Episode 1
Aired Jul 26, 2010
Greatness in Painting
Asking what makes a masterpiece; looking at criteria for defining greatness in painting, including a work's uniqueness and the quality of its immediate and cumulative impact.
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Episode 2
Aired Jul 26, 2010
The Majesty of Duccio and Giotto
Exploring two composite masterworks of Italian painting; grasping the elements of various aspects of the "Maesta" altarpiece by Duccio; studying the depictions of devotion and grief in two narrative scenes of the Arena Chapel frescoes by Giotto.
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Episode 3
Aired Jul 26, 2010
Acts of Faith-Masaccio, Van Eyck, Van der Weyden
Tracing landmark religious imagery in 15th-century painting; defining Masaccio's narrative ability in two fresco scenes from the Brancacci Chapel; Jan van Eyck's "Madonna of the Canon van der Paele"; Rogier van der Weyden's "Deposition of Christ".
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Episode 4
Aired Jul 26, 2010
The Diversity of Piero, Mantegna, Botticelli
Encountering three major painters of the Italian Renaissance; reflecting on the imagery and composition of Piero della Francesca's "Resurrection"; Andrea Mantegna's innovations in "illusionistic" painting; the mysteries of Botticelli's "Primavera".
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Episode 5
Aired Jul 26, 2010
The Devotion of Bellini, Geertgen, Dürer
Exploring three extraordinary evocations of religious devotion; the portrayal of the saint in Bellini's "St. Francis in the Desert"; the pictorial details in Geertgen's "Madonna with Musical Angels"; the spiritual import in Durer's "Self-Portrait".
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Episode 6
Aired Jul 26, 2010
Masterworks by Leonardo, Raphael, Correggio
Tracking the interaction of the human figures in Leonardo's "Last Supper"; the composition's theological symbolism; Raphael's embodiment of High Renaissance ideals in "Baldassare Castiglione"; the poetic eroticism of Correggio's "Jupiter and Io".
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Episode 7
Aired Jul 26, 2010
Great Ensembles-Michelangelo and Grünewald
Studying "The Creation of Adam" and "Prophet Jeremiah" in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling; continuing with a highly contrasting masterwork of German art; the evocation of suffering and ecstasy in Matthias Grunewald's Isenheim Altarpiece.
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Episode 8
Aired Jul 26, 2010
Ideal and Real-Giorgione, Titian, Holbein
Encountering the "Concert Champetre"; uncovering the enigmatic imagery of its Arcadian scene; studying Titian's portrayal of the Virgin Mary in the "Assumption"; the richly detailed execution of Holbein's portrait, "Charles de Solier".
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Episode 9
Aired Jul 26, 2010
Living and Dying-Bruegel, El Greco, Caravaggio
Exploring three contrasting 16th-century masterworks; Bruegel's layering of descriptive scenes in "Hunters in the Snow"; the haunting details and symbolic compositions of El Greco's "Burial of Count Orgaz" and Caravaggio's "The Entombment".
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Episode 10
Aired Jul 26, 2010
Life Stories by Ter Brugghen, Rubens, Steen
Hendrick Ter Brugghen's evocation of the healing of St. Sebastian; Rubens's ingenuity as a court painter in his "Landing of Marie de Medici in Marseilles"; the organization and imagery of Jan Steen's "The way you hear it, is the way you sing it".
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Episode 11
Aired Jul 26, 2010
Inside Vermeer, Velázquez, Rembrandt
Exploring three introspective works of genius; reflecting on Vermeer's purpose in "View of Delft"; decoding the ambiguous, philosophical composition of Velazquez's "Maids of Honor"; Rembrandt's portrayal of himself in his "Self-Portrait" of 1658.
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Episode 12
Aired Jul 26, 2010
Spirit and Thought-Hals, Rembrandt, La Tour
Studying Hals's treatment of elderly women in a Haarlem group portrait; exploring Rembrandt's expression of a couple's deep emotion through an intimate configuration of hands and fabric; La Tour's evocation of mystical contemplation through a flame.
