Simon Schama's Power of Art (2006)

Description

Focusing on eight iconic works of art, Power of Art reveals the history of visual imagination through the ages, from the murderous world of baroque Rome to paranoid, revolutionary Paris; from the carnage of civil-war Spain to the paradox of 1950s New York, caught between Cold War jitters and Manhattan glitter. A combination of dramatic reconstruction, spectacular photography and Simon Schama's unique, personal style of storytelling transport the viewer back to the intense moments that great works were conceived and born.

The eight works of art profiled in this series are: Caravaggio's David and Goliath; Bernini's The Ecstasy of St. Theresa, Rembrandt's The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis; David's Death of Marat; Turner's The Slave Ship; Van Gogh's Self-Portrait; Picasso's Guernica and Rothko's Seagram Building Murals.

Collected reviews and ratings

10 DVD Talk | Holly E. Ordway

I never imagined that I'd be on the edge of my seat with anticipation while watching a documentary about a painter... but Simon Schama's Power of Art just blew me away. It's marvelous. What's more, it makes me want to go to a museum and start looking at the works there in a new way.
Read full review (DVD)

9.0 Amazon user reviews

A beautifully produced series on the lives and times of 8 artists, capturing the mastery of each. The individual genius which separates their art from their contemporaries, discussion on technique, uniqueness, balanced with the intrigues, personal and political of their times, makes this into a must-have for artist information.
Read full review (DVD)

9.0 DVD Verdict | Mike Pinsky

In short, Schama has named his documentary series perfectly. It is indeed Simon Schama's version of art history -and it indeed conveys some of great art's power to transform our world.
Read full review (DVD)

7.0 San Francisco Chronicle | Kenneth Baker

I would love to know in what order the BBC produced the series, because it gets off to a bad start, then quickly sharpens up and crackles along pretty well until the last - and seemingly most personal - installment, devoted to Mark Rothko (1903-1970), which will win his art no converts.
Read full review (TV)