This is a perfect time for this show to be coming on (on PBS), with the demise of the “Art you never got” thread.
This show looks at 8 painters, and really, one painting from each of the painters. It goes through their life, sets the background and explains a lot. It’s very well done and well crafted and I’m enjoying the Rembrandt special right now. Here’s the website for the show, so if you never really saw what people saw with regards to Picasso, this is a perfect way to get the full story.
I saw last week’s episode on Bernini. His work was gorgeous—I’ll never figure out how they can make marble look like flesh. Raised veins on the backs of hands, fingers pressed into fleshy limbs, it’s amazing.
The show was great. I’ve loved Simon Schama since I saw him do the History of Britain on the History Channel. Bernini sure was an ass, though.
If you wanted an ass, you shoulda seen Caravaggio’s.
Isn’t it amazing? You look at someone’s body of work like that. Bernini did paintings, architecture, and sculpture. He did all that shit in ONE lifetime. Fountains in Rome, the Baldacchino, Extacy of St. Teresa, the Rape of Proserpina, and not only did he complete this shit, he made marble look like this. No, I mean it, look at it. The fingers are digging into the flesh. There’s a struggle going on and you see what force is used. If you look at Prosepina’s hand, it’s pushing Pluto’s face up in an effort to escape.
I stumbled across this a couple of nights ago and really enjoyed it. As a nit, I would say that Schama is a bit too…academic…to truly handle the prurient bits. He comes across as a bit too much like a geek giggling when sharing stories “he’s heard” about the cooler kids who actually party…
Why no - I don’t identify with that geeky role at all, why do you ask?
But overall, I appreciate the historical context and intrigue…
A good series I enjoyed when on in the UK last year. As to Simon Schama - I don’t know about “academic” but he certainly gets a bit wearing over time, being truly, deeply, self-satisfied. “Smug git” is the term that comes to mind 
That’s it!
I caught the second half of the Rembrandt episode last night. I love Rembrandt so I was completly facinated.
I liked the host. Then again, I even like that nun that talks about art.
I enjoyed this ekphrasis, I’ll have you know.
I fear that I probably sound like that in class: “No, but, like, look at this shit! Doesn’t this tenebroso just kick your ass?! Now, THAT, my friends, is how you rock some fuckin’ scumbling!”
Caught a little bit of the Picasso last night-- I’ll have to make sure to catch the others.
I’ve really been liking this series. The ones on Van Gough and Picasso were fantastic! Shama is a bit of snobbish sounding Brit, and I remember one earlier series where he turned me off, but I think he’s doing a great job on this one. Good call.
Sometimes people get pretentious with art. “Look at this painting, it’s obviously crafted in a manner that denotes great care.” That’s not the same as “Look at the buildup of paint, the impasto. You can see where he caked on layers upon layers, to give it a kind of three dimensional effect. For christ’s sake, he even used the pointy end of the brush and scraped some ruts into the paint.”
I missed the first two, but have seen all the others. I have the feeling that Mr. Schama can turn on the pretentionusness if necessary. The last two might be the most important ones, with the turn to Expressionism and the abstract being some things that turn people off. I wouldn’t have imagined that Rothko would be the last in the series, maybe Hopper instead. It should be interesting, though.
I saw the first two and thought it was great that they happened to pair my two favorite artists on the same night – Picasso and Van Gogh.
I caught part of the Bernini piece last night. I intend to watch them all if I can. They’re a great, different perspective on teaching about art. The details in the piece featured during the segment I saw last night (The Ecstacy of St. Theresa) were incredible.
I don’t know who the overall audience for these shows is intended to be, but the overdone British-ey presentation Schama is using could be on purpose for American audiences – especially since they’re talking about art.
My wife have caught this show every week so far, it is just excellent.
The show on Bernini just had my jaw dropping constantly, what gorgeous sculpture!
They didn’t even jump into the lighting on The Extacy of St. Teresa. The mood of the sculpture almost changes as the light moves through the aperture in the ceiling and behind the piece. It even reflects off all those gold spines differently throughout the day.
I’d love to see it in person one day.
Tonight’s was Jacques Louis David. Interesting stuff. I dug the hell out of this episode. It might not have been my favorite, but it was very interesting and informative nonetheless.
It’s a BBC production, originally airing on the slightly artsy BBC2 channel. Here is the BBC website for the show, with lots of background stuff.
