Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated:
1
00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:10,880
This is the last film in the series.
2
00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:14,160
It's where we explore
some complex technical issues
3
00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:17,840
about colour wheels and optics, so
I'm just testing all the equipment,
4
00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:20,280
making sure it's working.
5
00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:26,040
The magic wheel of light...
6
00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:28,680
Yep, that's working perfectly.
7
00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:33,160
Monet's glasses are perfect.
8
00:00:33,160 --> 00:00:35,280
Can't see a thing.
9
00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:46,080
Good! That's all working.
So we're ready to go
10
00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:49,200
with the final film
in the story of Impressionism.
11
00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:54,840
SONG: L'Ogre featuring 70 Million
by Hold Your Horses!
12
00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:04,320
# Though it hardly looked like
a novel at all
13
00:01:04,320 --> 00:01:06,680
# And the city treats me,
it treats me to you
14
00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,440
# And a cup of coffee for you
15
00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:11,880
# I should learn its language
and speak it to you
16
00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:14,520
# And 70 million
should be in the know
17
00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:17,160
# And 70 million don't go out at all
18
00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:19,920
# And 70 million
wouldn't walk this street
19
00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:22,400
# And 70 million would run to a hole
20
00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:24,880
# And 70 million
would be wrong, wrong, wrong
21
00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:27,440
# And 70 million never see it at all
22
00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:31,320
# And 70 million
haven't tasted snow #
23
00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:52,520
This is
the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris,
24
00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:55,560
France's
most prestigious art school.
25
00:01:55,560 --> 00:02:00,720
It was established in 1648
by Louis XIV,
26
00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:04,400
so this is one of
the most historic locations
27
00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:06,680
in the story of art.
28
00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:13,480
'Usually I wouldn't bring you
anywhere near here
29
00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:15,720
'in a film about the Impressionists.
30
00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:18,280
'Impressionism was modern,
31
00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:21,040
'and this place isn't.'
32
00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:26,240
Perversely, though,
the Ecole des Beaux-Arts
33
00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:29,480
played a huge role in the story
of Impressionism,
34
00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:35,480
because this grandest of art schools
is where Georges Seurat studied.
35
00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:42,560
Ah, yes - Seurat, king of the dots!
36
00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:45,560
He painted
some of the best-known pictures
37
00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:48,320
in the chronicles of Impressionism.
38
00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:51,880
But the man himself was a mystery.
39
00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:58,520
The only photograph
you'll ever see of him is this one.
40
00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:03,960
And the only real evidence
of his thinking is his art,
41
00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:06,640
with its strange stiffness,
42
00:03:06,640 --> 00:03:09,040
and those puzzling dots.
43
00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:17,000
This is a film about
the final days of Impressionism,
44
00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:19,200
how it ended and what it became,
45
00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:22,880
so of course Seurat has to feature.
46
00:03:26,640 --> 00:03:31,880
Seurat was invited to show
with the Impressionists by Pissarro.
47
00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:35,000
He was completely unknown then.
48
00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:42,200
But when this famous picture, A
Sunday Afternoon On La Grand Jatte,
49
00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:47,560
popped up in the last
Impressionist exhibition of 1886,
50
00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:50,280
everybody noticed it.
51
00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:56,000
Impressionism was obviously
on to something new here.
52
00:03:56,000 --> 00:04:01,000
But what the hell was it? If you ask
ten art critics about Seurat,
53
00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:03,200
you'll get ten different opinions.
54
00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:06,480
He was such
a private and elusive painter,
55
00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:10,960
kept it all locked away,
stored in here.
56
00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:15,680
'Until Seurat arrived,
57
00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:19,240
'Impressionism had been happy
to capture the moment,
58
00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:21,800
'and to live for the present.
59
00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:26,960
'Remember all that joie de vivre
you saw in the earlier films -
60
00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:30,080
'Renoir's boating parties,
61
00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:33,680
'Monet's beautiful days.'
62
00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:37,520
Suddenly none of it seemed enough
any more.
63
00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:42,320
Seurat's pictures
are looking for something deeper,
64
00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:44,400
less fidgety,
65
00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:46,520
more permanent.
66
00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:58,560
'Seurat was a student here
at the posh Ecole des Beaux-Arts
67
00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:00,920
'from 1878.
68
00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:03,680
'He was here for two years,
69
00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:06,360
'surrounded by the past.
70
00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:12,480
His parents were very well off,
so he never had to work,
71
00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:14,720
and by rights, he should have become
72
00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,720
a very traditional
and conservative painter,
73
00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:20,440
the kind of artist who does this.
74
00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:27,680
But he didn't. Instead,
Seurat became this sort of artist,
75
00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:29,920
and this.
76
00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:36,560
These were, are, and always will be
strange pictures.
77
00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:40,920
And the first of them,
The Bathers At Asnieres,
78
00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:44,440
was begun when he was just 23 -
79
00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:50,120
his first masterpiece,
and already so puzzling.
80
00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:52,720
WATER SPLASHING
81
00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:58,040
I reckon it was painted about here.
See that bridge there?
82
00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:00,840
That's the railway bridge
at Asnieres,
83
00:06:00,840 --> 00:06:04,080
and you can just about make it out
way in the distance
84
00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:06,320
in Seurat's Bathers.
85
00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:09,880
# La fille du roi
86
00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:12,040
# Etait a sa fenetre
87
00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:14,000
# La fille du roi...
88
00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:17,960
It's a sunny day by the river,
probably a Sunday.
89
00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:25,720
That was when working men in Paris
generally had their day off,
90
00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:29,920
and all the bathers at Asnieres
are working men.
91
00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:36,160
You can tell from their overalls
and their battered bowler hats.
92
00:06:38,280 --> 00:06:40,680
Perhaps they're workmen
from the factories
93
00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:43,320
you can see in the distance
at Clichy.
94
00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,480
Clichy had become
a busy factory district,
95
00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:49,960
so all the chaps by the river here
could be workmen
96
00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:53,920
taking time off together
in a bloke-ish fashion,
97
00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:56,160
as blokes do.
98
00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:04,440
Bathing was traditionally
a feminine subject in art,
99
00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:07,880
an excuse for naughty Old Masters
100
00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:12,760
to paint beautiful young women
naked and wet.
101
00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:17,360
So Seurat,
by confining his picture to men,
102
00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:21,880
is already being revolutionary
and confrontational.
103
00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:27,640
One of the boys in the water,
the one with his back turned to us,
104
00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:31,120
is clearly based on
a famous painting by Ingres
105
00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:34,760
that hangs in the Louvre -
the Valpincon Bather,
106
00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:38,040
a mysterious Oriental odalisque
107
00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,320
whose naked back
would drive men wild.
108
00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:45,320
# Joli tambour,
tu n'es pas assez riche
109
00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:48,880
# Joli tambour,
tu n'es pas assez riche...
110
00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:52,400
'Actually hanging in the chapel
at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts,
111
00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:57,680
'where Seurat studied, was a set of
copies of Piero della Francesca,
112
00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:01,920
'the calmest and most luminous
of Renaissance Old Masters.'
113
00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:09,120
They were hung there
to inspire the students,
114
00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:12,120
and they obviously did,
because Seurat took the pose
115
00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:17,400
of the man sitting on the riverbank
directly from Piero.
116
00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:21,080
If you've been watching
the rest of this series,
117
00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:23,400
you'll have seen
painter after painter
118
00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:26,400
deliberately taking on
the Old Masters.
