Simon Schama's Power of Art
starring: Simon Schama
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Product Description:
Studio: Warner Home VideoRelease Date: 06/05/2007Run time: 400 minutesRating: Nr
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
Studio: Warner Home VideoRelease Date: 06/05/2007Run time: 400 minutesRating: Nr
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
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Schama is the new Sister Wendy
Can a series on art make you stay up all night to frantically watch all dvd's in the box? Yes it can. Move over 'Lost' and '24', here comes Simon Schama. Through the lives and works of 8 of the worlds most famous artists (Caravaggio to Rothko), Simon Schama shows how intoxicating art can be. Each episode is (were it a book) a page turner. Don't think it's 'only' about art. It's about life. Schama is the perfect story teller and makes you ask for just one more before you have to turn out the light. ... Read More
Rating: - Fascinating!
...and brilliant!
Schama's love for art is contagious, this is not the detached unassuming art critic. He will shock you, stir you, and you'll never look at these masterpieces the same way again!
Novice or connoisseur, this is an extraordinary trip he embarks us in. It's not a stroll in the museum, it's a time machine, you will live with Bernini and understand Rothko's anguish.
I agree with the reviewers before me, I can't wait until I can share this with my kids!
And... Mr. ... Read More
Rating: - A very fine series focused on great works of art created under great stress
I fully agree with the large number of five-star reviews here and will add my own to those.This is not a comprehensive study of art and covers neither any one period nor even painters who are in any real way linked.There are two things that each of the episodes have in common.First, each episode deals with a great artist who created a masterpiece of art under stressful or demanding circumstances.Second, none of the great works were created to hang in an art gallery (though all do today).
Read More
Rating: - Simon Schama's Power of Art
It's so interesting - it revived an interest in art in me, and ignited one in my 11 year old daughter. The dramatisation brings it to life, the artwork is sublime. I had already seen a couple of episodes on televison and I wanted to see the rest and keep it to watch over and to share with friends, who are now also huge fans. I think it is a real classic which I will watch many times.
Rating: - Fascinating and illuminating
Simon Schama is never less than illuminating and penetrating in these eight hour-long explorations of famous artists and great art. The first section on Caravaggio, for example, expertly weaves the artist's tumultuous life with his painting. I've never much liked his work but Schama made me look at it in new ways -- the dirty fingernails of one of the characters for example, the cold-blooded murder of John the Baptists in another, looking like a scene from The Sopranos.
The episode on the scultor ... Read More
- Schama is the new Sister WendyCan a series on art make you stay up all night to frantically watch all dvd's in the box? Yes it can. Move over 'Lost' and '24', here comes Simon Schama. Through the lives and works of 8 of the worlds most famous artists (Caravaggio to Rothko), Simon Schama shows how intoxicating art can be. Each episode is (were it a book) a page turner. Don't think it's 'only' about art. It's about life. Schama is the perfect story teller and makes you ask for just one more before you have to turn out the light. ... Read More
- Fascinating!...and brilliant!
Schama's love for art is contagious, this is not the detached unassuming art critic. He will shock you, stir you, and you'll never look at these masterpieces the same way again!
Novice or connoisseur, this is an extraordinary trip he embarks us in. It's not a stroll in the museum, it's a time machine, you will live with Bernini and understand Rothko's anguish.
I agree with the reviewers before me, I can't wait until I can share this with my kids!
And... Mr. ... Read More
- A very fine series focused on great works of art created under great stressI fully agree with the large number of five-star reviews here and will add my own to those.This is not a comprehensive study of art and covers neither any one period nor even painters who are in any real way linked.There are two things that each of the episodes have in common.First, each episode deals with a great artist who created a masterpiece of art under stressful or demanding circumstances.Second, none of the great works were created to hang in an art gallery (though all do today).
Read More
- Simon Schama's Power of ArtIt's so interesting - it revived an interest in art in me, and ignited one in my 11 year old daughter. The dramatisation brings it to life, the artwork is sublime. I had already seen a couple of episodes on televison and I wanted to see the rest and keep it to watch over and to share with friends, who are now also huge fans. I think it is a real classic which I will watch many times.
- Fascinating and illuminatingSimon Schama is never less than illuminating and penetrating in these eight hour-long explorations of famous artists and great art. The first section on Caravaggio, for example, expertly weaves the artist's tumultuous life with his painting. I've never much liked his work but Schama made me look at it in new ways -- the dirty fingernails of one of the characters for example, the cold-blooded murder of John the Baptists in another, looking like a scene from The Sopranos.
The episode on the scultor ... Read More
