The world of El Greco, a painter, sculptor, and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. El Greco's dramatic and expressionistic style was met with puzzlement by his contemporaries but found appreciation in the 20th century. El Greco is regarded as a precursor of both Expressionism and Cubism and his work was championed by artists such as Rusiol and Picasso. El Greco has been characterized by modern scholars as an artist so individual that he belongs to no conventional school. He is best known for tortuously elongated figures and often fantastic or phantasmagorical pigmentation, marrying Byzantine traditions with those of Western painting.

The world's most famous museums reveal their major collections and the fascinating stories of how they came to house them. This beautiful high-definition series shows what the royalty, nobility and fabulously wealthy inhabitants of France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, the UK and the USA, the original owners of the collections, found beautiful enough to acquire. The stories behind the works and their artists are an intriguing insight into the world and times from which they came. How did Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, arguably the most famous painting in the world, end up in a French museum?

A feature-length documentary that follows the creation of a Steinway concert grand, #L1037 - from forest floor to concert hall. It explores the relationship between musician and instrument, chronicles the manufacturing process, and illustrates what makes each Steinway unique in this age of mass production. From the factory floor in Queens to Steinway Hall in Manhattan, each piano's journey is complex-spanning 12 months, 12,000 parts, 450 craftsmen, and countless hours of fine-tuned labour.

Jack Kerouac penned such books as On the Road and The Dharma Bums, which captured the essence of the bohemian life that he came to personify. This documentary follows him on the road from the life of a beatnik in New York City, and across the country to California, as he set out to find America and himself. Archival photographs, film clips, interviews with those who knew him, readings from his books, and scholarly commentary provide insight into this icon of the Beat generation. Features archival footage of Jack Kerouac and fragments of interviews with Allan Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and William S. Burroughs.

NZTrio, New Zealand’s leading piano trio, thrives on connecting with audiences through intimate and exhilarating performances of a fascinatingly diverse repertoire. Violinist Justine Cormack, cellist Ashley Brown and pianist Sarah Watkins first joined forces in 2002 and were Ensemble in Residence at The University of Auckland from 2004-2009. From the outset their artistry, intensity and approachability has captivated music lovers throughout the world. The trio perform music by Jack Body, Ross Harris and Ernst Chausson.

Famous actors, directors and writers reminisce about their careers and the philosophy behind their careers. Hosted by James Lipton ; interview with Mark Wallberg. Mark Wahlberg recalls his criminal past as a troubled youth in Boston, his days as a male model and his work in “Boogie Nights,” “Three Kings,” “The Perfect Storm” and “I Heart Huckabees.” Wahlberg also reflects on his former musical career, in which he acquired a bad-boy image rapping under the moniker Marky Mark; his parents' divorce; and filmmaker David O. Russell. In addition, Wahlberg does a rap and describes his tattoos.

Famous actors, directors and writers reminisce about their careers and the philosophy behind their careers. Hosted by James Lipton ; interview with Josh Brolin. Season 15, ep. 4. Josh Brolin has been on the acting scene for over 20 years. He debuted in the beloved 1985 classic, The Goonies and has gone on to star in over 20 films. In the last 5 years he has become one of the Hollywood's most sought after actors, taking roles in such critically acclaimed films as, In the Valley of Elah, The Dead Girl, and, American Gangster. Last year Brolin picked up an ensemble cast SAG award for the 2007 Academy Award winning film, No Country For Old Men. Currently you can catch him on the big screen in Gus Van Sant's Milk, in which he portrays former San Francisco Supervisor Dan White, a role which has garnered much acclaim as well as another two SAG nominations. He has already received a Best Supporting Actor win at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards for the outstanding performance.

Famous actors, directors and writers reminisce about their careers and the philosophy behind their careers. Hosted by James Lipton ; interview with Daniel Radcliffe. Season 15, ep. 3. Best known for playing Harry Potter in the big screen adaptation of the famed book series, Daniel Radcliffe is an accomplished young actor with a growing resume. Dan, who showed interest in acting from a young age, got his start playing a young David Copperfield in the BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens' prized novel. He got his big break when he was cast as the title character in 2000's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.He has since gone on to play Harry in all eight of the Harry Potter films, but his work isn't limited to screen. He received rave reviews for his role as Alan Strang in the controversial play "Equus." The play began on London's West End, but he can currently be seen on Broadway in the New York production.

