"Who else but Whistler made us see that fog was beautiful or love the night?" asked Oscar Wilde, sometime friend of the irascible artist who is the subject of this Omnibus episode. James McNeill Whistler was a turn-of-the-century Bohemian, who escaped from his New England background to discover the louche life in Paris and London. His later style, impressionistic to the point of abstraction, pre-empted modernism by nearly 20 years. In reply to an impertinent judge who suggested he was charging 200 guineas for two days' work, Whistler replied: "No - I ask it for the knowledge of a lifetime". James Runcie's film re-creates some of Whistler's most famous paintings, including the portrait of his mother, in studio tableaux. It also records many of the artist's celebrated run-ins with the critics of his day (he collected his attacks on the critics in a volume from which this film takes its title: The Gentle Art of Making Enemies).
London, England, 2008. Some of the most distinguished experts on the work of Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) gather at the National Gallery to examine a painting known as Salvator Mundi; an event that turns out to be the first act of one of the most fascinating stories in the history of art.
Colour, form, area - this is the formula of the greatest pioneer of abstract painting. Kandinsky came to art late in life, but his impact through Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) and Bauhaus paved the way for modern art.
Bjørn Nørgaard and a team of Czech glass artists in the demanding process of creating a grave monument for Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik of Denmark.
Harris produced and directed television programs for Playboy Television between 1995 and 1999, such as Ron Harris' Camera Up-Close & Dangerous, Ron Harris' Star Shapes, a series of seven one-hour specials and Naturals a series of five one-hour specials.
Agnes Martin is one of the most important artists of the twentieth century. Before she died in 2004 at the age of 92, her paintings sold for millions of dollars and were displayed in the world's greatest museums.
Eric Leiser displays his boundless creativity in this short collection; A stunning compilation of works presented with a mixture of live action, stop motion animation, puppetry and pixilation techniques, produced between 2001 and 2006.
"Meat Joy is an erotic rite — excessive, indulgent, a celebration of flesh as material: raw fish, chicken, sausages, wet paint, transparent plastic, ropes, brushes, paper scrap.
As the railroad builders advance unstoppably through the Arizona desert on their way to the sea, Jill arrives in the small town of Flagstone with the intention of starting a new life.
A baleful limping man walks through Prague. He is Asmodeus (Juraj Herz), the fiend of lustfulness, entertaining himself by putting together by magic couples of lovers.
Centring on the legend of the four ancient Chinese heroines, the film was a novelty for audiences at the time, as the singing performance was in Cantonese and used huangmei operatic rhythms—a popular trend in the 1960s, yet it retained traditional flavours by using operatic luogu percussion in the battle scenes.
Two young boys, play hooky from school in order to explore an ultramodern world's fair. They take in the many marvelous scientific and industrial exhibits, obtain literature, eat food, and generally run amok.
