'Shindig'
This thread is for non-fiction TV, including but not limited to reality television (So You Think You Can Dance, Top Chef: Masters, Project Runway), documentaries (The History Channel, The Discovery Channel), and sundry (Expedition Africa, Mythbusters), et al. [NAFDA]
What happened on that episode? Schama doesn't like David?
My folks are into that show, evidently. I talked to them before it was on last night and my Mom was talking about how much she was looking forward to the show but that she hates David. I don't know why.
WHOA FINGER SPASM!
He kept on coming back to The Death of Marat as being TEH EVIL PAINTING that ruined David's life, which is more than likely true, but he was really ripping it as being a Terrible Thing. I thought it was more analogous to Triumph of the Will in that it was a propaganda piece that outlived the regime it was promoting, as did the creator. Just as with Leni Reifenstahl, he was rejected by his native country and sent into exile, where he did more innocuous works until his death. But, Triumph is still acknowledged as a piece of art, even one with an abhorrent theme, just as The Death of Marat is.
I think that David's stuff looks dry, dry, dry.
I think David was brilliant at what he did, propaganda painting. His portraits of Napoléon are stunning.
FYI, Schama's most famous work is on the Revolution, but he is not very well respected by historians of France, mostly due to his whack perspective on said Revolution.
His portraits of Napoléon are stunning.
His Napoleon Crossing the Alps is an amazing painting, very powerful. I prefer it over the Coronation painting, but that might be because of the sheer arrogance of Napoleon crowning himself that I don't like, instead of the painting of the event itself.
Where/When is this show on? It sounds interesting. There was a great show about art on the French equivalent of PBS ("Palettes" I think it was called) that would analyze just one painting for about a half hour.
Here in Chicago it's been on Mondays at 10:00 (Central time), but since it is PBS, times and dates can vary.
ETA: I've been taping (almost) all the episodes (I missed the Caravaggio one)--when it's over, would you like me to loan you the tape?
The episodes are centered around one painting, but he spends a good portion of the hour giving an overall view of the painter's bio and other works, but keeps returning to the central piece and what makes it distinctive.