Famous actors, directors and writers reminisce about their careers and the philosophy behind their careers. Hosted by James Lipton ; interview with Dustin Hoffman. Season 12, ep. 16. A star-studded audience attends to see the beloved, talented leading man who gives a rare in-depth interview with humor and honesty.

Famous actors, directors and writers reminisce about their careers and the philosophy behind their careers. Hosted by James Lipton ; interview with Colin Firth. Season 17, ep. 4. As the Oscars quickly approach, James Lipton sits down with favored Best Actor nominee Colin Firth. Looking back at his start, including some of his earlier films like Bridget Jones' Diary, all the way up to The Kings Speech.

Famous actors, directors and writers reminisce about their careers and the philosophy behind their careers. Hosted by James Lipton ; interview with Hilary Swank. Season 16, ep. 1. James interviews Morgan Freeman, Clint Eastwood, and Hilary Swank after the Oscars. Hilary shares that portrayal of Tina Brandon was a very emotional for her due to the brutality, that being directed by Clint Eastwood was a dream come true, and what drew her to portray Amelia Earhart.

Famous actors, directors and writers reminisce about their careers and the philosophy behind their careers. Hosted by James Lipton ; interview with James Franco. Season 17, ep. 2. James Franco, star of 2010's "127 Hours," 2008's "Milk" and the Spider-Man film franchise, chats about his life and career.

Famous actors, directors and writers reminisce about their careers and the philosophy behind their careers. Hosted by James Lipton ; interview with Ralph Fiennes. Season 12, ep. 8. Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes is an English actor. He has appeared in such films as The English Patient, In Bruges, The Constant Gardener, Strange Days and Maid in Manhattan. He is also well known for his portrayals of four infamous villains: Nazi war criminal Amon Göth in Schindler's List; serial killer Francis Dolarhyde in the 2002 film Red Dragon; Rameses II in The Prince of Egypt; and Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter film series. Most recently, he appeared in The Reader (2008), In Bruges (2008) The Hurt Locker (2009) and as Hades in Clash of the Titans (2010). He won a Tony Award and has been nominated twice for Academy Awards. He is also a UNICEF UK ambassador. He was praised by many for being a "perfect fit", for playing the role of Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter saga.

New York and Paris - two cities whose very names evoke passion. Both of these metropolises were extensively photographed during their golden ages, and the artists who carried out this documenting were linked together in a very special way. Eugene Atget is considered to be the father of modern photography. His images of Paris have influenced artists for generations. However, Atget's work would have been lost to the world if not for the vigorous efforts of the American photographer Berenice Abbott. Abbott met Atget in 1926 when Atget was nearing the end of his life and Abbott's career just beginning. Abbott recognised Atget's genius and became his champion for the next forty years.

Programme 6: Chicago, Illinois to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The week’s riches include an extraordinary collection of modern architecture in the tiny mid-west town of Columbus, Indiana, and the world’s largest ball of paint. We meet artist Ann Hamilton and Andy Warhol’s brother in Pittsburgh. Plus we visit Frank Lloyd Wright’s stunning Fallingwater house and see Diego Rivera’s masterful murals in Detroit.

Programme 8: Boston, Massachusetts to Vinalhaven, Maine. The last week begins in Boston with some stunning architecture on the MIT campus and with the nearby Museum of Bad Art. We encounter the Shakers and smart public art both in the libraries of Portland, Maine and in the public transit system of Montreal. And finally we take a chopper across to the tiny island of Vinalhaven to meet artist Robert Indiana.

Programme 4: Denver, Colorado to Minneapolis, Minnesota. The great plains offer Carhenge at Alliance, Nebraska (Stonehenge but made from cars) and the world’s largest easel. Photographer Alec Soth makes a photograph and we tour the General Mills Art Collection. Great buildings include the Des Moines Art Center and the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis, graced with a new extension by Herzog & de Meuron.

Programme 5: Minneapolis, Minnesota to Chicago, Illinois. St John’s Abbey outside Minneapolis was designed by modernist Marcel Breuer. St Louis’ Memorial Arch is a great feat of engineering, and Richard Serra’s Joe is pretty good too. Michael Eastman shows us how he photographs America’s vanishing buildings, and in Chicago we visit Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House and the glorious new Millennium Park.

Programmes 9-12: reprise the highlights of the series with each programme taking a theme: Artists, Architecture, Collections and what we call Only in America – the quirky and strange aspects of the trip that were among the most memorable people and places that we encountered.