119
00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:31,160
Renoir did it, Degas,
and now Seurat.
120
00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:35,000
All of them set out to prove
121
00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:38,200
that the modern world
can be just as monumental,
122
00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:42,600
just as heroic and beautiful,
as the ancient world.
123
00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:46,800
'In the end,
it's probably the most important
124
00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:50,120
'of all Impressionism's
revolutionary messages -
125
00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:54,560
'the present is just as precious
as the past.'
126
00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:00,880
# Il y en a de plus jolies
127
00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:04,360
# Il y en a de plus jolies #
128
00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:11,000
Seurat was so secretive
129
00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:14,240
that he only told his parents
he had a mistress and a son
130
00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:16,560
the day before he died.
131
00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:20,480
Till then, no-one had known
132
00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:24,520
that the bosomy Madeleine Knobloch
was Seurat's lover
133
00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:26,880
and the mother of his child.
134
00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:30,640
With a man as secretive as this,
135
00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:34,440
you need to dig deep
to break the code.
136
00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:39,240
So Seurat wasn't a student
at the Ecole for very long, was he?
137
00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:42,600
No. He had been a student
for two years only.
138
00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:48,920
He was admitted with bad marks,
and his marks were worse and worse,
139
00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:52,400
because he was not
a conventional student.
140
00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:55,280
The other thing
that was very important for Seurat
141
00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:57,280
when he was here at the Ecole
142
00:09:57,280 --> 00:10:00,120
was his exposure to
lots of scientific books.
143
00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:03,120
I mean, there's a famous book
called The Grammar Of Art
144
00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:06,760
by Charles Blanc, who was actually
director here at the time.
145
00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:10,160
Yes. Charles Blanc wrote this book,
146
00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:12,040
Grammar Of The Art Of Drawing.
147
00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:18,000
It means that Charles Blanc
discovered laws for colours
148
00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:21,560
and for lines - warm colours,
149
00:10:21,560 --> 00:10:24,720
and lines going up,
150
00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:29,320
convey a feeling of joy,
of pleasure.
151
00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:31,560
Happiness. Of happiness.
152
00:10:31,560 --> 00:10:35,280
Of course,
with cold colours and dark colours,
153
00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:37,440
it's an impression of sadness.
154
00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:42,360
You've got here the actual books
that Seurat could have looked at
155
00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:45,920
in the library. This is, I know,
one of the most important for him.
156
00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:48,640
This is Chevreul,
with his theories of colour.
157
00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:51,640
The first thing, of course,
you see about it
158
00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:56,840
is that most of the illustrations
are these beautiful arrays of dots.
159
00:10:56,840 --> 00:11:02,520
Yes. There are lots of experiences
about colours
160
00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:06,720
in those books.
Of course it's rather scientific,
161
00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:11,440
but it was meant to help
the painters.
162
00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:14,200
Mm. Well, it certainly helped
Seurat, didn't it,
163
00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:17,800
because, if you're looking for
the origin of Seurat's dots,
164
00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:21,600
I think you don't need to look
much further than here, do you?
165
00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:23,800
Er...
166
00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:25,960
It's complicated.
167
00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:36,200
Why did Seurat paint dots? It's
the first thing we need to clear up.
168
00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:38,520
What were the dots supposed to do?
169
00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:41,960
To find out,
I've transformed the old chapel
170
00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:45,200
at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts
into a Seurat laboratory,
171
00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:48,080
where we're going to carry out
some experiments...
172
00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:52,160
..with colour.
173
00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:57,880
OK, it's not state-of-the-art,
174
00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:01,720
but, then, I'm not sure
that Seurat or his dots ever were
175
00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:06,040
quite as dauntingly scientific
as he made out.
176
00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:12,360
What's certain is that this is the
great period of colour exploration.
177
00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:16,880
Various theories were being proposed
to explain the behaviour of colour,
178
00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:19,080
and the first thing to grasp here
179
00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:22,840
is the difference
between colour as a pigment...
180
00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:27,880
..and colour as light.
181
00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:34,520
Pigment and light
have different properties.
182
00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:37,200
If I mix blue, red and green
as pigment,
183
00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:40,800
I end up with a dark-brown mess.
184
00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:43,320
But if I mix them as light...
185
00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:46,800
..the opposite happens.
186
00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:50,680
Blue, red and green become white,
187
00:12:50,680 --> 00:12:53,320
or, at least, a luminous grey.
188
00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:01,760
What Seurat decided to do
was to put down his pigments
189
00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:06,320
in blobs or dots, so that
instead of mixing on the canvas,
190
00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:08,800
they would mix in your eye,
191
00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:12,120
in a manner that was luminous
and full of light.
192
00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:35,400
The culmination of Seurat's
investigations into dotty-ism,
193
00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:40,200
his masterpiece, was
this unmistakably mysterious scene
194
00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:43,600
of A Sunday Afternoon
On The Grande Jatte.
195
00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:49,520
It's such a strange,
strange picture.
196
00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:54,040
I've come here to Chicago to see it
maybe a dozen times now,
197
00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:56,440
and I still don't really get it.
198
00:13:56,440 --> 00:14:00,560
What a thing to come up with
in 1884!
199
00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:05,200
Here in America,
200
00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:09,160
Buffalo Bill was still shooting at
Chief Sitting Bull.
201
00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:15,480
But in Montmartre,
in his mysterious scientific studio,
202
00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:18,760
Seurat was concocting this.
203
00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:23,440
It reminds me of those frescoes
in Pompeii
204
00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:26,000
that were trapped
under the ashes of Vesuvius.
205
00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:28,640
History has been frozen.
206
00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:33,080
A moment in time has been turned
into something eternal.
207
00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:40,360
La Grande Jatte
was a tiny island on the Seine,
208
00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:44,600
upon which Parisian leisure-seekers
would descend in droves
209
00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:48,600
on a Sunday to stroll about,
parade and flirt.
210
00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:54,480
These days it's a dump, frankly.
211
00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:57,680
Fashionable society
doesn't come down here any more.
212
00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:00,760
They've left the banks
of La Grande Jatte
213
00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:03,440
to the junkies and the joggers.
214
00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:10,120
But in Seurat's day, in the 1880s,
215
00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:12,920
this was THE place to go,
216
00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:16,240
particularly if you were
a fashionable chap
217
00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:18,760
looking for an unattached girl -
218
00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:22,800
because La Grande Jatte
was full of them.
219
00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:27,120
It was known as the island of love,
220
00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:30,560
and a good many
of the fashionable ladies
221
00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:34,480
strolling around La Grande Jatte
in their Sunday best
222
00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:38,440
were working girls
fishing for clients.
223
00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:45,400
Everyone looking at this picture in
the Eighth Impressionist Exhibition
224
00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:50,840
of 1886 would have known immediately
what Seurat was implying.
225
00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:53,760
I mean, this girl over here,
226
00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:56,040
the one fishing on the riverbank -
227
00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:59,560
she doesn't look like an angler
to me.
228
00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:02,400
What's she really fishing for?
229
00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:05,400
And the big couple over here...
230
00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:08,840
To us they seem
terribly respectable,
231
00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:12,040
so tall and stately.
232
00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:15,200
But Seurat's audience
would have known at once
233
00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:17,640
that he was a client
234
00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:20,800
and she was a prostitute.
235
00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:29,680
In the middle of the picture,
so central and important-looking,
236
00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:33,680
Seurat has placed a mother
and her angelic daughter,
237
00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:36,760
dressed all in white.
