Art of the Western World

Take your students high into the dome of the Florence Cathedral to discover the beauty of its design and the genius of its immense structure. It's just one of the unusual perspectives your class will enjoy in this beautifully filmed series surveying the western world's seminal works of painting, sculpture, and architecture. On this journey from ancient Greece to contemporary New York, Art of the Western World broadens students' understanding by presenting major artistic works within their religious, intellectual, and social context.

Episode Descriptions

1 The Classical Ideal — Part I: The origins of humanism and the immortal classical style are traced to Ancient Greece.
Part II: Roman engineering and architecture was used to build an empire, while sculpture exalted its rulers.

2 A White Garment of Churches Romanesque and Gothic — Part I: With the fall of the Roman Empire, Christianity flourished with the Church as patron of Romanesque architecture and sculpture.
Part II: The origin of Gothic architecture is found in the choir of the Abbey Church of St. Denis and the Chartres Cathedral serves as a model of High gothic style.

3 The Early Renaissance — Part I: The rebirth of classical themes and humanistic ideas marked the Renaissance in Italy, as seen in Florentines Brunelleschi, Masaccio, Ghiberti, and Botticelli.
Part II: Glowing color and minute detail set the work of the Flemish masters Van Eyck and Grünewald apart from the Florentines.

4 The High Renaissance — Part I: Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael displayed extraordinary talent working in a variety of media and elevated the status of the artist in Italian society.
Part II: Venetians like Titian, Tintoretto, and Palladio readapted the classical style with a theatrical flourish.

5 Realms of Light: The Baroque — Part I: The Church's campaign to counter the Reformation relied on dramatic depictions of religious scenes, such as those of Caravaggio and Bernini.
Part II: The royal courts in Spain and the wealthy burghers in the Netherlands commissioned and influenced major paintings by Velázquez and Rembrandt.

6 An Age of Reason, An Age of Passion — Part I: The playful fantasy and provocative subjects of the Rococo style practiced by Watteau, Fragonard, and Boucher gave way to strict Rationalism, which insisted on morality in art and the purity of classical form, as seen in the works of David.
Part II: Striving for individual expression, Romantic painters Goya, Gericault, and Delacroix demonstrated a range of styles and subjects.

7 A Fresh View: Impressionism and Post-Impressionism — Part I: Courbet and his followers rejected the standard themes and techniques, Manet shocked Paris, and Impressionists bathed the world in color and changing light.
Part II: Post-Impressionists Seurat, Van Gogh, Gauguin and Cezanne broke new ground with daring use of color and form.

8 Into the Twentieth Century — Part I: Modernity brought new forms in Viennese building and painting. Paris saw the emergence of the Fauves and of Picasso and Cubism. Kandinsky experimented with color abstraction.
Part II: Modernism also spawned the abstract and the surreal. Le Corbusier and Wright applied the abstract principles to buildings. Dad responded with nihilism; surrealists Dali, Magritte, and Miró showed Freudian influence.

9 In Our Own Time — Part I: The Abstract Expressionist movement established New York as a center for the visual arts. Works by Pollock, Warhol, Lichtenstein, and the sculptor Oldenburg are examined.
Part II: With many of the rules tested and discarded, the art world has become international. Art is now accessible to everyone to create and appreciate. Host Michael Wood looks over the past and forward to implications for the future.

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