Programmes 9-12: reprise the highlights of the series with each programme taking a theme: Artists, Architecture, Collections and what we call Only in America – the quirky and strange aspects of the trip that were among the most memorable people and places that we encountered.

The Palazzo Pitti, in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast mainly Renaissance palace in Florence, Italy. The palace was bought by the Medici family in 1549 and became the chief residence of the ruling families of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. The Palatine Gallery on the first floor contains a large ensemble of over 500 principally Renaissance paintings, which were once part of the Medicis' and their successors' private art collection. The gallery, which overflows into the royal apartments, contains works by Raphael, Titian, Correggio, Rubens, and Pietro da Cortona.

Donald Judd’s Chinati Foundation in Marfa is simply extraordinary. We see classic Cadillacs buried near Amarillo (the artwork Cadillac Ranch). Santa Fe and Taos are en route, along with paintings by Georgia O’Keeffe and the ceramics of Tammy Garcia. The USAF Academy Chapel is visionary architecture, as is Daniel Liebskind’s extension to the Denver Art Museum.

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam contains the largest collection of van Gogh's paintings in the world. The collection features the works of Vincent van Gogh, and the works of other artists. Van Gogh's work is organised chronologically into five periods, each representing a different phase of his life and work: The Netherlands, Paris, Arles, Saint-Remy and Auvers-sur-Oise.

Programmes 9-12: reprise the highlights of the series with each programme taking a theme: Artists, Architecture, Collections and what we call Only in America – the quirky and strange aspects of the trip that were among the most memorable people and places that we encountered.

We drive through the desert from the mighty Hoover Dam, just outside Las Vegas, to the art town of Marfa. Along the way we stop at Michael Heizer’s earthwork Double Negative; we check out “nose art” on airforce planes near Tucson; we hear about the art of Ansel Adams and Tom Lea; and we find a Prada store in the desert (in fact, it’s an art installation).

The world's most famous museums reveal their major collections and the fascinating stories of how they came to house them. This beautiful high-definition series shows what the royalty, nobility and fabulously wealthy inhabitants of France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, the UK and the USA, the original owners of the collections, found beautiful enough to acquire. The stories behind the works and their artists are an intriguing insight into the world and times from which they came.

Season 2, ep, 1. Toby Amies joins Mame McCutchin for a new road trip around America's great art treasures, beginning with a journey from Key West in Florida to Atlanta, Georgia. Along the way, they examine the Art Deco architecture of South Beach and take a look at the world's largest oil painting.

The second series of our "art road trip", Artland: USA. From late April to mid-July, hosts Mame McCutchin and Toby Amies drove 15,000 from Miami to Anchorage looking at the best of American art and architecture along the way. Covering 50 cities, including Dallas-Fort Worth, Mount Rushmore, Robert Smithson's earthwork Spiral Jetty in the Great Salt Lake, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, we reveal the life-changing experiences that unfold during their three-month quest to map art along the road in the US.

The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna numbers among the most important European museum buildings put up during the 19th century. The monumental structure, built at the behest of Emperor Franz Joseph I as part of his expansion of the city in 1858, was intended to both unite and appropriately represent the artistic treasures that had been collected by the Habsburgs over the centuries. The Kunsthistorisches Museum is housed in its festive palatial building on Ringstraße, crowned with an octagonal dome, is one of the premier museums of fine arts and decorative arts in the world.

The world's most famous museums reveal their major collections and the fascinating stories of how they came to house them. This beautiful high-definition series shows what the royalty, nobility and fabulously wealthy inhabitants of France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, the UK and the USA, the original owners of the collections, found beautiful enough to acquire. The stories behind the works and their artists are an intriguing insight into the world and times from which they came. This episode features the Museum dedicated to the works of artist Gustave Moreau.

The world's most famous museums reveal their major collections and the fascinating stories of how they came to house them. This beautiful high-definition series shows what the royalty, nobility and fabulously wealthy inhabitants of France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, the UK and the USA, the original owners of the collections, found beautiful enough to acquire. The stories behind the works and their artists are an intriguing insight into the world and times from which they came.

Tate Britain displays the collection of British art from 1500 to the present day. This episode focues on 19th century landscape artist Joseph Mallord William Turner, one of Britain's most celebrated artists.

Season 2. Highlights of the second series in which Toby Amies and Mame McCutchin took a road trip around America's greatest art treasures, meeting various stars along the way.

An exploration of museum collections, focusing on Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, whose catalogue includes Rembrandt's The Night Watch.

