Virgil Oldman is a world renowned antiques expert and auctioneer. An eccentric genius, he leads a solitary life, going to extreme lengths to keep his distance from the messiness of human relationships. When appointed by the beautiful but emotionally damaged Claire to oversee the valuation and sale of her family’s priceless art collection, Virgil allows himself to form an attachment to her – and soon he is engulfed by a passion which will rock his bland existence to the core.
In London's contemporary art world, everyone has a hustle. Art Spindle runs a high-end gallery: he hopes to flip a Mondrian for millions. One of his assistants, Beth, is sleeping with Art's most acquisitive client, Bob Macclestone. Beth wants Bob to set her up in her own gallery, so she helps him go behind Art's back for the Mondrian. Bob's wife, Jean, sets her eye on a young conceptual artist, Jo, who lusts after Art's newest assistant, Paige. Meanwhile, self-absorbed videographer Elaine is chewing her way through friends and lovers looking to make it: if she'll throw Dewey, her agent, under the bus, Beth may give her a show. And the Mondrian? No honor among thieves.
Tim Jenison, a Texas based inventor, attempts to solve one of the greatest mysteries in all art: How did Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer manage to paint so photo-realistically 150 years before the invention of photography? Spanning a decade, Jenison's adventure takes him to Holland, on a pilgrimage to the North coast of Yorkshire to meet artista David Hockney, and eventually even to Buckingham Palace. The epic research project Jenison embarques on is as extraordinary as what he discovers.
A portrait of the artist as a "sublime demon with the archangel's face", with an innovative musique concrète soundtrack.
Departing from peripheral details of some paintings of the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, a female narrator unravels several stories related to the economic, social and psychological conditions of past and current artists.
In a high tech profession where photography is seemingly at everyone’s fingertips, Paul Hodgkinson steps back in time to create art using the same historical techniques as the pioneers of his craft.
Janina Ramirez explores the BBC archives to create a TV history of Leonardo Da Vinci, discovering what lies beneath the Mona Lisa and even how he acquired his anatomical knowledge.
Michael Palin heads for rural Pennsylvania and Maine to explore the extraordinary life and work of one of America's most popular and controversial painters, Andrew Wyeth. Fascinated by his iconic painting Christina's World, Palin goes in search of the real life stories that inspired this and Wyeth's other depictions of the American landscape and its hard grafting inhabitants. Tracking down the farmers, friends and family featured in Wyeth's magically real work, Palin builds a picture of an eccentric, enigmatic and driven painter. He also gets a rare interview with Helga, the woman who put Wyeth back in the headlines when the press discovered he had been painting her nude, compulsively but secretly for 15 years.
JORDAN is a lonely Manhattan painter. When GINGER, a suicidal 19 year old squatter calls Jordan by accident, she threatens to kill herself if he doesn't meet her for lunch. This dark dramedy is 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' on lithium. 16mm film
Three very different people — a quantum physicist, a neuroscientist (Sheetal Sheth), and an FBI agent — find themselves drawn into a spiraling mystery. Confronted with a mysterious car accident, the three must interpret clues that defy common sense. Their collective quest takes them from science to art to music to mysticism in a widening search for answers. After an intense outward chase to satisfy their rational minds, the trio realizes the answers they desire lie buried deep within themselves. As each seeker begins to embrace the true nature of reality, each is rewarded with revelations beyond their wildest imaginings. What they learn leaves them humbled and in awe of the strange and beautiful universe we call home. When everything makes sense, nothing makes sense. This highly philosophical narrative has been applauded by scientists, artists, thinkers, scholars, media, academia, students and audiences from 10 to 80+ years old.
A year in the life of Elsa Michaud and Gabriel Gauthier, students of Fine Arts in Paris, lovers in troubled times, overwhelmed by maddening verbal and auditory stimuli, witnesses of a globalized violence more visible than ever in a chaotic digital era, in which the slow execution of simple gestures in a silent performance is an act of resistance.
The odyssey of a young Cape Breton woman as she moves to the big city (Halifax) and supports herself after the birth of her illegitimate child by posing for college art classes, on her way to becoming an artist in her own right.
A movie about James Tissot (1836-1902), a French painter and portraitist
Explores the paths being forged by six modern artists, giving us rare insight into the minds behind this rousing new wave of painting.
Short experimental film based on the theme of waiting, and how with time good things will come.
The organization of an art exhibition, the curatorship, the staging of a play, are complex and multidisciplinary practices that demand creativity, research and rigor. This series reflects on the possibilities to carry out these activities.
Sister Wendy Beckett takes a journey through the history of art in this ten-part series.
Nine security guards from the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, in Lisbon, invite us to appreciate works of their choice from the Museum's permanent exhibition, in a presentation that crosses art, everyday life and biography.
Sister Wendy Beckett, a cloistered nun and Oxford-educated art scholar, takes an art appreciation tour across America, visiting six major art museums in this 6-hours documentary series from PBS.
