The Impressionists: Painting and Revolution 1/4

[salymap]

I was looking forward to this but it was spoiled by the presenter. Sorry if there has already
been a thread on this. Any views?

[aeolium]

I'm afraid I can't watch anything presented by Waldemar Januszczak so didn't look at this.

I thought the first programme on British Masters, presented by Dr James Fox, was very interesting, though he did make some excessive claims for its importance (British art in the interwar years). Second programme on BBC Four tonight.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I did watch it, but I agree that the presenter was a distraction - attention seeking.
As I've recently taken up pastel painting, Ive become very interested in the Impressionists and will be following the series with relish (apart from the presenter).

[salymap]

In the early days of BBC4 they put on some wonderful art programmes which I videod. The Amalfini [sp] wedding, Impression Sunrise, and several others. I must get my video working again and view them.

[aeolium]

I enjoyed Andrew Graham-Dixon's three series on the art of Spain, Germany and Russia (even though he is another presenter who is keen to ensure that he appears in every frame of the documentary - but then, don't they all? )

[Mary Chambers]

I think there were interesting things in the programme, but like others I found the presentation style irritating, and his French was so bad I winced every time he used French names or words - and obviously there are a lot of those in a programme about Impressionists. Not sure though that we should entirely blame the presenter for the general style of the programme, how often his face is shown and so on. Presumably that's decided by producers.

[makropulos]

Mary: I noticed in the end credits that it was "written and directed" by WJ, so presumably he had some part in choosing how much time he spent talking to camera.
But having said that, I found it a very interesting programme - I certainly learned some things I didn't know before, and it was wonderful to have things like a glimps inside the Nadar studio. I'm certainly keen to see the rest of the series.

[french frank]

the first programme on British Masters, presented by Dr James Fox

A propos on the BBC website today.

[aeolium]

I had missed that, ff - thanks.

As James Fox seems to have been given airtime to focus on some forgotten British artists, it would be good to have a series (on R3 perhaps) on forgotten British composers - and not just British ones. Any period at least from the early C18 on would throw up some interesting discoveries.

[eighthobstruction]

I had the sound down and was listening to R4 [Germane Greer]....but I was intrigued as to what he might have said about the brushes used by Monet....can someone enlighten me please ?

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

try iPlayer ..... ?

listening to ....

[mercia]

the brushes used by Monet

erm, the gist of it was that paintbrushes used to have round heads because the hairs were bound to the round "stick" head with strips of material wound round and round. Then someone (can't remember who) came up with the bright idea of the metal ferrule into which the hairs were inserted that then enabled you to have flat-headed brushes which basically opened up a totally new painting technique.

that's how I heard it anyway

[Mary Chambers]

I had the sound down and was listening to R4 [Germane Greer]....but I was intrigued as to what he might have said about the brushes used by Monet....can someone enlighten me please ?

He said that until the invention of the metal ferrule it wasn't possible to have a flat brush - before that they were round. That entirely altered the possibilities of painting, was much quicker, and apparently made it easier to paint effects like light on water. It was news to me.

EDIT: Sorry, mercia - we overlapped.

[Chris Newman]

Basically, oil brushes used to be perfectly round giving a smooth brush stroke. Monet was one of the first to use flat brushes (filberts and flats as he didn't explain) which have squashed ferrules and give a more expressive stroke.

He is an infuriating presenter. Andrew Graham-Dixon, James Fox and the others are far better.

[Chris Newman]

Sorry Mary and mercia, we crossed in the post as it were.