238
00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:40,960
They seem to be looking
straight at us,
239
00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:43,440
straight at the future, as it were.
240
00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:48,840
What does that future hold for them,
Seurat seems to be asking.
241
00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:52,120
What does it hold
for all the little girls
242
00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:55,440
running around La Grande Jatte
so innocently?
243
00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:03,440
La Grande Jatte was inspired
by another painting
244
00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:05,960
that's also here in Chicago -
245
00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:08,840
The Sacred Grove,
246
00:17:08,840 --> 00:17:11,960
by Puvis de Chavannes.
247
00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:17,040
Puvis was the elder statesman
of French art.
248
00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:21,600
His pale, mysterious symbolism
was much admired
249
00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:25,440
by various Impressionists,
especially Seurat.
250
00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:31,400
That sense of being frozen in time
251
00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:35,200
is something that Seurat
definitely took from Puvis.
252
00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:39,280
But Puvis' picture isn't set
in the modern world.
253
00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:43,560
It's set somewhere way back in time,
254
00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:47,280
on an idyllic mythological island,
255
00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:49,560
where the nine muses of art
256
00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:54,400
have gathered to stroll and think
and look lovely.
257
00:17:57,080 --> 00:17:59,960
So what Seurat has done...
258
00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:03,240
is to update the sacred grove,
259
00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:05,880
to show us what such a place
might look like
260
00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:11,160
in 1884 AD rather than BC.
261
00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:18,960
La Grande Jatte shows us
what the modern world has become,
262
00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:23,480
and niggles us to compare it
with what it used to be.
263
00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:33,040
There's something else
that's important.
264
00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:36,760
I'm absolutely certain
that La Grande Jatte here
265
00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:39,880
was painted
as a deliberate parallel...
266
00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:43,440
..to the bathers at Asnieres.
267
00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:47,440
The two pictures
were meant to work together,
268
00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:50,440
a deliberate call and response...
269
00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:56,920
..between posh Parisian society
on the Right Bank,
270
00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:00,960
with its parasols
and its smart folk,
271
00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:04,600
and the world of the workers
on the Left Bank
272
00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:09,040
with the belching factories
and the smoking chimneys.
273
00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:18,200
Look at the way the boy here,
the one in the water,
274
00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:21,400
is calling over
to the other side of the river...
275
00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:27,040
..where the people on the opposite
bank watch him so silently
276
00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:30,040
and glumly.
On this side of the river,
277
00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:35,840
something massive and threatening
has cast a huge shadow
278
00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:38,320
across La Grande Jatte.
279
00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:41,880
But not on the other side,
280
00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:44,560
even though the sun
is in the same place.
281
00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:48,800
On this side of the river,
people take their shirts off
282
00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:51,240
and sit in the sun.
283
00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:56,600
On the other side,
everyone hides under their parasols
284
00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:58,760
and keeps their tops on.
285
00:20:00,120 --> 00:20:06,080
So Seurat has produced
a stereo image of modern Paris,
286
00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:08,200
a heads and a tails...
287
00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:14,480
..two sides of the modern world
confronting each other
288
00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:16,600
across the river.
289
00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:27,280
Right. This is another crucial
aspect of Seurat's optical theory,
290
00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:31,280
about the importance
of the afterimage.
291
00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:35,720
In a moment, the screen you're
watching is going to go blank,
292
00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:37,800
completely white.
293
00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:40,520
But please don't turn over
to another channel.
294
00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:44,640
Keep watching. If you want to
understand Seurat's colour theory,
295
00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:47,200
you need to keep looking
at this screen.
296
00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:51,200
So, are you ready? Here we go.
297
00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:56,200
Right. See the red rectangle?
Just keep staring at it.
298
00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:58,440
Don't look away. Keep looking at it.
299
00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:00,760
One, two,
300
00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:03,080
three... Don't look away.
301
00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:05,760
Four... Keep staring. Five...
302
00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:10,000
Now look. What do you see?
303
00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:13,040
A green shape, right?
304
00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:17,040
Did you see it -
the green afterimage?
305
00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:21,000
That wasn't really there.
That was just a retinal memory
306
00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:23,880
in your eye,
and Seurat, with his dots,
307
00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:26,480
was trying to control
that sensation.
308
00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:29,200
He knew that
when he put down a colour,
309
00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:32,400
you would also see
its complementary,
310
00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:38,000
so when he put down red,
you would also see green next to it.
311
00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:41,960
And if in his painting
he actually put green next to red,
312
00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:45,600
he knew that the green
would seem greener there
313
00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:48,080
and the red would seem redder.
314
00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:54,520
In theory, he was trying to turn
painting into science,
315
00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:58,120
to control your vision.
But he never quite pulled it off.
316
00:21:58,120 --> 00:22:02,480
In reality, there were just
too many things to juggle with,
317
00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:06,680
too many optical issues,
too many dots.
318
00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:11,400
SEAGULLS CRYING
319
00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:14,440
WIND BLOWING SOFTLY
320
00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:24,120
Working on these giant masterpieces
was exhausting and demanding.
321
00:22:24,120 --> 00:22:26,760
So when La Grande Jatte
was finished,
322
00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:31,120
Seurat began a set
of smaller views of the sea...
323
00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:35,520
..his marine landscapes.
324
00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:38,760
SEAGULLS CRYING
325
00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:45,680
Every summer,
he'd head for the French coast,
326
00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:50,240
book himself into
a small hotel or lodgings,
327
00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:54,480
and embark upon
a meticulous campaign
328
00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:57,200
of sea paintings.
329
00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:07,280
Seurat's marine views
are among his most accessible
330
00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:09,520
and delightful achievements.
331
00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:12,680
Every summer from 1885,
332
00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:15,240
he went somewhere else
and did some more.
333
00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:22,960
"Let's go and get drunk on light,"
he wrote of his journeys to the sea.
334
00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:32,760
Interestingly, though,
and typically,
335
00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:36,600
Seurat didn't go south
to the Mediterranean
336
00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:38,960
like the other Impressionists.
337
00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:42,000
He went north to the Channel coast,
338
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:46,440
where the sea
can be bleak and austere...
339
00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:52,280
..and where
these long, low dune-scapes
340
00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:56,760
alternate
with rocky and craggy headlands.
341
00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:04,400
SEAGULLS CRYING
342
00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:07,320
WAVES MURMURING
343
00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:15,600
In 1890, he spent the summer here
at Gravelines.
344
00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:19,600
It's near Dunkirk and Calais,
almost on the Belgian border,
345
00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:26,400
and beaches don't get much longer
or bare than they are here.
346
00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:40,040
The most intriguing
of the Gravelines paintings
347
00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:43,840
were done from here, the quay
in front of the lighthouse,
348
00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:46,000
looking out across the water
349
00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:48,800
to where the old signal mast
used to stand,
350
00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:51,280
showing how high the tides were.
351
00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:54,840
In one of his views from here,
352
00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:59,280
Seurat captures so masterfully
the pale tonality
353
00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:02,600
of the sunny days
you get around here.
354
00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:04,680
There's hardly anything there.
355
00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:06,960
It's so white, so watery,
356
00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:10,160
like the tenth cup of tea
from the same teabag.
357
00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:17,800
Then, from more or less
the same place on the same quay,
358
00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:21,360
he painted the same view
in the evening,
359
00:25:21,360 --> 00:25:26,240
so same place,
but completely different mood.
