Civilizations, presented in partnership with the BBC, tells the story of art from the dawn of human history to the present day —for the
first time on a global scale.
Narrated by actor Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan, Spotlight, The Manchurian Candidate) the ambitious series also features Simon Schama, art historian and Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University; Mary Beard, Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge; and historian and writer David Olusoga.
Color and Light – Premieres Tuesday, June 19, 7pm (6 MT)
Explore the roles that color and light have played in the formation of art throughout history. Understand the background of the European use of color and the masterpieces which embraced the radiance of gems and silks – from the use of brilliant colors like ultramarine and vermillion, through to the development of obsession with light and shade. See the influences of east on west, and vice versa – and
the notions of lack of color in western art, from Goya to Kapoor.
Paradise on Earth – Premieres Tuesday, June 12, 7pm (6 MT)
Learn how cultures have depicted the natural world in landscape painting throughout history. Investigate the way that landscape painting is created as a response to the world around us, exploring such ideas as paradise, identity and the depiction of the vastness of nature to oppositional to industrialization. Explore landscape photography, from Ansel Adams’ majestic depictions of Yosemite, to modern photography, and a new kind of landscape which explores the cosmic sublime.
Cult of Progress – Premieres Tuesday, June 26, 7pm (6 MT)
Examine the rise and fall of “progress” as an ideology, and see how the “civilizing” project that arose from Enlightenment ideas was fraught with contradictions that troubled European artists in different ways.