Readers and movie fans worldwide know the land of Narnia and the magical beings who dwell there. But few know the genius who created this beloved fantasy. Now meet C.S. Lewis, an extraordinary creative force, in this engaging biography, filmed in Oxford, England, where he lived, worked and imagined 'The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe', 'The Magician's Nephew' and the other tales that make up the beloved 'Chronicles of Narnia'.

The Musée d'Orsay is a museum on the left bank of the Seine, housed in the former railway station, the Gare d'Orsay, an impressive Beaux-Arts edifice built between 1898 and 1900. It holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography, and is probably best known for its extensive collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces (the largest in the world) by such painters such as Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cezanne, Seurat, Gauguin and Van Gogh. Many of these works were held at the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume prior to the museum's opening in 1986.

Famous actors, directors and writers reminisce about their careers and the philosophy behind their careers. Hosted by James Lipton ; interview with Forest Whitaker. Season 13, ep. 1. Forest Whitaker, actor, producer and director Forest Whitaker sheds light on his career endeavors and personal life in an interview with James Lipton. Whitaker chats about his feature-film directorial debut for 1995's “Waiting to Exhale” and playing Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in 2006's “The Last King of Scotland.”

Famous actors, directors and writers reminisce about their careers and the philosophy behind their careers. Hosted by James Lipton ; interview with John Cusack. Season 13, ep. 15. Original air date: 3 November 2007. John Cusack talks to James Lipton about his 25-year acting career.

Tucked away in Paris near Les Invalides, and dwarfed in reputation by galleries such as the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay, the Musée Rodin is a gem for any sculpture enthusiast. The year before he died, Rodin donated all his works to the French government on the condition that the state establish a permanent museum dedicated to his work, and in 1919, the former hotel where he had lived opened as the Rodin Museum. It now houses a great selection of his works, from small busts to the more monumental, such as the famous pieces, The Kiss, The Thinker and the monumental The Gates of Hell.

Famous actors, directors and writers reminisce about their careers and the philosophy behind their careers. Hosted by James Lipton ; interview with Hugh Laurie. Season 12, ep. 18. original airdate: July 31, 2006. Hugh Laurie was educated at Eton and Cambridge University, where he took a degree in anthropology. He also rowed in the University Boat Race of 1980, and would have continued in the sport but for a bout of glandular fever, which led him to convalesce in the gentler environs of the theater. He was elected president of the venerable Footlights Revue, where he produced The Cellar Tapes along with Stephen Fry and Emma Thompson. The show won the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival of 1981 and got all three of them acting for money. Laurie has starred in a number of groundbreaking British television comedy series, including four seasons of A Bit of Fry and Laurie, which he co-wrote for the BBC with Stephen Fry; three seasons of Blackadder, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, and three seasons of Saturday Live. Four seasons of Jeeves and Wooster, based on the novels of P.G. Wodehouse, aired on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre from 1990-'95. Laurie's film credits include Peter's Friends directed by Kenneth Branagh, Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson, Cousin Bette with Jessica Lange, The Man in the Iron Mask, 101 Dalmatians, Stuart Little and Stuart Little 2 with Geena Davis, and the upcoming 20th Century Fox release Flight of the Phoenix with Dennis Quaid. On American TV, Laurie played Vincente Minnelli opposite Judy Davis in the U.S. network telefilm Life with Judy Garland: Me & My Shadows. He also appeared in Tracy Takes On and Friends. He is best known for his role as Dr. Gregory House in the hit medical drama, House M.D. In addition to acting, Laurie has directed television programs and commercials, composed and recorded numerous original songs and written articles for London's The Daily Telegraph. Four volumes of A Bit of Fry and Laurie scripts have been published by Mandarin and his first novel, The Gun Seller, was published in both the UK and the U.S. to critical acclaim and has been adapted into a screenplay for MGM.

Iconic writer, director, actor, comedian, and musician Woody Allen allowed his life and creative process to be documented on-camera for the first time. With this unprecedented access, Emmy-winning, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Robert Weide followed the notoriously private film legend over a year and a half to create the ultimate film biography. Woody Allen: A Documentary chronicles Allen's career - from teen writer to Sid Caeser's TV scribe, from standup comedian to award-winning writer-director averaging one film-per-year for more than 40 years. Exploring Allen's writing habits, casting, directing, and relationship with his actors first-hand, new interviews with A-listers, writing partners, family and friends provide insight and backstory to the usually inscrutable filmmaker. Whyaduck Productions, Rat Entertainment, Mike's Movies, and Insurgent Media production in association with THIRTEEN's American Masters present ; a film by Robert B. Weide ; written, directed and produced by Robert B. Weide.