360
00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:32,320
This time it's twilight.
361
00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:36,400
The coast is glowing darkly.
362
00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:38,920
Night is at hand.
363
00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:43,960
One reality, two viewpoints.
364
00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:48,440
This is Impressionism
becoming something else.
365
00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:54,880
Impressionism is breaching
the fourth dimension.
366
00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:33,040
In that influential book
by Charles Blanc
367
00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:36,200
on the grammar of art
that Seurat read as a student,
368
00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:38,880
there's a picture of a set of faces
369
00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:41,680
drawn by Humbert de Superville,
370
00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:45,120
another of
these wacky pseudo-scientists
371
00:26:45,120 --> 00:26:47,840
who were publishing their theories
at the time,
372
00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:55,120
and de Superville's faces illustrate
the emotional power of lines.
373
00:26:55,120 --> 00:26:57,640
So this face here...
374
00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:03,400
..is happy, joyous...
375
00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:08,880
..while this one is glum and down.
376
00:27:10,360 --> 00:27:13,760
And the one in the middle,
well, that's...
377
00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:18,480
..calm, contented,
378
00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:20,680
composed.
379
00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:25,280
All done with simple lines.
380
00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:35,360
This idea that horizontal lines
create sensations of calmness
381
00:27:35,360 --> 00:27:39,920
is one of the reasons
why Seurat came to this coast.
382
00:27:41,120 --> 00:27:45,320
France doesn't get much flatter
or more exactly divided
383
00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:47,360
than it does here.
384
00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:52,240
In his day scene from here,
385
00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:56,120
Seurat's gone for an impression
of immense calmness,
386
00:27:56,120 --> 00:27:59,720
with these clear verticals
above the horizon,
387
00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:03,400
and a stretch
of sandy emptiness below.
388
00:28:05,120 --> 00:28:09,080
But the evening scene
goes for the opposite effect.
389
00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:17,440
In the evening scene,
Gravelines puts on its sad face.
390
00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:20,520
The boats are scowling.
391
00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:22,960
The anchors are downcast.
392
00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:27,880
Gravelines at sunset is glum.
393
00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:37,200
So here's an artist treating emotion
as a scientific challenge,
394
00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:39,480
manipulating your moods
395
00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:43,080
with carefully considered
painting strategies,
396
00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:47,240
as if he were a scientist
and you were the guinea pig.
397
00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:50,280
LIVELY ACCORDION MUSIC
398
00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:59,200
CAN-CAN MUSIC
399
00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:01,560
MEN WHISTLING AND HOOTING
400
00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:06,880
Seurat died when he was just 31 -
401
00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:11,280
such an early departure
for such a big talent...
402
00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:16,080
..particularly since his work
was getting stranger and stranger.
403
00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:19,240
I mean, the marine paintings
are beautiful enough,
404
00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:23,840
but everything else he was doing
in Paris was increasingly eccentric.
405
00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:26,240
CAN-CAN MUSIC CONTINUES
406
00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:31,440
Seurat had developed a taste
for theatres and circuses,
407
00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:34,920
and in a set
of strikingly unusual pictures,
408
00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:38,520
had taken to recording
the nocturnal pleasures
409
00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:41,400
of the Parisian bourgeois.
410
00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:44,160
SHOUTING AND APPLAUSE
411
00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:49,880
CAN-CAN MUSIC CONTINUES
412
00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:54,080
'His final painting,
Seurat's last masterpiece,
413
00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:59,600
'was, of all things,
a painting of some can-can dancers.'
414
00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:07,080
The can-can,
or chahut as it was known,
415
00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:09,200
wasn't really a dance at all.
416
00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:12,520
It was a bit of late-night
Parisian naughtiness,
417
00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:16,600
in which provocative women
would throw up their skirts,
418
00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:20,480
expose a bit of leg, and whoop.
DANCER WHOOPS
419
00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:22,720
CAN-CAN MUSIC
420
00:30:22,720 --> 00:30:27,200
Seurat's painting is usually seen
as one of his brainy attempts
421
00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:30,320
to put theory into action.
422
00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:32,920
All these dizzy diagonals
423
00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:35,600
are supposed to create
a sense of gaiety.
424
00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:39,920
It's the lessons
of Humbert de Superville again.
425
00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:45,680
But if Seurat really was trying
to paint a gay and happy picture,
426
00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:49,200
he hasn't exactly succeeded, has he?
427
00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:54,400
There's a stiff and forced air
to Seurat's Chahut.
428
00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:56,960
If this is a fun night out,
429
00:30:56,960 --> 00:30:59,680
I think I'd rather stay at home.
430
00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:05,440
But I don't think it was meant to be
a fun night out.
431
00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:09,120
I think Seurat's motives
were deeper and darker.
432
00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:13,640
These days we think of the can-can
as a seedy tourist attraction,
433
00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:16,160
something to go and watch
in the Place Pigalle.
434
00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:21,680
But in Seurat's time, it was
genuinely dangerous and decadent -
435
00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:25,240
so decadent that the anarchists
actually blew up
436
00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:28,120
a notorious can-can club in Lyons,
437
00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:32,560
because they saw it as
the embodiment of bourgeois decay.
438
00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:40,800
For me, all of Seurat's paintings
have this niggling, insistent sense
439
00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:43,520
of politics about them,
440
00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:46,640
as if they're trying to comment
in secret
441
00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:49,280
on the world around them,
442
00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:53,760
its phoniness and silliness
and hypocrisy.
443
00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:59,040
The more I look at Seurat's art,
the more firmly I'm convinced
444
00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:01,560
that under this cloak
of colour theory
445
00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:04,880
and the lines of emotion,
what we really have here
446
00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:09,400
is a very pessimistic observer
of modern life.
447
00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:11,000
CAN-CAN MUSIC
448
00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:13,520
Impressionism had grown cynical,
449
00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:15,960
disillusioned with the illusions.
450
00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:19,400
Having set out to see
the modern world properly,
451
00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:22,000
it was now seeing it all too well.
452
00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:25,000
Art was changing moods.
453
00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:40,160
There's an old Dutch proverb
that says,
454
00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:45,400
"If the sky is blue,
it'll be grey tomorrow."
455
00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:49,480
The Dutch, alas,
are not a cheery bunch.
456
00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:00,240
Amazingly, though,
Holland and the Dutch
457
00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:03,840
played a big role
in the story of Impressionism.
458
00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:07,240
Monet came here
on several productive visits,
459
00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:10,800
and painted glorious flower scenes
460
00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:15,080
of the tulip paradise
in miraculous bloom.
461
00:33:19,760 --> 00:33:22,680
But Holland's greatest gift
to Impressionism
462
00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:26,280
was a redhead, small and wiry,
463
00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:29,760
beady-eyed and grumpy.
464
00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:35,760
It's that brilliant little
Dutch gnome, Vincent van Gogh,
465
00:33:35,760 --> 00:33:40,600
or, as his own people call him,
"FAN GOFF!"
466
00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:47,280
If you think Van Gogh was cuddly,
think again.
467
00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:51,200
He was dark, driven, obsessive.
468
00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:54,480
His father was a Dutch pastor,
469
00:33:54,480 --> 00:33:59,000
and a gloomy world view
was Van Gogh's inheritance.
470
00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:03,720
As another gloomy Dutch proverb
puts it,
471
00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:08,000
"A frog will always jump back
into the pool,
472
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:11,600
even if it sits on a golden throne."
