is being shown in 6 parts on PBS currently, hosted and curated by Rick Steves, who does a fantastic job in bringing into your home European masterpieces that would otherwise not be available in an HD, curated way. The shows are crammed with beautiful art and truly representative examples of the best of European art going back to ‘pre-history’, pre-Greek times.
I have not previously seen about 2/3s of what he has uncovered and chosen to include. And the art and narration are informative, very entertaining, and a knockout, quite frankly, like this week’s show on medieval art and architecture. All those churches, mosques, and cathedrals with all those mosaics, sculptures, and stained-glass windows!
The previous major sweeps of Western art on video have been done by Michael Wood (Art of the Western World, 9 episodes), 1989, and Lord Kenneth Clark (Civilisation, 11 episodes), 1969 (available now in DVD). Wood’s PBS documentary begins with the Greeks and was not shot in HD, which is unfortunate, given how many great works are shown. Steves has clearly synthesized the best of Wood’s project.
Clark’s classic BBC doc gives much more than do either of the other two, providing historical context in detail, focuses on famous people and ideas, notably in philosophy. He also does a splendid job on main classical composers. If you want the kitchen-sink version of Western civilization, Clark’s doc is still the main one to check out.