Product Description

Beautiful. Fascinating. Emotional. Art is all of the above. But only a few are powerful. These are the works that not only lift you off your feet in their sheer artistry, they forever alter the human psyche. Focusing on eight iconic works of art, Power of Art reveals the history of visual imagination through the ages, from the murderous world of baroque Rome to paranoid, revolutionary Paris; from the carnage of civil-war Spain to the paradox of 1950s New York, caught between Cold War jitters and Manhattan glitter. A combination of dramatic reconstruction, spectacular photography and Simon Schama's unique, personal style of storytelling transport the viewer back to the intense moments that great works were conceived and born. The eight works of art profiled in this series are: Caravaggio's David and Goliath; Bernini's The Ecstasy of St. Theresa, Rembrandt's The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis; David's Death of Marat; Turner's The Slave Ship; Van Gogh's Self-Portrait; Picasso's Guernica and Rothko's Seagram Building Murals.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2332 in DVD
• Brand: WARNER HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2007-06-19
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 3
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 400 minutes

Features

• Beautiful. Fascinating. Emotional. Art is all of the above. But only a few are powerful. These are the works that not only lift you off your feet in their sheer artistry, they forever alter the human psyche. Focusing on eight iconic works of art, Power of Art reveals the history of visual imagination through the ages, from the murderous world of baroque Rome to paranoid, revolutionary Paris; from

Amazon.com
Watching Simon Schama's Power of Art is like taking an Ivy League course in art appreciation, with the folksy but knowledgeable Schama as guide and interpreter. A collection of hour-long films on eight seminal artists and their groundbreaking works, which originally aired on British television, this boxed set is as entertaining as it is enlightening, with Schama doing for Western art what, say, Steve Irwin did for Australian natural history. Eight artists are featured--Caravaggio, Bernini, Rembrandt, David, Turner, Van Gogh, Picasso, and Rothko--and each portrait of the artist weaves biography and historical context to help explain the true power of his works.

The segment on Van Gogh is, as expected, emotional, yet Schama convincingly portrays Van Gogh as not consumed by madness, but fighting off the episodes with painting. Van Gogh painted one of his most evocative works, Wheat Field With Crows, which even his brother, Theo, recognized was about to put his brother on the artistic map. Yet, as Schama points out, within weeks, Van Gogh had killed himself. "Now why would he want to do that?" Schama muses--and then proceeds to narrate the tormented tale of the answer. Along the way, the viewer gains new appreciation for Van Gogh's signature works, including his famous sunflowers. "Technically, these are still lives," Schama says, "but there's nothing still about them... the sunflowers [seem to be] organisms landing violently from a burning sun." If the reenactments of the artists' lives are a bit overdone, it's forgivable, since the cumulative effect, in an hour, is a new appreciation of the work and the man.

Extras include frank and very funny commentaries by Schama and his co-producer, and lots of behind-the-scenes dish on how certain scenes were achieved. The teeming French opera scene in the "David" episode, for instance, was cast using just 20 French extras and then the rest created by CGI--"the scene works better, really, than [the film] King Kong," Schama says with delight. --A.T. Hurley

Customer Reviews

Compelling introduction to some of the greats in Art
I was fortunate to be able to see the BBC (Region 2) version of this series and I found it very compelling and interesting. Simon does a very persuasive job of explaining how and why (he feels) these greats (Caravaggio, Bernini, Rembrandt, David, Turner, Van Gogh, Picasso) standout in the annuals of art. A very easily accessible series for even the most uninitiated in the subject; highly recommended by this art novice. I only wish there were more episodes in the series!

Provocative Talks of Art that Invades Your Soul
Everyone interested in Western art will WANT to own this disc...we are confronted with the art works that make our brains spin and our hearts leap out. Simon Schama begins his discussion with Caravaggio's "David and Goliath." Rather than depict the artist as the heroic figure, Caravaggio astounds us by portraying himself as the severed head of the monster, the enemy. The film technique used by the director is to explore the biography of the artist, earlier works that lead up to this one, and the cultural moment to understand WHY the artist sees himself in this light.

In the next disc, one of the artists examined is William Turner. I had always associated Turner with wonderful use of light, color, and the birth of English impressionism. But Simon Schama shows us the dark side of
Turner...artworks like a limp Death riding a Pale Horse. The key artwork we are to contemplate is a painting of a slave ship...a deeply disturbing work of an infamous scandal in British history where slaves were thrown overboard alive into the churning shark filled sea. What Schama explains is that Turner's mother had gone insane after losing her daughter and been transformed into a screaming hysteric. Only after this film did I start to notice screaming heads in Turner's sunsets, vapors, and white clouds. Without the historical reconstruction, I would never have understood this side of the painter's work.

In the last disc, we confront Picasso and his greatest (political) masterpiece, "Guernica." We are taken on a tour of Picasso's interior life and witness his change: He grows from seeking liberation for creative art into seeking liberation of all people from aggressive power and fascism.

In summary, after having my "mind blown" by Schama's penetrating analysis of one work of art, I couldn't wait to see the next episode. Because the discussions, reconstructions, and art masterpieces themselves are very graphic, even disturbing, wait until your children are ready to show them this series...indeed, that is the point - the Power of Art - to move us.

On the Power of Art
I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Schama in a recent presentation of this documentary. I first became famliar to his work through his book "The Power of Art." His documentary is an excellent companion to a really great book. When the documentary began to be shown on PBS, I knew I had to have a copy (eventually,I bought two copies).

The most important aspect of this documentary, in my opinion, is connected to the fact that Simon Schama is not all too concerned with styles or techniques but with historical context and its impact in the work of each artist he selected. Each work is presented as a reaction to the events of the time. Simon Schama also goes deep into the lives of each artist and provides us with a better understanding of their motivations and personal relationships. These artists become very human and for that reason very much like us. The combination of these factors result in the creation of amazing works of art that are a universal manifestations of human nature and emotion. It is because the message of each piece is so human, so universal, that the art becomes memorable. It is for this reason that these masterpieces continue to talk to us beyond the limitations of time. This is the real power of art!

As an art history teacher, I truly enjoyed Simon Schama's approach to art history. I tend to teach in very similar lines. For those who are not necessarily interested in art (find that hard to believe) this documentary would provide a great deal of information tnat is exciting and entertaining.