473
00:34:12,680 --> 00:34:14,880
You can never escape your past.
474
00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:18,600
A frog will always be a frog.
475
00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:26,760
'Van Gogh's energetic attempts
to escape the pond
476
00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:30,200
'took him to England, then Belgium,
477
00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:32,600
'and finally to Paris,
478
00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:36,120
'where he arrived in 1886,
479
00:34:36,120 --> 00:34:41,760
'just in time to see the eighth
and final Impressionist exhibition.'
480
00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:52,000
Van Gogh's younger brother,
Theo, was an art dealer in Paris,
481
00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:54,880
who'd been supporting
the Impressionists.
482
00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:57,840
So when Vincent
suddenly turned up here,
483
00:34:57,840 --> 00:35:01,480
the good news was that
he could get up to speed quickly
484
00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:03,600
on the latest developments in art.
485
00:35:03,600 --> 00:35:06,880
The bad news
was that he had nowhere to live,
486
00:35:06,880 --> 00:35:10,200
and was moving in with Theo.
487
00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:18,720
'These days we think of Van Gogh
as a soulful, warm-hearted genius,
488
00:35:18,720 --> 00:35:22,600
'a fragile soul too brittle
for the modern world.'
489
00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:28,680
He was a genius, all right, but
he was also the last person on Earth
490
00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:31,000
you'd want moving into your flat.
491
00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:37,280
Disruptive, decrepit, difficult,
492
00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:41,120
Van Gogh had no personal hygiene
whatsoever,
493
00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:43,760
and drank like a fish.
494
00:35:44,720 --> 00:35:46,840
After a couple of absinthes,
495
00:35:46,840 --> 00:35:49,880
he could start a fight
with a Buddhist monk.
496
00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:55,440
His health was shot, too.
When he arrived in Paris,
497
00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:57,960
he was already suffering
from syphilis,
498
00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:01,960
and in Belgium, where he'd just
dropped out of art school again,
499
00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:04,320
his teeth had rotted so badly
500
00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:07,880
he had to have ten of them taken out
in one go.
501
00:36:11,240 --> 00:36:14,160
That's why you never see
Vincent smiling
502
00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:17,480
in any of the fierce
and brooding self-portraits
503
00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:20,000
he began churning out in Paris.
504
00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:24,480
In his troubled vision of himself,
505
00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:28,280
Van Gogh always kept his mouth shut.
506
00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:31,400
In real life, it never was,
507
00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:34,960
particularly after a drink or two.
508
00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:45,160
Vincent and Theo lived just here
at the bottom of Montmartre,
509
00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:48,080
at 54 Rue Lepic,
510
00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:50,400
up on the third floor,
511
00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:54,400
where Vincent soon made sure
the rooms were so squalid
512
00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:57,840
that Theo was embarrassed
to invite anyone round.
513
00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:04,760
The Rue Lepic
was just a stone's throw away
514
00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:06,880
from the Moulin de la Galette -
515
00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:11,880
once a windmill,
now a can-can joint.
516
00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:18,040
By the time Vincent arrived
in Montmartre,
517
00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:22,760
most of the old windmills had been
turned into bars and cabarets.
518
00:37:22,760 --> 00:37:27,160
But from the outside at least,
this still looked like home.
519
00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:33,960
If anyone
was ever handing out prizes
520
00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:38,240
for the least familiar views
of Impressionist Paris,
521
00:37:38,240 --> 00:37:42,040
then, Van Gogh's gloomy cityscapes
would surely win.
522
00:37:46,160 --> 00:37:49,000
With all these rickety windmills
dotted about,
523
00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:52,840
Van Gogh's Paris looks more like
Holland than France.
524
00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:57,120
In those days, Montmartre
was still a messy scrubland
525
00:37:57,120 --> 00:38:00,320
of working gardens
and scruffy allotments.
526
00:38:04,280 --> 00:38:07,280
Exiled in this pretend Holland,
527
00:38:07,280 --> 00:38:11,560
a lonely Dutch frog
was missing its pond.
528
00:38:16,720 --> 00:38:20,280
Apart from walking,
painting and arguing,
529
00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:23,200
Vincent's other great hobby
was drinking.
530
00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:26,000
He did a lot of that -
some of it in here.
531
00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:28,880
CHATTERING AND LAUGHTER
532
00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:33,480
The Lapin Agile, or Agile Rabbit,
533
00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:36,560
is the only bar in Montmartre
534
00:38:36,560 --> 00:38:39,840
that remains more or less
as Vincent would have known it...
535
00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:42,400
ACCORDION MUSIC
536
00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:45,760
..small, dark and shabby.
537
00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:49,560
Une cerise, s'il vous plait. Oui.
538
00:38:49,560 --> 00:38:51,800
To get Vincent out of the house,
539
00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:55,760
Theo enrolled him in an art school
on the Boulevard de Clichy,
540
00:38:55,760 --> 00:39:00,080
the Atelier Cormon,
where the head boy was a small chap
541
00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:02,560
called Toulouse Lautrec. Merci.
542
00:39:08,160 --> 00:39:10,800
Vincent wasn't the art-school type.
543
00:39:10,800 --> 00:39:14,320
He was studying mostly at the bar,
544
00:39:14,320 --> 00:39:17,040
and it wasn't for a law degree.
545
00:39:19,360 --> 00:39:22,960
One of Vincent's
most striking Paris pictures
546
00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:26,440
is actually a portrait
of a glass of absinthe
547
00:39:26,440 --> 00:39:29,320
sitting daintily on a cafe table.
548
00:39:33,160 --> 00:39:36,080
They called it "the green fairy",
549
00:39:36,080 --> 00:39:39,000
because
when you poured in the water,
550
00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:43,520
absinthe would go milky green -
pretty and dangerous.
551
00:39:44,960 --> 00:39:48,560
And that's what Vincent's painted -
a glass of absinthe
552
00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:51,120
sitting on its own in a bar,
553
00:39:51,120 --> 00:39:54,440
like a pretty girl
waiting to be chatted up.
554
00:39:56,200 --> 00:39:59,280
It was about now
that he got himself involved
555
00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:01,480
in a grubby little love affair
556
00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:05,880
with a local bar-owner
called Agostina Segatori.
557
00:40:07,720 --> 00:40:11,440
Agostina was in her mid-40s
when she met Van Gogh.
558
00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:14,040
She was from Naples originally,
559
00:40:14,040 --> 00:40:18,520
and had come to Paris,
like so many Italian girls,
560
00:40:18,520 --> 00:40:20,760
to pose for artists.
561
00:40:22,520 --> 00:40:27,440
She was dark and fiery, and much
in demand among those salon painters
562
00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:31,040
who specialised
in Middle Eastern slave scenes.
563
00:40:31,040 --> 00:40:34,880
By taking her clothes off,
Agostina saved enough money
564
00:40:34,880 --> 00:40:38,200
to open a small restaurant
on the Boulevard de Clichy
565
00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:41,280
called Le Tambourin...
HE JINGLES TAMBOURINE
566
00:40:41,280 --> 00:40:45,480
..because the tables there
were all shaped like tambourines.
567
00:40:47,840 --> 00:40:51,160
Her affair with Vincent
was short-lived and unhappy,
568
00:40:51,160 --> 00:40:54,920
one of those grim urban collisions
you get in the modern city,
569
00:40:54,920 --> 00:40:57,320
joyless and lonely.
570
00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:02,800
But it did at least inspire
some fascinating art.
