Art of the Western World
The 18 original 30-minute episodes are consolidated to 9 one-hour episodes on the U.S. DVD: (1) "The Classical Ideal": The origins of Western art are traced to ancient Greece and Rome. (2) "A White Garment of Churches": Romanesque and Gothic churches and the effect of monasticism and pilgrimage on art and architecture. (3) "The Early Renaissance in Italy and the North". (4) "The High Renaissance": Includes Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael. (5) "Realms of Light": The Baroque period, including Bernini, Caravaggio, Velasquez, Rembrandt. (6) "An Age of Reason, an Age of Passion": Rococo, Neoclassicism, Romanticism. (7) "Realists, Impressionists, Post-Impressionists". (8) "Into the Twentieth Century" ; Fauves, Cubists, Surrealists, etc. (9) "In Our Own Time": Post-war period, Abstract Expression, Post-Modernism, etc. Pollock, Warhol, Oldenburg, etc. Internationalization in the 1970s and 1980s.
- 1989-1990
- 2 seasons
- PBS
- Documentary
The 18 original 30-minute episodes are consolidated to 9 one-hour episodes on the U.S. DVD: (1) "The Classical Ideal": The origins of Western art are traced to ancient Greece and Rome. (2) "A White Garment of Churches": Romanesque and Gothic churches and the effect of monasticism and pilgrimage on art and architecture. (3) "The Early Renaissance in Italy and the North". (4) "The High Renaissance": Includes Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael. (5) "Realms of Light": The Baroque period, including Bernini, Caravaggio, Velasquez, Rembrandt. (6) "An Age of Reason, an Age of Passion": Rococo, Neoclassicism, Romanticism. (7) "Realists, Impressionists, Post-Impressionists". (8) "Into the Twentieth Century" ; Fauves, Cubists, Surrealists, etc. (9) "In Our Own Time": Post-war period, Abstract Expression, Post-Modernism, etc. Pollock, Warhol, Oldenburg, etc. Internationalization in the 1970s and 1980s.
Season 2 Episode Guide
9 Episodes 1989
Episode 1
The Classical Ideal
Mon, Oct 2, 1989 57 mins
The Greeks created a classical ideal against which all subsequent art would be measured; Rome's genius lay in architecture and civil engineering. Featured: the Parthenon, the Altar of Zeus at Pergamon, the Pantheon, the sarcophagus of Juius Bassus.
Episode 2
A White Garment of Churches: Romanesque & Gothic Art
Mon, Oct 9, 1989 56 mins
Romanesque art and architecture were shaped by two powerful forces: pilgrimage and the monastic movement. Gothic cathedrals elaborated and improved upon Romanesque design. Includes: Gislebertus, St.-Denis, Chartres, etc.
Episode 3
The Early Renaissance
Mon, Oct 16, 1989 56 mins
In Florence, classical themes were reborn and merged with Christian values. In the north, the Flemish masters worked in a new medium: oils. Featured: Donatello, Fra Angelico, Brunelleschi's dome, Claus Sluter, the Isenheim altarpiece, Jan van Eyck, Durer.
Episode 4
The High Renaissance
Mon, Oct 23, 1989 57 mins
Rome became a vibrant center of art again with papal patronage. 16th-century Venice sought to present itself as the ideal city-state, infused with spectacle and idealism. Includes: Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Tintoretto, etc.
Episode 5
Realms of Light: The Baroque
58 mins
The Counter-Reformation inspired an artistic revival and an exuberant new style. In royal courts, artists expressed the power of the monarch. Featured: Caravaggio, Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Teresa, Belvedere Palace, Rubens, Velazquez, Vermeer, Rembrandt.
Episode 6
An Age of Reason, an Age of Passion
56 mins
As society revolted against decadence and corruption, artists turned again to classical Greece. The romantic painters in turn elevated individual expression. Featured: Watteau, Syon House, David's The Death of Marat, Ingres, Delacroix, The Third of May.
Episode 7
A Fresh View: Impressionism and Postimpressionism
56 mins
Once scorned and despised, impressionist paintings today are among the most familiar images in art. Postimpressionists broke new ground with their radical use of color. Featured: Manet, Monet, Degas, Renoir, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Deurat's Sunday Afternoon.
Episode 8
Into the 20th Century
56 mins
Rapid advances in science, thought, and technology led to the secessionists, fauves, and cubists. Dada rejected everything, and architecture went international. Featured: Klimt, Matisse, Picasso, Mondrian, Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye.
Episode 9
In Our Own Time
56 mins
The center of the art world moved to New York, home to abstract expressionism. Artists reacted to postwar society with a bewildering array of styles, and postmodernism mined the past for ideas. Featured: Jackson Pollock, Jasper Johns, Rauschenberg, Warhol