- Art Through a Different Lens in a Groundbreaking New PBS HD Series - Great artists have always viewed the world through a different lens, and these unique visions and perceptions have fascinated and delighted -- and sometimes outraged -- people throughout history. Now, a new PBS series offers viewers the opportunity to experience that unique artistic vision in a new way. The series travels to the same renowned gardens, groves, seascapes and mountainous terrains that served as the inspiration for some of the world's most celebrated and familiar works of art.
LANDSCAPES THROUGH TIME WITH DAVID DUNLOP -- a lively and entertaining new 13-part PBS series shot in HD -- offers viewers the opportunity to travel with noted painter and lecturer David Dunlop to magical, historic locations in the United States and France as he follows the lives and artistic paths of celebrated artists such as Turner and Monet. Dunlop journeys to the locations these artists visited and learns how they transformed their vision into a familiar painting. Dunlop's infectious enthusiasm and vast knowledge of art, philosophy and history inspire every episode as he shares his passion for landscape painting and his artistic skill as he paints the same storied landscape in the technique of the artist. The series premieres in June 2008 (check local listings ) on PBS.
This series offers an unrivaled blend of art, history, travel, science, philosophy and painting technique as Dunlop uses his unique integrative approach, making each artist and his art and life come alive. Each half-hour episode contains three components:
* Dunlop takes viewers to a beautiful place that inspired a famous artist and, in his entertaining, energetic style, sets the artist in his appropriate historical context, while discussing who, when, where, how and why he painted. * Dunlop then sets his easel in the same place that the legendary artist set his and paints that same landscape in the style of the artist, explaining each step of the painting process, including artistic, technical, optical and perceptual insights and revealing techniques and secrets of the master. * Dunlop then offers tips and techniques while working with one of his students who is transforming his or her painting at the same location. LANDSCAPES THROUGH TIME WITH DAVID DUNLOP travels to Claude Monet's home in Giverny, France, to paint his water lily garden and to the asylum of St. Paul de Mausole in St. Remy en Provence, where Vincent van Gogh committed himself in 1889 and painted many of his masterpieces, including Starry Night, Olive Trees and Cypresses . With his easel and painting supplies in hand, Dunlop scales the rugged terrain of Kaaterskill Falls in upstate New York, where Hudson River painters Thomas Cole, Asher Durand and Sanford Gifford all found inspiration. Dunlop's journey also leads him to Pierre-Auguste Renoir's home and garden at Cagnes Sur Mer, France; the Lieutenant River in Old Lyme, Connecticut; the white cliffs of Etretat on France's Normandy Coast; and Contentment Island off the coast of Connecticut, where John Frederick Kensett painted the Long Island Sound.
This groundbreaking series appeals not only to artists, but to everyone who is fascinated by art and the process of its creation, with demonstrations for the painter and non-painter alike. It also offers invaluable techniques and insights for artists of all levels of expertise. Watching Dunlop dramatically transform his students' paintings with just a bit of highlighting or a small change in the composition is absorbing. He demonstrates the basic principles of composition and perspective, old master and contemporary techniques and color-mixing theories for effective landscape painting.
Producer Connie Simmons, also a painter, was inspired by Dunlop and his engaging enthusiasm for the creative process and his investigation into how the mind is involved with perception and vision. Simmons explains, "There is a mysterious magic to painting and an excitement in seeing where a great landscape was painted. It was thrilling and inspiring to actually walk where Turner, Inness or Monet walked -- seeing what they saw and then comparing that vision to a familiar painting. With this series, we hope to capture some of the particular power and excitement of each artist and to share it with our audience."
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