The Impressionists
3 Titles
To contemporary eyes, Impressionist paintings possess a simple and familiar beauty; the delicate hues of Monet's water lilies and Degas' exquisite ballerinas. But these paintings caused riots when they appeared in Paris at the end of the 19th century. Viciously attacked by the critics and rejected by the public, the Impressionist painters were outcasts in the art world. Filmed in France and entirely based on an extensive archive of letters and documentary evidence, this 3-part BBC series tells the intimate history of the brotherhood of Monet, Cezanne, Renior, Manet and Degas in their own words. Special effects transport the viewer inside some of the world's best-loved paintings to recreate the illuminated landscapes and haunting portraits of late 19th-century France.
- ChannelArts Channel
- BroadcasterSky Network Television
- Broadcast PlatformTelevision
Latest Titles
-
Episode 3Thursday 21 May 2009Ep 3: Cezanne is forced to lead a double life with his mistress and secret child, and refuses to compromise his vision in the face of vitriol from both the critics and a close friend. Manet receives the Legion d'Honneur, but his health is failing fast. Monet embarks on a successful tour of Europe, but decides that what he really wants is to return to his beloved Alice - and the lilies that will fascinate him for the rest of his life.
-
Episode 2Thursday 14 May 2009Ep 2: The artists decide to commemorate Bazille by staging an exhibition in Paris - but the event goes down badly with both the critics and the public. Monet paints a masterpiece in 40 minutes flat and falls in love with his patron's wife - while his own spouse is stricken with illness. Degas's increasingly dark creations earn him a reputation for misogyny, and he plays a malicious trick on his more successful contemporaries.
-
Episode 1Thursday 7 May 2009Ep 1: Claude Monet enters into the bohemian cafe society of 19th-century Paris, meeting the contemporaries with whom he is to found a new artistic movement, only for revolution to tear the group apart.
Broadcast Platform
- Television
Programme Name
- The Impressionists
Channel
- Arts Channel
Broadcaster
- Sky Network Television
Description
- To contemporary eyes, Impressionist paintings possess a simple and familiar beauty; the delicate hues of Monet's water lilies and Degas' exquisite ballerinas. But these paintings caused riots when they appeared in Paris at the end of the 19th century. Viciously attacked by the critics and rejected by the public, the Impressionist painters were outcasts in the art world. Filmed in France and entirely based on an extensive archive of letters and documentary evidence, this 3-part BBC series tells the intimate history of the brotherhood of Monet, Cezanne, Renior, Manet and Degas in their own words. Special effects transport the viewer inside some of the world's best-loved paintings to recreate the illuminated landscapes and haunting portraits of late 19th-century France.