History of British Art, A

Synopsis
Series tracing the history of British art from 1066 to the present. Presenter Andrew Graham-Dixon travels across the country, presenting a picutre of the cultural life of a nation embracing not only in painting and sculpture, but also history, politics, architecture and literature.
1 (director Paul Tickell): During the Middle Ages, the British Isles produced a a flowering of religious art, with cathedrals built and adorned with painted panels and statues. Very little survives; it was destroyed by the zealous vandals of the Reformation in the 16th century. Andrew Graham-Dixon holds thet the story of British art lies in the love of decorative art and a puritanical urge towards plainness.
2: (director Tanya Seghatchian): The fight for the soul of British art between the northern realism of Hans Holbein and the lush fantasy of Anthony Van Dyck. Looks at the imagery of the Elizabethan world, the baroque glories of Charles I and the majesty of St Paul’s.
3: (director Martin Davidson): The 18th century, the golden age of British art, with works by artists such as Hogarth, Gainsborough, Reynolds and Stubbs, whose rich visual world depicted the life and preoccupations of their patrons, the aristocracy.
4 (director Rik Lander): Explores the early 19th-century abandonment of realism, travelling to Norfolk, Margate and Dedham Vale in Essex to look at the landscapes behind the paintings of Constable and Turner. Also discusses the strange, private work of William Blake and the curious erotic dream images painted by Henry Fusell. Also shows the collection in Sir John Soane’s London house.
5 (director James Muir): Victorian artists turned their backs on the technological and social changes of the 19th century, hating modernity and nostalgic for an idealised past. Looks at the Pre-Raphaelites and the conflict between the confidence of the new industrial age and the yearnings of its artists for the romanticism of the Middle Ages.
6 (director Paul Tickell): The development of modern art in Britain, looking at Walter Sickert, Henry Moore, Lucian Freud, Barbara Hepworth, Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Stanley Spencer, Gilbert and George, Rachel Whiteread and Damien Hirst.
Language
English
Country
Great Britain
Medium
Video; Videocassette. Standard formats. col. 6 x 50 min.
Year of production
1996
Availability
Sale; 2003 sale: £350.00 (+VAT +p&p) series 2003 sale: £125.00 (+VAT +p&p) each
Notes
Broadcast on BBC2 from 21/4/96. Repeated on BBC4 from 14/03/02
Subjects
Art; History
Keywords
artists - British; history of art; paintings - British; sculpture - British

Credits

Director
James Muir; Martin Davidson; Paul Tickell; Rik Lander; Tanya Seghatchian
Producer
Gillian Greenwood
Cast
Andrew Graham-Dixon 

Sections

Title
Dreams and hammers
Synopsis
1 (director Paul Tickell): During the Middle Ages, the British Isles produced a a flowering of religious art, with cathedrals built and adorned with painted panels and statues. Very little survives; it was destroyed by the zealous vandals of the Reformati

Title
North and south
Synopsis
2: (director Tanya Seghatchian): The fight for the soul of British art between the northern realism of Hans Holbein and the lush fantasy of Anthony Van Dyck. Looks at the imagery of the Elizabethan world, the baroque glories of Charles I and the majesty o

Title
My wife, my horse and myself
Synopsis
3: (director Martin Davidson): The 18th century, the golden age of British art, with works by artists such as Hogarth, Gainsborough, Reynolds and Stubbs, whose rich visual world depicted the life and preoccupations of their patrons, the aristocracy.

Title
Modern art
Synopsis
4 (director Rik Lander): Explores the early 19th-century abandonment of realism, travelling to Norfolk, Margate and Dedham Vale in Essex to look at the landscapes behind the paintings of Constable and Turner. Also discusses the strange, private work of Wi

Title
All change
Synopsis
5 (director James Muir): Victorian artists turned their backs on the technological and social changes of the 19th century, hating modernity and nostalgic for an idealised past. Looks at the Pre-Raphaelites and the conflict between the confidence of the ne

Title
Our house
Synopsis
6 (director Paul Tickell): The development of modern art in Britain, looking at Walter Sickert, Henry Moore, Lucian Freud, Barbara Hepworth, Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Stanley Spencer, Gilbert and George, Rachel Whiteread and Damien Hirst.

Production Company

Name

BBC Television

Distributor

Name

BBC Active Video for Learning - now BBC Learning

Contact
Carolina Fernandez Jeremy Wilcox (CF - for educational enquiries JW - channel sales manager)
Email
BBCStudiosLearning@bbc.com
Web
https://www.bbcstudioslearning.com/ External site opens in new window
Phone
+44 (0) 20 8433 1009
Address
BBC Studios Limited
Television Centre
101 Wood Lane
London
W12 7FA
UK
Notes
The BBC Active company has now been absorbed within BBC Learning, a division of BBC Studios. It was originally a joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Pearson Education. Formerly known as ‘BBC Worldwide Learning Studies’ and before that as ‘Videos for Education & Training’

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