Exhibition on Screen - on television - in 2021

For many of us, there's going to be an innovation in how we see art exhibitions during the Pandemic 

My copy of the Sky Arts Press Pack for programmes planned for broadcast over the autumn and winter tells me that many people new to Sky Arts 'free to view' broadcasting will now be able to see films about art exhibitions in a different way - via our television.

Sky Arts are continuing their collaboration with Exhibition on Screen to bring a selection of exhibitions to the new 'free to view' Sky Arts Channel.

A cinematic immersion into the world’s best loved art, accompanied by insights from the world’s leading historians and arts critics. 

Upcoming premieres in early 2021 include the following although no dates are yet available. 

• Lucian Freud: A Self Portrait
• Frida Kahlo
• Leonardo: The Works

They will be free to view when broadcast on Sky Arts but only subscribers to Sky and Now TV will be able to watch them on demand.

Lucian Freud: A Self Portrait

Lucian Freud: A Self Portrait has a running time of 86 minutes

For the first time in history the Royal Academy of Arts in London, in collaboration with the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, is bringing together Lucian Freud’s self-portraits.

The exhibition will display more than 50 paintings, prints and drawings in which this modern master of British art turned his unflinching eye firmly on himself. One of the most celebrated painters of our time, Lucian Freud is also one of very few 20th-century artists who portrayed themselves with such consistency.

Spanning nearly seven decades his self-portraits give a fascinating insight into both his psyche and his development as a painter, from his earliest portrait painted in 1939 to the final one executed 64 years later.

This was the the Guardian review of the exhibition in 2019-2020 at the Royal Academy of Arts.

Frida Kahlo 

Frida Kahlo has a running time of 90 minutes.

Who was Frida Kahlo? Everyone knows her, but who was the woman behind the bright colours, the big brows, and the floral crowns?

Take a journey through the life of a true icon, discover her art, and uncover the truth behind her often turbulent life. Making use of the latest technology to deliver previously unimaginable quality, we take an in-depth look at key works throughout her career.

Using letters Kahlo wrote to guide us, this definitive film reveals her deepest emotions and unlocks the secrets and symbolism contained within her art.

Leonardo: The Works

Leonardo: The Works - I'm puzzled by this one. 

I can see the film about Raphael - but there's nothing about Leonardo currently in the Exhibition on Screen listings.

However on the EOS blog it says

Our first release of season 7 – Leonardo: The Works – received a brilliant reaction! I was genuinely worried that we were taking so much time researching, filming and editing that, by the time we released, folk would have had enough of Leonardo and his 500th anniversary. Indeed there were at least four other films on Leonardo in 2019. But we try to make films for the long term so I wasn’t too concerned about what others were doing. My particular desire was to include as many of the paintings as possible in situ. And that takes time to do properly. I think it was the right decision: we have had lots of feedback already with people saying they really liked seeing the exteriors and interiors of the Uffizi, Hermitage, National Galleries of London, Washington, Edinburgh and so on

Plus in the press cutting section of their website it has these comments

Undeniably impressive… the cumulative effect of seeing one masterwork after another roll across the screen is amazing. As gallery films go, this is pretty monumental.’
The Guardian

‘You’ve seen Mona Lisa a million times, but never this close’
Total Film Magazine

So we shall see....

Programme Notes

Digging around on the website revealed that it's also possible to download the programme notes for each of the films - and the others they supply - to your iPhone via an app.

• Lucian Freud: A Self Portrait Downloadable Programme Notes

“What, I believe, will remain constant is our conviction that great artists are defined by great passion, by their ability to carve out their own distinct (and often revolutionary) style, and by their enchanting approach to storytelling . As far as we are concerned, this description paints a remarkably accurate portrait of Lucian Freud.”

• Leonardo: The Works Downloadable Programme Notes

“Compared to our 2011 film Leonardo Live, which focused on one exhibition and Leonardo’s Milan period specifically, Leonardo: The Works (which first graced cinemas in 2019 on the 500 year anniversary of the artist’s death) was a remarkably ambitious project in scope since its inception.”

I can't find anything for Frida Kahlo. 

About Exhibition on Screen

Exhibition on Screen has been around for a while.  It is produced and distributed by the documentary film-makers Seventh Art Productions who have been making films about art for 35 years.

It delivers films about art exhibitions - and their background stories - to screens in cinemas around the world (typically the 'arthouse' type of cinema).

EXHIBITION ON SCREEN™ is the originator and pioneer of bringing exhibition-based art films to the cinema.

Working with top international museums and galleries, EXHIBITION ON SCREEN create films which offer a cinematic immersion into the world’s best loved art, accompanied by insights from the
world’s leading historians and arts critics. Since launching in 2011, EXHIBITION ON SCREEN have released 26 films which have been shown in over 66 countries across the globe and over two million seats have been sold! This is a wonderful resource for audiences worldwide – from Caracas to Cape Town, Berlin to Brisbane.

This article Exhibition on Screen: art comes to the cinema was published last August and comments on how the digital revolution has enabled the company to bring HD films to 60 countries around the world

They have also merchandised the films via "stream, download or purchase DVDs of our films on our website" to view in the comfort of your home. (See Seventh Art website)

Plus they also make Behind the Scenes Extras - exclusive clips and extra behind-the-scenes footage -  available to view for free via their website

What makes this collaboration with Sky Arts different is it brings the films to our television screens a little while after they have been released for viewing in the cinema - and enables us to see them for free.