Traces how developments in technology inspired art between 1880 and the end of WWI, leading to movements like cubism and futurism.

Hughes explores the interplay between art and politics, seeing how artists were affected by the development of mechanised warfare and ideologies like fascism and communism.

The French artists who attempted to reconcile man with nature, from the determination of the impressionists to paint outside to Matisse's vibrant use of colour.

How modern architects in the wake of the Bauhaus aspired to change societies with their designs, a move represented both by Le Corbusier and the plans for the city Brasilia.

The art movement that gripped its exponents with the fervor of a religion: surrealism. Artists like Di Chirico, Ernst, Miró and Dalí; brought the subconscious to the fore and attempted to tap into innocent and irrationality.

Expressionism sprung out of the harsh, secular atmosphere of the 20th Century and evolved, through the strong colors and often somber moods of artists like Munch, to the non-figurative work of Pollock and De Kooning.

Artists began to take man-made images as their inspiration, leading to the pop art of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein as well as Stuart Davis' collages inspired by jazz.

The final episode in the series explores the decline of modernism and how various artists have reacted to the consequent commercialization of their art.