26 April 2021, 12:00 am
Art of the Western World
Programme Type
Films and Exhibitions

A documentary series presented by Michael Wood, exploring magnificent masterpieces of the Western world in their cultural and historical settings. The series consists of eighteen episodes, each of which focuses on the artistic contributions of one period in the history of the West, from Ancient Greece to the late 1980s. From the classical ideals in Greek and Roman antiquity, through the Renaissance, to the postmodernism of the later 1980s, the series provides a panorama of 2000 years of architecture, painting and sculpture, and studies the art masterpieces as reflections of the Western culture that produced them.

Two episodes will be presented every week online
A FRESH VIEW: IMPRESSIONISM AND POST-IMPRESSIONISM 

Episode 13: Painting the Modern World [25:51 min]
Courbet and his followers rejected the standard academic themes and techniques, Manet shocked Paris, and Impressionists represented the world bathed in colour and changing light.

Click here to view Episode 13.

Episode 14: Distanced Creations [26:23 min]
Post-Impressionists Seurat, Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Cezanne broke new ground with daring and imaginative use of colour and approaches to form.

Click here to view Episode 14.