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Episode 13
Aired Jul 26, 2010
The Serenity of Poussin, Claude, Watteau
The measured grace and use of color, shape and gesture in Poussin's "Eliezer and Rebecca"; studying the elements of Lorrain's consummate mastery of the landscape; the dreamlike qualities of Watteau's wistful fantasy, "The Embarkation for Cythera".
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Episode 14
Aired Jul 26, 2010
In Contrast-Chardin, Tiepolo, Gainsborough
Three diverse works reveal 18th-century achievements in painting; Chardin's portrayal of game animals in death; Tiepolo's "Apollo and the Four Continents"; Gainsborough's melding of sitter and landscape in "Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan".
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Episode 15
Aired Jul 26, 2010
Dark Images of David, Goya, Friedrich
Opening with portrayals of brutality; David's merging of idealized presentation and realism in "The Death of Marat"; military retaliation in Goya's "Third of May, 1808"; the evocation of nature in Friedrich's "Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon".
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Episode 16
Aired Jul 26, 2010
The Worlds of Constable, Turner, Delacroix
Comparing the styles and originality of Constable and Turner; highlighting Constable's compositional technique and signature cloud-filled skies; Turner's bravura use of color and light; examining Delacroix's "Liberty Leading the People".
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Episode 17
Aired Jul 26, 2010
Dark to Bright-Courbet, Church, Monet
French and American canvases reveal bold innovations in 19th-century painting; the elements of Realism in Gustave Courbet's composition of a rural funeral; Frederic Church's depiction of Niagara Falls; studying Monet's snowscape in "The Magpie".
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Episode 18
Aired Jul 26, 2010
Alone and Together-Whistler, Degas, Renoir
The blending of abstract, formal composition with the intimate portrayal of a living woman in Whistler's mother seated in profile; the riches and ambiguities of Degas's "In a Cafe"; the staging and color of Renoir's "Luncheon of the Boating Party".
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Episode 19
Aired Jul 26, 2010
Unlike Any Other-Sargent, Manet, Seurat
The placement and separation of the subjects in John Singer Sargent's elusive portrait of the daughters of a friend; the deliberate unreality of Manet's "Bar at the Folies-Bergere"; Seurat's rendering of Parisians in "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte".
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Episode 20
Aired Jul 26, 2010
Close Observation-Cézanne, Van Gogh, Homer
Uncovering the structural geometry and unity of focus in Cezanne's "The Card Players"; witnessing the structure and balance of Van Gogh's sun-baked vista in "The Harvest"; Winslow Homer's dramatic merging of self with subject in "Fox Hunt".
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Episode 21
Aired Jul 26, 2010
The Human Condition-Munch, Matisse, Schiele
Analyzing Munch's pictorial composition of "The Scream" as its visual field embodies the figure's cry of terror; studying Matisse's colors and figures in "The Joy of Life"; Egon Schiele's "The Family" and its evocation of his own hopes and fears.
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Episode 22
Aired Jul 26, 2010
Art in Time of War-Monet and Picasso
Exploring two milestones of 20th-century art; the creation and the architectural display of Monet's series of water lilies; Monet's brushwork reflecting sky, clouds and sunlight on water; the writhing, nightmarish images in Picasso's "Guernica".
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Episode 23
Aired Jul 26, 2010
Time and Memory-Magritte, Hopper, Gorky
How Magritte dislocates one's sense of temporal and physical reality in "Time Transfixed"; Hopper's design evoking the silent separateness of the figures in "Nighthawks"; Gorky's craft in bringing to life the color in "The Plough and the Song".
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Episode 24
Aired Jul 26, 2010
Expressive Abstractions-Pollock and Hofmann
Tracking Jackson Pollock's approach to putting paint on canvas; the layered color fields in Pollock's "Lavender Mist"; contrasting Hans Hofmann's mastery of geometry and color with his creation, "To J.F.K."; reflections on the power of great art.
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