A leading member of the Royal Academy, Green is an outstanding painter in the tradition of English individualism. He is noted for his extraordinarily detailed paintings which lovingly tell the story of his life and his marriage. This film on his work shows Green at his London home, where he takes viewers through his work with a lively commentary.
Helmut Newton
Newton’s distinctive style of photography is considered seductive by some and scandalous by others. This film shows him at work in Los Angeles, Berlin and Monte-Carlo. He is mischievous and provocative as he talks about his life and his art. Some of the famous subjects of his portraits – Catherine Deneuve, Charlotte Rampling, Sigourney Weaver, Karl Lagerfeld – contribute to the programme.
Sidney Nolan
Born in Melbourne of Irish parents, Sidney Nolan (1917-92) became the leading Australian artist of his generation and a prominent figure in the international art world. His Output of paintings, graphics, book illustrations and theatre designs was prolific, and his journey to fame was an eventful one. Made a few years before his death, this biographical survey of his work includes film of Nolan in England, Australia, Ireland and Hong Kong.
Patrick Heron
One the most exciting British painters to emerge in the twentieth century, Patrick Heron (1920-99) was a splendid raconteur, eloquent on the subjects of modern art and colour, his constant Obsession and joy. He spent most of his life in Cornwall, where he was filmed for this rogramme at his studio,painting a major new work during the course of a Single afternoon. He also takes viewers on a lively tour of a retrospective exhibition of his paintings at London’s Barbican Gallery.
George Grosz
This dramatisation of the life of George Grosz (1893-1959) uses pointed illustration from his work as well as archive film. His own words and those of his contemporaries form a narration. Best-known for his savage caricatures of the enemies of the Weimar Republic, he displayed a morbid (and ambivalent) fascination for his country’s moral decay. A dreamer and a bourgeois at heart, he spent thirty anti-climactic years in the USA, sinking into cynicism, alcoholism and poverty.
Sir Joshua Reynolds
Reynolds’ portraits of eighteenth-century high society are unrivalled mirrors of the age in which he lived. This programme on the life and times of the founding President of England’s Royal Academy draws on the learned Discourses he delivered there periodically to expound his theories. It examines his paintings, visits the houses for which they were destined, and canvasses the views of scholars, critics and owners.
Mon Cher Papa
The extraordinary drawings of Maurice Sendak have made his picture books world-wide best-sellers. Throughout his working life his passion has been music, in particular, Mozart. The composer is his inspiration and his obsession. In this documentary, Sendak reveals the many ways in which his work is influenced by Mozart.
Art from the South Sea Islands
This film looks at some of the most beautiful specimens of Oceanic art housed in the world’s museums. The leading French ethnographer Jean Guiart conjures up vistas of the Pacific islands as he tells the story of magnificent and colourful exhibits, explaining something of their creation, their relationship to the spiritual beliefs of those who fashioned them and how they express the cultural identity of their origins.
An Illustrated Guide to Caricature
The three-dimensional style of caricature originated by Roger Law and Peter Fluck, creators of the Spitting Image puppets, is unique but, in essence, it is part of a British tradition stretching back to the eighteenth Century. In this programme, Fluck and Law consider the work of famous caricaturists, including Gillray, Daumier, Grosz and Dix.
Two Women in three Dimensions
Despite such illustrious examples as Barbara Hepworth and Elizabeth Frink, sculpture is still commonly regarded as a masculine pursuit. This programme profiles Nicola Hicks and Wendy Taylor, two outstanding sculptresses working in Britain today, both exceptionally talented, who express themselves with humour, frankness and ease. They are seen at work, at home and, most importantly, against the backgrounds of their work.