Simon Schama's Power of Art


Power of Art is a BBC documentary series written and presented by Simon Schama. The series was broadcast in October and November 2006 on BBC2. It aired in Poland on TVP2 in February and March 2008, on PBS in the US and re -broadcast in September 2008 on TVOntario in Canada, ABC1 in Australia, Australia Network in the Asia-Pacific region, TV ONE in New Zealand and on ET1 in Greece. It was also translated to Persian and aired on BBC Persian in Iran, as well in Italy for Sky Italia on the channel Sky Arte. Each of the eight one-hour episodes examines the biography of an artist and one of his key works through Schama's considerations and occasional reenactments:
  1. Caravaggio – David with the Head of Goliath
  2. Bernini – Ecstasy of Saint Teresa
  3. Rembrandt – The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis
  4. David – The Death of Marat
  5. Turner – The Slave Ship
  6. Van Gogh – Wheatfield with Crows
  7. Picasso – Guernica
  8. Rothko – Black on Maroon
In reenactment scenes the role of Caravaggio was performed by Paul Popplewell, Van Gogh was played by Andy Serkis, and Mark Rothko by Allan Corduner.

DVD and book releases

Power of Art was published in book form by BBC Books in 2006 and released on in June 2007.