571
00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:07,720
The only nudes
that Vincent ever painted
572
00:41:07,720 --> 00:41:10,200
are pictures of Agostina.
573
00:41:11,960 --> 00:41:17,040
Most nudes in art pretend
they have some higher purpose,
574
00:41:17,040 --> 00:41:20,560
but not these.
They're shockingly direct,
575
00:41:20,560 --> 00:41:23,120
and very physical.
576
00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:41,040
Agostina
was notoriously hard-headed.
577
00:41:41,040 --> 00:41:45,040
She let Vincent swap
some of his paintings for meals,
578
00:41:45,040 --> 00:41:47,840
but they had to be flower paintings,
579
00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:51,000
the only pictures of his
she thought she could sell.
580
00:41:54,560 --> 00:41:58,000
If you look carefully
at his glum portrait
581
00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:03,080
of Agostina looking tough
and alienated at Le Tambourin,
582
00:42:03,080 --> 00:42:07,600
you can make out some fuzzy shapes
on the wall behind.
583
00:42:09,080 --> 00:42:14,120
They're Japanese prints,
a new passion of Van Gogh's.
584
00:42:14,120 --> 00:42:18,920
Agostina let him put on
a show of them at Le Tambourin,
585
00:42:18,920 --> 00:42:22,360
and he's painted her
sitting in front of it.
586
00:42:25,880 --> 00:42:30,120
These Japanese prints
changed Vincent's art dramatically.
587
00:42:30,120 --> 00:42:33,320
It was as if someone
suddenly threw open a door
588
00:42:33,320 --> 00:42:35,520
and let in colour.
589
00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:42,680
His final portrait of Agostina,
before their squalid city romance
590
00:42:42,680 --> 00:42:46,760
disintegrated into arguments
and name-calling,
591
00:42:46,760 --> 00:42:49,880
is a full-colour revelation...
592
00:42:51,960 --> 00:42:55,640
..Agostina,
in her Italian folk costume,
593
00:42:55,640 --> 00:43:00,520
as sun-drenched and yellow
as a sunflower in August.
594
00:43:02,440 --> 00:43:05,600
Van Gogh was only in Paris
for two years
595
00:43:05,600 --> 00:43:08,840
before he suddenly decided to leave
for the South of France,
596
00:43:08,840 --> 00:43:11,320
just as abruptly as he had arrived.
597
00:43:11,320 --> 00:43:15,360
So this Impressionist phase of his
was really short,
598
00:43:15,360 --> 00:43:19,640
but the change in his work
was momentous.
599
00:43:21,120 --> 00:43:25,240
This is Van Gogh at the beginning
of his stay in Paris.
600
00:43:26,200 --> 00:43:29,400
And here he is 18 months later,
601
00:43:29,400 --> 00:43:33,800
once Impressionism
and Japanese prints had got to him.
602
00:43:34,960 --> 00:43:37,440
This isn't progress.
603
00:43:37,440 --> 00:43:40,560
This is an identity swap.
604
00:43:45,160 --> 00:43:48,720
The Eighth Impressionist Exhibition
of 1886,
605
00:43:48,720 --> 00:43:52,080
which unleashed Seurat on the world
606
00:43:52,080 --> 00:43:54,240
and transformed Van Gogh,
607
00:43:54,240 --> 00:43:57,120
turned out to be the last.
608
00:43:58,920 --> 00:44:02,520
Impressionism
had opened its final door,
609
00:44:02,520 --> 00:44:05,680
and all sorts of art
was rushing through it.
610
00:44:07,440 --> 00:44:10,640
Among the original Impressionists,
611
00:44:10,640 --> 00:44:13,520
the hard-core founding members,
612
00:44:13,520 --> 00:44:17,160
Pissarro had a bash
at Seurat's new style,
613
00:44:17,160 --> 00:44:19,480
but he wasn't much good at it.
614
00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:23,640
In the end,
he went back to his first ambition
615
00:44:23,640 --> 00:44:28,200
of capturing the busy rhythms
of modern Paris.
616
00:44:34,560 --> 00:44:39,000
Renoir, alas,
turned into something ghastly -
617
00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:42,640
a peddler of plump and greasy nudes
618
00:44:42,640 --> 00:44:47,360
which he churned out
like a string of pork sausages.
619
00:44:52,080 --> 00:44:55,280
The true hero
among the original Impressionists,
620
00:44:55,280 --> 00:44:59,120
the ones who started it all,
was Monet.
621
00:45:00,240 --> 00:45:02,800
The second half of Monet's career
622
00:45:02,800 --> 00:45:05,400
was even more radical
than the first.
623
00:45:15,440 --> 00:45:18,840
RIPPLING CLASSICAL PIANO MUSIC
624
00:45:23,720 --> 00:45:26,000
This is Giverny, of course,
625
00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:29,360
where he spent
the last 40-odd years of his life,
626
00:45:29,360 --> 00:45:32,560
and where he planted
this famous garden.
627
00:45:37,720 --> 00:45:40,560
And one of the reasons
he created this garden
628
00:45:40,560 --> 00:45:43,680
was to make life easier for himself,
629
00:45:43,680 --> 00:45:46,800
so he wouldn't have to travel
so far...
630
00:45:49,960 --> 00:45:52,240
..to find his subjects.
631
00:45:59,040 --> 00:46:04,200
The Haystacks, that unprecedented
series of outdoor picturings
632
00:46:04,200 --> 00:46:07,600
that Monet embarked upon
in the 1890s
633
00:46:07,600 --> 00:46:12,160
were painted out here, in the fields
just behind the garden.
634
00:46:14,480 --> 00:46:19,120
He'd load up a wheelbarrow
with canvasses, paints, easels,
635
00:46:19,120 --> 00:46:21,920
get a lackey from the house
to help him push it,
636
00:46:21,920 --> 00:46:24,640
and park himself in a nearby field,
637
00:46:24,640 --> 00:46:29,920
where he'd set up a row of easels
and dart from canvas to canvas,
638
00:46:29,920 --> 00:46:34,200
painting the different light effects
as the day changed.
639
00:46:37,600 --> 00:46:42,560
It was a simple idea, but something
no-one had ever done before -
640
00:46:42,560 --> 00:46:46,160
a completely new way of painting.
641
00:46:51,120 --> 00:46:55,760
Apparently the local peasants,
who didn't like Monet or modern art,
642
00:46:55,760 --> 00:46:59,760
would demolish their haystacks early
on purpose,
643
00:46:59,760 --> 00:47:01,960
just to annoy him.
644
00:47:10,400 --> 00:47:14,360
Although he first came to Giverny
in 1883,
645
00:47:14,360 --> 00:47:18,000
he actually waited
a couple of decades
646
00:47:18,000 --> 00:47:22,440
before he began painting the most
famous bit of his famous garden -
647
00:47:22,440 --> 00:47:24,960
the pond.
648
00:47:30,600 --> 00:47:35,160
These are the first water-lily
paintings that Monet did.
649
00:47:36,360 --> 00:47:40,760
They were started in 1899,
650
00:47:40,760 --> 00:47:45,800
so these are the last Monets
of the 19th century,
651
00:47:45,800 --> 00:47:49,160
and the first Monets of the 20th.
652
00:48:05,040 --> 00:48:09,400
Down at the bottom here,
between the house and the lily pond,
653
00:48:09,400 --> 00:48:12,960
there used to be a railway track...
