurat understood that his current era was totally turned towards …

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Smart Secrets of Great Paintings episode 1 – Gustave Courbet: Paris shone brightly in the second half of the 19th century, with its fashionable restaurants, and its cabarets and theatres, which provided the spectacle of a carefree society. The industrial revolution produced wealth, and fortunes were amassed and lost. Gustave Courbet’s work is politically involved and provocative. It reveals his …

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