Simon Schama's Power of Art

Curricular Area: Fine Arts

Grade Level: 11-12+

Program Web Site:
The Power of Art
Teacher Guide:
See Web site

Record Rights: One year record and erase. No duplication allowed.

Series Length:
8 programs

Program Length:
60 minutes

Internationally acclaimed scholar and writer Simon Schama tells the dramatic stories of eight troublemaker artists and the cutting-edge masterpieces that ultimately changed the way the world looks at art. The series explores the personal and fascinating history of the creative process.

101. Van Gogh
Schama explores the meaning and technique of Wheatfield With Crows.(1890)

102. Picasso
The artist's choice to defy the fascism of WWII, led to the enduring power of Guernica. (1937)

103. Caravaggio
The artist's tumultuous life led to his final "self-portrait" in David with the Head of Goliath. (1601)

104. Bernini
Sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini created the greatest of Roman wonders, The Ecstasy of St. Theresa. (1652)

105. Rembrandt
Rembrandt made heroic, dramatic and grand masterpieces out of a world of merchants and money. (1666)

106. David
The pictures of Jacques-Louis David were speeches in form and color that shocked and inspired. (1793)

107. Turner
To Joseph Mallord William Turner, art was not a placebo. His paintings needed to wreak havoc. (1840)

108. Rothko
Mark Rothko's painting fed on the commercial, urban energy that was New York in the 1940s & 1950s. (1958)
© Copyright 1995 - 2003 Iowa Public Television