654
00:48:14,040 --> 00:48:17,320
..and a cheery little train
would puff up and down here
655
00:48:17,320 --> 00:48:20,600
six times a day,
and lift his spirits.
656
00:48:20,600 --> 00:48:23,600
TRAIN HORN HOOTING
657
00:48:25,120 --> 00:48:27,720
Monet loved trains.
658
00:48:27,720 --> 00:48:32,160
They kept popping up in his art
all through his career.
659
00:48:33,120 --> 00:48:37,880
Their smoke
was an exciting challenge to paint,
660
00:48:37,880 --> 00:48:41,640
and their symbolism
seemed to trigger hope in him.
661
00:48:41,640 --> 00:48:43,760
TRAIN HORN HOOTING
662
00:48:43,760 --> 00:48:48,120
All that changed in 1914,
when the Great War broke out,
663
00:48:48,120 --> 00:48:51,000
and the army began ferrying
wounded soldiers
664
00:48:51,000 --> 00:48:53,920
from the front line
up and down here,
665
00:48:53,920 --> 00:48:58,880
and the cheery little train
became an insistent reminder
666
00:48:58,880 --> 00:49:01,160
of war and death.
667
00:49:09,200 --> 00:49:13,080
'What could he do?
How could he help?
668
00:49:14,200 --> 00:49:19,440
'He was in his 80s now. The days
for practical action had long gone.'
669
00:49:20,400 --> 00:49:23,360
But the war
had come to his doorstep,
670
00:49:23,360 --> 00:49:26,480
and he had to do something.
671
00:49:30,560 --> 00:49:33,520
The answer came to him
on Armistice Day itself,
672
00:49:33,520 --> 00:49:37,640
November the 11th, 1918,
the last day of the war,
673
00:49:37,640 --> 00:49:42,400
when Monet wrote a letter to
his old friend Georges Clemenceau,
674
00:49:42,400 --> 00:49:46,120
who had now become
prime minister of France.
675
00:49:49,600 --> 00:49:53,560
Clemenceau had been
an inspirational wartime leader,
676
00:49:53,560 --> 00:49:56,120
the French Winston Churchill.
677
00:49:56,120 --> 00:50:01,040
And unlike most politicians
before and since,
678
00:50:01,040 --> 00:50:04,720
he also understood the power of art.
679
00:50:09,040 --> 00:50:13,440
Before he became prime minister,
Clemenceau had been a journalist,
680
00:50:13,440 --> 00:50:18,280
and he'd actually written with
great insight about Monet's art.
681
00:50:18,280 --> 00:50:20,440
They were old friends,
682
00:50:20,440 --> 00:50:23,000
so it was to Clemenceau,
683
00:50:23,000 --> 00:50:25,520
on Armistice Day...
684
00:50:26,800 --> 00:50:30,160
..that Monet made his great offer.
685
00:50:32,400 --> 00:50:34,800
To commemorate the end of the war,
686
00:50:34,800 --> 00:50:38,920
he would give the French state
a set of his pictures.
687
00:50:39,960 --> 00:50:42,880
"It's not much,"
he wrote poignantly at the time,
688
00:50:42,880 --> 00:50:47,960
"but it's the only way I have
of taking part in the victory."
689
00:50:49,840 --> 00:50:54,680
He'd been dreaming for some time
of something momentous,
690
00:50:54,680 --> 00:50:56,720
unprecedented...
691
00:50:57,720 --> 00:51:00,920
..and already, in 1914...
692
00:51:03,160 --> 00:51:08,480
..he'd built himself
this massive new studio.
693
00:51:13,960 --> 00:51:18,960
These days it's mostly used
as the Giverny gift shop,
694
00:51:18,960 --> 00:51:23,280
but Monet built it
to realise a dream.
695
00:51:24,480 --> 00:51:28,400
He wanted to paint
a set of giant water lilies,
696
00:51:28,400 --> 00:51:30,760
and to hang them
697
00:51:30,760 --> 00:51:34,160
in a large, round space
698
00:51:34,160 --> 00:51:37,120
so that
they completely encircled you.
699
00:51:38,960 --> 00:51:41,480
But there was a problem - a big one.
700
00:51:41,480 --> 00:51:46,280
For some time now, he'd been having
trouble with his eyesight.
701
00:51:46,280 --> 00:51:50,960
Monet had developed cataracts
in both of his eyes.
702
00:51:53,800 --> 00:51:57,880
There's three types of cataract,
two of which he didn't get,
703
00:51:57,880 --> 00:52:00,640
but he did get
the normal age-related cataract,
704
00:52:00,640 --> 00:52:03,120
which is called nuclear sclerosis.
705
00:52:03,120 --> 00:52:06,200
In that, the crystalline structure
of the natural lens
706
00:52:06,200 --> 00:52:10,120
gradually changes, and it happens
to all of us, in actual fact,
707
00:52:10,120 --> 00:52:14,480
and it yellows with age,
and it kind of gets like paper,
708
00:52:14,480 --> 00:52:18,200
yellows with age.
The lens yellows with age.
709
00:52:18,200 --> 00:52:20,920
Now, we've brought along
some filters for the camera
710
00:52:20,920 --> 00:52:24,080
on your advice, which approximate
some of the effects
711
00:52:24,080 --> 00:52:26,240
that Monet would have seen.
712
00:52:26,240 --> 00:52:29,200
I mean,
we can put on this filter now,
713
00:52:29,200 --> 00:52:31,840
and I think
what people watching will see
714
00:52:31,840 --> 00:52:35,680
is that it's not so much blurring -
it's also the colour change.
715
00:52:35,680 --> 00:52:38,480
Absolutely,
and what yellow filters do is,
716
00:52:38,480 --> 00:52:42,600
they take out blue light,
so the blues tend to go.
717
00:52:42,600 --> 00:52:45,240
So just as your blue tie
looks sort of grey now,
718
00:52:45,240 --> 00:52:48,040
all the blues would have looked
greyish to Monet.
719
00:52:48,040 --> 00:52:51,760
They'd have morphed
into one sort of splodge.
720
00:52:51,760 --> 00:52:54,360
And as the cataracts grew worse...
721
00:52:54,360 --> 00:52:58,360
We've brought along another filter
to show what might have happened.
722
00:52:58,360 --> 00:53:00,960
It's quite a huge difference,
isn't it,
723
00:53:00,960 --> 00:53:03,440
because the eyesight
actually starts going.
724
00:53:03,440 --> 00:53:06,760
What happens then is,
the eyesight begins to blur, as well,
725
00:53:06,760 --> 00:53:09,320
which of course
is an added frustration,
726
00:53:09,320 --> 00:53:11,680
because you can get
quite a lot of cataract
727
00:53:11,680 --> 00:53:13,920
before the eyesight starts blurring.
728
00:53:13,920 --> 00:53:16,480
But eventually, of course,
it does blur,
729
00:53:16,480 --> 00:53:18,720
and it blurred
in his case significantly.
730
00:53:18,720 --> 00:53:22,120
He ended up having to just rely
on the labels on his paints,
731
00:53:22,120 --> 00:53:24,720
because he couldn't really tell
the blues, greens
732
00:53:24,720 --> 00:53:27,800
and the purples and that.
He couldn't really tell them,
733
00:53:27,800 --> 00:53:29,960
so he had to rely on the labels.
734
00:53:29,960 --> 00:53:33,880
So Monet attempted to solve
his problems
735
00:53:33,880 --> 00:53:36,480
by resorting to surgery, didn't he?
