WorldsFlix

Examine the contexts and environments in which we encounter art and their critical effect on our viewing experience. Consider ways of displaying and...

Explore how point of view—the artist's positioning of the viewer with respect to the image—works in painting and sculpture, paying...

Uncover the core principles of color in painting, including the distinctions of value and saturation and the relationship of colors as analogous or...

Discover the properties of line, another essential element of art, as "descriptive" (describing reality) or "expressional" (conveying feeling). Learn...

Examine geometric and "organic" shapes in painting and sculpture and the crucial relationship of figure to ground and mass to space. Then, explore...

Define symmetry and asymmetry in painting and sculpture, and the key effects on the viewer of each. Also, study scale and proportion of figures, and...

Tracking the history of illusionism in Western art, grasp the principles of linear perspective, foreshortening, and atmospheric perspective as they...

Explore how artists evoke motion and the passage of time, including implying motion through strong directional lines and time through narrative...

Here, consider texture in sculpture as an aid to meaning in sculptures by Rodin, Donatello, and Bernini, and the painter's use of paint as a way to...

In this first lecture on genre, define the various purposes of drawings, from "croquis" drawing to capture a pose or action, to successive sketches...

The medium of prints attracted great artists from Dürer and Rembrandt to Ensor and Picasso. Using studio demonstrations, study the expressive...

This lecture explores the art of planographic printmaking, which allows artists to draw or paint directly on the printing surface. In detailed...

Sculpture, as a genre, encompasses the full spectrum of three-dimensional artworks. In this lecture, investigate the varieties and viewing contexts...

Trace the history and technique of painting, beginning with the methodology of panel painting on wood; fresco painting, both wet and dry; and...

The lecture opens with a historical panorama of painting techniques, highlighting the diverse treatment of human faces. Then, it tracks 20th-century...

Focusing on masterworks by Van Eyck and Rubens, define three levels of iconography (subject matter). Also study the academic codifying and ranking of...

The richness of signs (signifiers) in art includes the use of symbols, icons, and indexes as they reveal layers of meaning. See how, in different...

In examining the diverse functions and types of portraits, study the important elements of facial presentation and the subject's position and gaze...

Across the centuries, self-portraits fascinatingly reveal the changing role of the artist. Follow this progression, from Renaissance painters subtly...

In this lecture on landscape painting, observe the classical, balanced division into foreground, middle, and background, and how Romantic painters...

This lecture integrates elements including color, line, shape, composition, light, symbolism, point of view, and focal point. Using the viewing tools...

Contemplate the Renaissance phenomena of classicism and humanism in 15th-century Italian art, which focused—even in religious art—on the...

Flanders and Germany also witnessed an explosion of art in the 15th and early 16th centuries. Define the stylistics of great Northern Renaissance oil...

The Italian High Renaissance saw the full flowering of humanism and classicism. With reference to the era's thought and practice, delve into...

Two important artistic movements followed the High Renaissance. Beginning with late Michelangelo, Tibaldi, and El Greco, explore the hallmarks of...

Baroque style flowered in key regional variations. See the influence of the Counter-Reformation in southern Europe in dazzling religious images...

The sensuality of Rococo art mirrors 18th-century upper-class lifestyle and sensibility. Explore the evocation of intimate hedonism in Watteau,...

The early 19th century saw the emergence of two compelling and highly contrasting styles. Referencing the art of Napoleonic painter Jacques-Louis...

In canvases of Millet, Courbet, and Manet, observe the Realist ideals of honesty, simplicity, and descriptive colors in revealing contemporary...

The term "Postimpressionism" comprises a varied and highly innovative body of art. Here, learn how Postimpressionist painters such as Cézanne...

In defining the bold sensibility of Expressionism, explore its use of violent colors, stylistic distortions, and sculptural application of paint....

Investigate the visual elements and the three phases of this hugely influential movement, based in its geometric fracturing of forms and multiple,...

Abstraction and Modernism forged a daring new definition of art, breaking dramatically with the past. Discover the philosophical and experiential...

Contemplate the "anti-art" spirit of Dadaism, its nihilistic yet humorous indictment of civilization and bizarre use of unconventional media. In the...

In the 1960s, Pop art, Op art, and minimalism brought yet another far-reaching redefinition of art. Learn to recognize these three distinct...

The final lecture opens with a detailed and thought-provoking guide to museum-going. Consider ways of making the most of visits to permanent...

Treasures of Ancient Rome is a 2012 three-part documentary written and presented by Alastair Sooke. The series was produced by the BBC, and...

Danny Baker, Simon Callow, Richard E Grant, Cerys Matthews, Miriam Margolyes and Michael Sheen follow in the footsteps of their favourite British...

Writer and journalist Ian Nairn presents a series of travels, examining architecture and culture across Europe.