Has anyone else been watching PBS' broadcast of Simon Schama's Power of Art the last few weeks?
I've been watching the series religiously. Next week's show is on Rothko and is the last of the series. Um, who do we need to persuade to get Mr. Schama to do MORE shows. This is one of the best damn things I've ever watched.
Last night's episode was on J. M. W. Turner. *gasp*! "Painter of light" indeed. Did you know that he kept one fingernail long so that he could scratch and scrape into the paintings? The texture, the depth, the light, THE COLORS...
" ... my job is to draw what I see, not what I know." Turner
One of the great stories they told was of a potential student who was seeking Turner out. It wasn't uncommon for Turner to have layers of paint under his nails and on his fingers. Turner took the student's lily white hands in his own and said "You're no artist..." LOL.
You can watch video clips of the show here. There is a companion book as well. My only fault with the series is that there are only 8 shows.
I've been watching the series religiously. Next week's show is on Rothko and is the last of the series. Um, who do we need to persuade to get Mr. Schama to do MORE shows. This is one of the best damn things I've ever watched.
Last night's episode was on J. M. W. Turner. *gasp*! "Painter of light" indeed. Did you know that he kept one fingernail long so that he could scratch and scrape into the paintings? The texture, the depth, the light, THE COLORS...
" ... my job is to draw what I see, not what I know." Turner
One of the great stories they told was of a potential student who was seeking Turner out. It wasn't uncommon for Turner to have layers of paint under his nails and on his fingers. Turner took the student's lily white hands in his own and said "You're no artist..." LOL.
You can watch video clips of the show here. There is a companion book as well. My only fault with the series is that there are only 8 shows.
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Kim Cataldo
kcataldo@hotmail.com