736
00:53:36,480 --> 00:53:41,320
He did. The surgery
had advanced enormously by then,
737
00:53:41,320 --> 00:53:45,440
but it consisted of taking the lens
out of the eye,
738
00:53:45,440 --> 00:53:48,440
so you had to open the eye,
get the lens out,
739
00:53:48,440 --> 00:53:51,200
and then, obviously,
you have to have spectacles
740
00:53:51,200 --> 00:53:53,800
to correct for vision,
741
00:53:53,800 --> 00:53:56,280
which we can simulate for you,
if you like.
742
00:53:56,280 --> 00:53:59,400
So when I put these on,
I will see the world
743
00:53:59,400 --> 00:54:02,040
in the way, or nearly in the way,
that Monet saw it
744
00:54:02,040 --> 00:54:04,760
after his operation.
You just need a yellow filter
745
00:54:04,760 --> 00:54:08,680
just to make it absolutely right.
Have a look at your thumb.
746
00:54:08,680 --> 00:54:12,240
Good Lord! Look at your thumb.
I can't see anything.
747
00:54:12,240 --> 00:54:14,320
My thumb... Agh!
748
00:54:14,320 --> 00:54:18,000
The thumb is not one thumb
but two thumbs.
749
00:54:18,000 --> 00:54:21,400
There's a big thumb in one eye,
750
00:54:21,400 --> 00:54:24,760
and a sort of little thumb
in the other.
751
00:54:24,760 --> 00:54:27,520
And that is...
And the brain is incapable
752
00:54:27,520 --> 00:54:30,240
of putting the large image
with the small image
753
00:54:30,240 --> 00:54:32,200
and giving you binocular vision.
754
00:54:32,200 --> 00:54:34,560
I would have said
that was impossible,
755
00:54:34,560 --> 00:54:36,760
to paint with eyesight like that.
756
00:54:36,760 --> 00:54:39,080
Absolutely impossible.
757
00:54:42,840 --> 00:54:46,440
In fact, Monet's appalling eyesight
758
00:54:46,440 --> 00:54:49,360
had a positive impact on his art.
759
00:54:51,520 --> 00:54:53,640
It freed his vision,
760
00:54:53,640 --> 00:54:57,760
and forced him to trust
his imagination.
761
00:55:02,080 --> 00:55:05,640
The French government
found a superb location
762
00:55:05,640 --> 00:55:07,920
for those water lilies
he'd promised -
763
00:55:07,920 --> 00:55:11,440
a former greenhouse
on the Tuileries,
764
00:55:11,440 --> 00:55:16,400
set magnificently
on the Place de la Concorde -
765
00:55:16,400 --> 00:55:18,520
the Orangerie.
766
00:55:21,480 --> 00:55:25,800
The Orangerie is long and thin
rather than round,
767
00:55:25,800 --> 00:55:28,640
so Monet changed his plans.
768
00:55:28,640 --> 00:55:33,520
Instead of one huge circular room,
769
00:55:33,520 --> 00:55:37,760
he designed
an even more ambitious scheme
770
00:55:37,760 --> 00:55:42,440
for two interconnected ovals.
771
00:55:48,360 --> 00:55:52,480
The Surrealist painter Andre Masson
once described this
772
00:55:52,480 --> 00:55:56,600
as the Sistine Chapel
of Impressionism.
773
00:55:56,600 --> 00:55:59,800
But it's actually
two Sistine Chapels
774
00:55:59,800 --> 00:56:01,960
laid end to end.
775
00:56:05,120 --> 00:56:07,840
A good thing to notice
about the water lilies
776
00:56:07,840 --> 00:56:11,320
is how few water lilies there are
in here.
777
00:56:11,320 --> 00:56:13,360
There are some, of course.
778
00:56:15,960 --> 00:56:18,000
Couple here, perhaps.
779
00:56:19,680 --> 00:56:21,840
A clump here.
780
00:56:21,840 --> 00:56:24,080
But there's not that many,
781
00:56:24,080 --> 00:56:28,080
and in some places
there are none at all.
782
00:56:30,440 --> 00:56:35,360
Because Monet's great enfolding
mural is concerned not with flowers,
783
00:56:35,360 --> 00:56:41,320
but the shimmering, reflective,
endlessly fascinating presence
784
00:56:41,320 --> 00:56:43,800
of water...
785
00:56:45,600 --> 00:56:47,920
..the darknesses it harbours,
786
00:56:47,920 --> 00:56:53,040
the shifting reality
in which it lurks and lives.
787
00:56:54,160 --> 00:56:57,680
He's put us on an island
in the middle of a lake,
788
00:56:57,680 --> 00:57:02,280
so that the water surrounds us
in every direction.
789
00:57:02,280 --> 00:57:05,400
And when Clemenceau first saw this,
790
00:57:05,400 --> 00:57:08,360
he suggested
they should build a lift
791
00:57:08,360 --> 00:57:10,680
right here in the middle,
792
00:57:10,680 --> 00:57:15,320
so that visitors would be deposited
at the centre of the experience
793
00:57:15,320 --> 00:57:19,840
rather than coming in through a door
at the side.
794
00:57:21,840 --> 00:57:24,840
The job of the water lilies
you do see in here
795
00:57:24,840 --> 00:57:28,440
is to give your eyes
something tangible to grasp,
796
00:57:28,440 --> 00:57:30,920
a sense of where you are.
797
00:57:32,440 --> 00:57:34,760
They're like coloured drawing pins
798
00:57:34,760 --> 00:57:41,400
holding in place this shimmering,
endless, sublime twilight.
799
00:57:41,400 --> 00:57:44,240
RIPPLING CLASSICAL MUSIC
800
00:57:51,560 --> 00:57:54,440
Monet never saw this finished.
801
00:57:54,440 --> 00:57:57,640
He died in 1926,
802
00:57:57,640 --> 00:58:01,080
the last
of the surviving Impressionists.
803
00:58:01,080 --> 00:58:06,280
But he'd saved his most
revolutionary moment till the end.
804
00:58:12,240 --> 00:58:17,840
I set out in this series to take
Impressionism off the chocolate box,
805
00:58:17,840 --> 00:58:22,160
to put it back into the furnace,
and remind us again
806
00:58:22,160 --> 00:58:26,440
of how brave it was,
how fiery and inventive.
807
00:58:29,440 --> 00:58:32,200
But to be honest,
I've spent all this time
808
00:58:32,200 --> 00:58:34,920
making four huge films
809
00:58:34,920 --> 00:58:40,240
trying to convince you of
how revolutionary Impressionism was,
810
00:58:40,240 --> 00:58:43,920
when all I really had to do
was to bring you in here
811
00:58:43,920 --> 00:58:47,000
and show you that.
812
00:58:48,160 --> 00:58:53,440
An 86-year-old
Impressionist granddad did that.
813
00:58:53,440 --> 00:58:57,640
It was wild art then,
and it's wild art now.
814
00:58:57,640 --> 00:59:00,680
This art will never be tamed.
815
00:59:01,760 --> 00:59:06,680
If you want, you can see it
as the end of Impressionism.
816
00:59:06,680 --> 00:59:12,880
But how can the end of something
be so full of possibilities?
817
00:59:19,240 --> 00:59:23,240
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
818
00:59:23,240 --> 00:59:27,240
E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk
819
00:59:27,240 --> 00:59:27,360
.
66769
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get subtitles in any language from opensubtitles.com, and translate them here.