The Private Life of a Masterpiece
Season 5
The series reveals the full and fascinating stories behind famous works of art, not just how they came to be created, but also how they influenced others and came to have a life of their own in the modern world.
Where to Watch The Private Life of a Masterpiece • Season 5
5 Episodes
- Eugene Delacroix: Liberty Leading the People
E1Eugene Delacroix: Liberty Leading the PeopleThe series that reveals stories behind famous artworks returns, beginning with an examination of Eugene Delacroix 's response to the July revolution of in France. Delacroix's vibrant portrayal of the bare breasted figure of Liberty leading a rabble over a barricade was taken up as a symbol of revolution across the country. Its painter, however, later moaned that the trouble with revolutions was they got in the way of dinner parties. - Johannes Vermeer: The Art of Painting
E2Johannes Vermeer: The Art of PaintingThe series that reveals the stories behind famous artworks continues with an examination of the favourite picture of the artist who painted it - the 17th-century Dutch master Johannes Vermeer. This sublime symbol-laden interior remained in his possession until his death, despite the family being in dire financial straits. A later admirer was Adolf Hitler , who liked it so much that he bought it. - Paolo Uccello: The Battle of San Romano
E3Paolo Uccello: The Battle of San RomanoScholars, critics, and military strategists discuss the abundant merits of Paolo Uccello's "The Battle of San Romano," a triptych painting that immortalizes a single day's warfare from preparation, engagement, and victory. - Georges Seurat: A Sunday on La Grande Jatte
E4Georges Seurat: A Sunday on La Grande JatteA critical and popular assessment of "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte - 1884," the iconic pointillist painting by Georges Seurat (1859-91). How the painting made its home in Chicago, much to France's chagrin. - Gustav Klimt: The Kiss
E5Gustav Klimt: The KissThis erotically charged and hugely popular example of Art Nouveau fused with Symbolism has been the subject of intense speculation since its unveiling in 1908. Who are the two lovers in a rapturous embrace? Is the man or woman in control? And, most tantalisingly, could it depict the artist, a man whose sexual appetite was on a par with Casanova's? Germaine Greer, John Malkovich and former Erotic Review editor Rowan Pelling share their thoughts.
