Art of the Western World

  • Rank #
  • Premiered: Oct 1989
  • Episodes: 12
  • Followers: 0
  • Ended
  • PBS
  • Unknown
  • Documentary

Seasons:

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Season 1
1x1
The Classical Ideal
Episode overview
Air date
Oct 02, 1989
The Greeks created a classical ideal against which all subsequent art would be measured; Rome's genius lay in architecture and civil engineering. Featured: the Parthenon, the Altar of Zeus at Pergamon, the Pantheon, the sarcophagus of Juius Bassus.
1x2
A White Garment of Churches
Episode overview
Air date
Oct 09, 1989
Romanesque art and architecture were shaped by two powerful forces: pilgrimage and the monastic movement. Gothic cathedrals elaborated and improved upon Romanesque design. Includes: Gislebertus, St.-Denis, Chartres, etc.
1x3
The Early Renaissance
Episode overview
Air date
Oct 16, 1989
In Florence, classical themes were reborn and merged with Christian values. In the north, the Flemish masters worked in a new medium: oils. Featured: Donatello, Fra Angelico, .. show full overview
1x12 Show finale
Imperial Stone: The Art of Rome
Episode overview
Air date
Oct 22, 1989
Ancient Roman architecture, sculpture, art, and engineering and their roots and influences from Greece. The Roman Empire as expressed in its great public monuments. Roman art, like that of Greece, is the cornerstone of all Western art.
1x4
The High Renaissance
Episode overview
Air date
Oct 23, 1989
Rome became a vibrant center of art again with papal patronage. 16th-century Venice sought to present itself as the ideal city-state, infused with spectacle and idealism. Includes: Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Tintoretto, etc.
1x10
The Age of Gothic
Episode overview
Air date
Nov 05, 1989
This episode explores and celebrates the origins, development, innovations, and glory of Gothic cathedrals, including one of its highest achievements, the cathedral of Chartres.
1x11
The Play of Light
Episode overview
Air date
Dec 03, 1989
16th-century Venice sought to present itself as the ideal city-state, and was infused with poetry and spectacle. Venetian art and architecture mirrored this and proclaimed it to the world.
1x5
Realms of Light: The Baroque
Episode overview
Air date
Dec 31, 1989
The Counter-Reformation inspired an artistic revival and an exuberant new style. In royal courts, artists expressed the power of the monarch. Featured: Caravaggio, Bernini's Ecstasy of .. show full overview
1x6
An Age of Reason, An Age of Passion
Episode overview
Air date
Dec 31, 1989
As society revolted against decadence and corruption, artists turned again to classical Greece. The romantic painters in turn elevated individual expression. Featured: Watteau, Syon .. show full overview
1x7
Impressionism and Post-Impressionism
Episode overview
Air date
Dec 31, 1989
Once scorned and despised, impressionist paintings today are among the most familiar images in art. Postimpressionists broke new ground with their radical use of color. Featured: Manet, .. show full overview
1x8
Into the Twentieth Century
Episode overview
Air date
Dec 31, 1989
Rapid advances in science, thought, and technology led to the secessionists, fauves, and cubists. Dada rejected everything, and architecture went international. Featured: Klimt, Matisse, .. show full overview
1x9
In Our Own Time
Episode overview
Air date
Dec 31, 1989
The center of the art world moved to New York, home to abstract expressionism. Artists reacted to postwar society with a bewildering array of styles, and postmodernism mined the past for .. show full overview

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