This programmes starts at 00.50 after the blue graphic. Greer Twiss has been modelling the human figure for over 60 years. As a boy, his first figurative works took the form of puppets. After studying the figure from life at art school in the late 1950s marionettes gave way to the sculptured figures in iron, steel and bronze that quickly established his reputation as one of the most important emerging New Zealand artists of the 1960s. Towards the end of the 1960s Twiss scaled up his works to incorporate life-size body casts that were often disturbingly life-like in detail. Twiss's bathers and bikini girls encouraged viewers to see themselves as participants in a sculptural event rather than as detached observers. From the mid 1970s and throughout the 1980s Twiss made few direct references to the human form but by the early 1990s near life-size facetted figures in galvanized steel were populating his elaborate multi-media installations. Although he still regularly cast small scale bronzes, Twiss chose to use bent and welded sections of galvanized steel as his primary method of modelling life-size figures until quite recently when he returned to casting in iron. In his new series of 'winged' figurative works in iron he returns full circle to the methods he used to create his first tentative interpretations of the figure over 50 years ago.

Famous actors, directors and writers reminisce about their careers and the philosophy behind their careers. Hosted by James Lipton ; interview with Denis Leary. Season 15, ep. 9. Denis Leary joins James Lipton in the Actors studio and talks about his Irish Catholic roots and successful shows such as 'Rescue Me' and his best selling book 'Why We Suck'.

Famous actors, directors and writers reminisce about their careers and the philosophy behind their careers. Hosted by James Lipton ; interview with Anthony LaPaglia. Season 15, ep. 8. Talented actor Anthony LaPaglia, of Empire Records, Summer of Sam and “Frasier” fame, is in the hot seat with James Lipton this week on Bravo’s “Inside the Actors Studio.” The two discuss everything from deciding to play his well-known role on “Without a Trace” to his and Lipton’s shared love of tattoos. Anthony’s wife even chimes in from the audience to dish about how they first met.

Famous actors, directors and writers reminisce about their careers and the philosophy behind their careers. Hosted by James Lipton ; interview with Matt Damon. Season 13, ep. 3. Matt makes his first appearance on Inside the Actors Studio where he talks about The Good Shepherd, movies, Good Will Hunting, his family, and much more!

Famous actors, directors and writers reminisce about their careers and the philosophy behind their careers. Hosted by James Lipton ; interview with Mike Myers (second visit). Season 14, Ep. 2. Interview with actor, writer, director and producer Mike Myers, who shot to fame with Wayne's World in 1992 and went on to create the Austin Powers movies and the provide the voice of animated ogre Shrek.

Famous actors, directors and writers reminisce about their careers and the philosophy behind their careers. Hosted by James Lipton ; interview with Robert Downey Jr. Season 12, ep. 17. Actor Robert Downey Jr. is interviewed about his life and career.

The world's most famous museums reveal their major collections and the fascinating stories of how they came to house them. This beautiful high-definition series shows what the royalty, nobility and fabulously wealthy inhabitants of France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, the UK and the USA, the original owners of the collections, found beautiful enough to acquire. The stories behind the works and their artists are an intriguing insight into the world and times from which they came. Is the secret to Venus de Milo's charm hidden in her perfect proportions? Mathematics could hold the key.

The Henri Toulouse-Lautrec Museum, in the artist's home town of Albi, holds a wide range of his work, from his portraits of renowned artists to his well-known illustrations. It also houses archaeological finds and more modern art. Post-impressionist painter of much fame and great infamy, Toulouse-Lautrec rose to fame for his iconic Moulin Rouge poster and came to command a place among the foremost of his contemporaries. Born in Albi in 1864 into a wealthy family, Toulouse-Lautrec's life was transformed when fractures in both his legs left him disabled. His choice of career surprised his well-to-do family, all the more so when he began to associate with the more colourful side of 19th-century Parisian life and creating posters for cabaret shows.

Famous actors, directors and writers reminisce about their careers and the philosophy behind their careers. Hosted by James Lipton ; interview with James Lipton. The tables have turned on a special 200th episode of "Inside The Actors Studio," as James Lipton finds himself in the hot seat for the first time ever. Comedian Dave Chapelle steps into the hosting position and leads Lipton through the past fourteen seasons of the iconic series, cataloguing countless guests experiences, personal achievements, and professional accolades.