The Shock of the New (R.Hughes) - 8x

Originally broadcast in 1980, this milestone BBC series is an eight-part exploration of modern art. It is written and presented by Robert Hughes, art critic and former senior writer for Time. The series looks at different themes rather than presenting the art chronologically. Hughes draws on a wealth of documentary materials from the archives of the BBC, including rare footage and interviews with noted artists. The range of major figures includes Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, le Corbusier, Max Ernst, Francis Bacon and Jackson Pollock.

In the words of Hughes: "Unfortunately, epochs of art don't start or end neatly on cue. Ours is finishing its run now, leaving behind it some of the most challenging, intelligent and beautiful works of art ever made by man, along with a mass of superfluity and rubbish. We're at the end of the Modern era. Art no longer acts on us in the same way that it did on our grandparents. I want to see why."

The New York Times says: "Hughes has proven himself to be a wonderful teacher--sharp, individualistic and clear. Agree or disagree, you will not be bored."

The Mechanical Paradise - Episode 1
Traces how developments in technology inspired art between 1880 and the end of WWI, leading to movements like cubism and futurism.

The Powers That Be - Episode 2
Hughes explores the interplay between art and politics, seeing how artists were affected by the development of mechanised warfare and ideologies like fascism and communism.

The Landscape of Pleasure - Episode 3
The French artists who attempted to reconcile man with nature, from the determination of the impressionists to paint outside to Matisse's vibrant use of color.

Trouble in Utopia - Episode 4
How modern architects in the wake of the Bauhaus aspired to change societies with their designs, a move represented both by Le Corbusier and the plans for the city Brasilia.

The Threshold of Liberty - Episode 5
The art movement that gripped its exponents with the fervor of a religion: surrealism. Artists like Di Chirico, Ernst, Miro and Dali brought the subconscious to the fore and attempted to tap into innocent and irrationality.

The View From the Edge - Episode 6
Expressionism sprung out of the harsh, secular atmosphere of the 20th Century and evolved, through the strong colors and often sombre moods of artists like Munch, to the non-figurative work of Pollock and De Kooning.

Culture as Nature - Episode 7
Artists began to take man-made images as their inspiration, leading to the pop art of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein as well as Stuart Davis' collages inspired by jazz.

The Future That Was - Episode 8
The final episode in the series explores the decline of modernism and how various artists have reacted to the consequent commercialization of their art.

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