It's one very big reason why the BBC must remain a public broadcaster and NOT become commercial.
Art documentaries on BBCiPlayer
So - what can be accessed via iPlayer at present? You'd be surprised. The archive includes documentary films going back to the 1960s!
- First the recent programmes being shown or recently show on BBC. Then at the end, other programmes still available to view via BBC iPlayer.
The Story of Scottish Art
Lachlan Goudie reprises his documentary about The Story of Scottish Art - in 4 episodes - on BBC4 tonight - starting at 8pm.See my earlier blog post Art on Television - The Story of Scottish Art for more about this programme
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| The catalogue of the current exhibition of Arthur Melville - Adventures in Colour on display at the Scottish National Gallery until 17th January 2016 I got my copy as a Christmas present! |
- Shock of the hue: How Scotland's artists sought adventures in colour
- How did artists create a stereotype of Scotland?
Art Crime - The World's Most Expensive Stolen Paintings
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| Presented by Alistair Sooke |
The World's Most Expensive Stolen Paintings (60 minutes) was broadcast last night and contained more than a few surprises. Such as:
- art thieves are not specialists - they are career thieves who specialise in robbery and who probably know very little about art - which accounts for why they broke in to the van Gogh Museum and stole the first two paintings in the catalogue and ignored the really valuable ones
- art theft is not glamorous - forget the Thomas Crown Affair (they don't look like film actors either if they ones appearing in this programme are anything to go by!)
- thieves are not stealing to order according to the man who set up the specialist unit in the Metropolitan Police
- thieves like coming in through the roof!
More about Art Crime soon!
Michael Palin's Quest for Artemisia
You have 27 days left to watch Michael Palin's Quest for Artemisia - the story of 17th-century Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi.
I commented on the film in my post Artemisia Gentileschi on BBC4 and iPlayer and provided links to more information about this famous woman artist.
Secrets of the Mona Lisa
You have three days left to watch Secrets of the Mona Lisa (59 minutes)
Andrew Graham-Dixon presented this fascinating programme about how many Mona Lisa paintings da Vinci painted and how many are in the Louvre!
this landmark film uses new evidence to investigate the truth behind her identity and where she lived. It decodes centuries-old documents and uses state-of-the-art technology that could unlock the long-hidden truths of history's most iconic work of art.It got a lot of publicity when it aired last month. Here are some of the articles about the subject of this documentary
- BBC | Hidden portrait 'found under Mona Lisa', says French scientist
- The Independent | Secrets of the Mona Lisa: French scientist Pascal Cotte claims to know secret behind world's most famous smile
- The Telegraph | Mona Lisa discovery: scientist claims secret, second portrait of 'real' Mona Lisa lies underneath painting
The BBC Archive
The BBC Archive includes a number of programmes about art and artists - but it's not that easy finding them. They are however typically available for over a year.
They include:
imagine...
- Autumn 2015: 2. Antony Gormley: Being Human
- Spring 2006: 4. A Picture of the Painter Howard Hodgkin
- Winter 2009: 1. The Year of Anish Kapoor
2013
- Tales of Winter: The Art of Snow and Ice (90 minutes) - A look at how mankind's struggle with winter has been reflected in western art throughout the ages, with contributions from Grayson Perry, Will Self, Don McCullin and others. Available for the next 13 days
1990s
- Making Their Mark: Six Artists on Drawing-3. Maggi Hambling (28 minutes) - a 1990 film about drawing (I'm greatly amused by the the title for the series!)
A good drawing consists of the right mark in the right place according to Maggi Hambling, who compares her life-drawing sessions to a musician practising scales.
1980s
- Artists on Film: Scenes from Working Lives-Episode 5 (30 minutes) - A focus on abstract artists, including William Hayter, Patrick Heron, Victor Pasmore, John Hoyland and Anthony Caro
- Beardsley and his Work (49 minutes) - a 1982 film about the life and work of Aubrey Beardsley,
one of the world's most exciting graphic artists, whose drawings still retain their power to fascinate, to amuse and to shock.
1960s
- The Visual Scene-3. Playing it Cool (27 minutes) - A film made in 1969
We used to think of artists working with paint and brush, or stone and chisel. But the new generation are using radical new methods and tools to produce art.
- Francis Bacon: Fragments Of A Portrait (45 minutes) - a film made in 1966
Francis Bacon's paintings have been called sick and corrupt. He has also been hailed as the greatest British painter since Turner.
- Barbara Hepworth (33 minutes) - A film made in 1961 which examines how Cornish landscapes have influenced Barbara Hepworth's work. She takes us through the planning stages in the creation of her sculptures.
And then there is the USA public TV art programming, current and past available on PBS stations: [crickets chirping] Nada. Zero. Zilch. Unless you are looking for reruns of very old and extremely cheesy "how-to" videos along the lines of Bob Ross style "here's how you paint happy little trees!" :(
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately the BBC iplayer only works in the UK, unless you download an app like Hola. I'd love to see these programmes.
ReplyDeleteIn the USA our PBS has already gone commercial. They are shown between programs and are supposed to be 'tasteful' and brief. Beside the point! They now have a foot in the door. I blame the people who watch PBS and never bother to contribute money. Everything is so expensive and equipment has to be updated and programming has to be bought. (none of us are willing to give up the British imports) It's only a matter of time before the commercials take over. Another loss.
ReplyDeleteMolly