Great Art Explained

An Art Lovers' Guide

November 2024 •English

With sumptuous palaces, exquisite artworks and stunning architecture, every great city offers a dizzying multitude of cultural highlights. So what should an art lover see on a flying visit? Art historians Dr Janina Ramirez and Alastair Sooke take us on entertaining and revealing cultural city breaks, offering surprising new insights into famous locations and uncovering hidden gems and untold stories, as they discover how religion, revolution and trailblazing individuals can shape the art - and soul - of a city.

Painting Birds with Jim and Nancy Moir

November 2024 •English

Comedic ornithological series, Painting Birds with Jim and Nancy Moir will follow prolific artist Jim and his wife Nancy as they explore some of Britain’s best beauty spots, joined along the way by a few famous friends. Their challenge? Create an original piece of bird art celebrating the unique species native to that region over the course of a weekend. Accompanied in each episode by local twitchers, artists and conservation experts, Jim, and Nancy will be guided through forest and fen as they venture through wild countryside and local bird sanctuaries to gather inspiration. They’ll spend meditative weekends sketching and painting their feathery subjects, tackling everything from grouse to goshawks and bitterns to bearded tits.

The Andy Warhol Diaries

November 2024 •English

After he's shot in 1968, Andy Warhol begins documenting his life and feelings. Those diaries, and this series, reveal the secrets behind his persona.

Magnolia Workshops

November 2024 •English

Move from inspiration into action with hand-picked experts in home, kitchen, garden and the arts. Whether you're looking to style a room, start a garden or cook a new dish, each class is designed for anyone to roll up their sleeves and try something new.

Seven Ages of Britain

November 2024 •English

Seven Ages of Britain is a BBC television documentary series which is written and presented by David Dimbleby. The seven part series was first aired on Sunday nights at 9:00pm on BBC One starting on 31 January 2010. The series covers the history of Britain's greatest art and artefacts over the past 2000 years. Each episode covers a different period in British history. In Australia, all seven episodes aired on ABC1 each Tuesday at 8:30pm from 7 September 2010.

Draw for Change!

November 2024 •French

DRAW FOR CHANGE! is a 6 part documentary series about female cartoonists from all around the globe, challenging the red lines and the taboos of their society. Zooming in on their drawings, these cartoonists take us on a journey into their world in search of people who experience their drawings in reality.

Painting With John

November 2024 •English

Part meditative tutorial, part fireside chat, each episode finds artist John Lurie ensconced at his worktable, where he hones his intricate watercolor techniques and shares his reflections on what he’s learned about life.

Art sous enquête

November 2024 •French

The Art of Punk

November 2024 •English

The Art of Punk, a series of documentaries from MOCAtv, the video channel of Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art. Emphasizes its focus on, literally, the visual art of punk: its posters, its album art, its T-shirts, and even — un-punk as this may sound — its logos.

The Beauty of Anatomy

November 2024 •English

Dr Adam Rutherford investigates the close relationship between discoveries in anatomy and the works of art that illustrate them.

Giants of Art

November 2024 •German

Michelangelo, Rembrandt van Rijn, Vincent van Gogh - the documentary series "Giants of Art" dedicates a film to each of these three artists. Three exceptional geniuses who went their own way and left behind iconographic works of art; which still inspire the art world today.

Articulate

November 2024 •English

Articulate connects audiences to the human stories behind art, offering a trustworthy, visually stimulating, never ordinary take on classical, contemporary, and popular art forms. From acclaimed musicians and best-selling authors to designers changing the way we live, each episode explores what great creative thinkers and doers can tell us about who we are, who we’ve been, and who we might become.

The Art of Gothic: Britain's Midnight Hour

November 2024 •English

Andrew Graham-Dixon explores how a group of 19th-century architects and artists spurned the modern age and turned to Britain's medieval past to create iconic works and buildings.

Faire oeuvre utile

November 2024 •French

3AM

November 2024 •English

Focusing on five disparate characters who each toil and/or party well into the night (hence the title), this latenight entry takes the “city that never sleeps” line and runs with it. The result is visually provocative but only mildly entertaining, and never for a moment truly convincing.

The Western Tradition

November 2024 •English

Covering the ancient world through the age of technology, this illustrated lecture by Eugen Weber presents a tapestry of political and social events woven with many strands — religion, industry, agriculture, demography, government, economics, and art. A visual feast of over 2,700 images from the Metropolitan Museum of Art portrays key events that shaped the development of Western thought, culture, and tradition.

Africa Rising with Afua Hirsch

November 2024 •English

Africa on its own terms and in full voice - across Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa. Uncovering the energy and ambition of creatives reinventing African music, fashion and film.

Animal Art: Photogenic Creatures

November 2024 •German

Long regarded as mere subjects for amateur or specialist nature photographers, animals are increasingly inspiring art photographers to produce surprising creations, sometimes with a social message. Five photographers present their work and their perspectives on the animal world.

Art of America

November 2024 •English

Andrew Graham-Dixon embarks on his most ambitious journey yet, an exploration of the rich, exciting and diverse art history of the United States of America

Art of China

November 2024 •English

Andrew Graham-Dixon undertakes an epic journey to uncover the art of China.