This is art

Watercolour Challenge

1998

Three amateur artists are given four hours to paint, in watercolour, the same scene or landscape, often with widely different interpretations. At the end of the four hours, the guest professional artist for the week judged the paintings and selected the winner, who would then appear in a regional final, and if successful would compete in the end of series final.

Treasures of Ancient Rome

2012

Treasures of Ancient Rome is a 2012 three-part documentary written and presented by Alastair Sooke. The series was produced by the BBC, and originally aired in September 2012 on BBC Four. In the documentary Sooke sets out to "debunk the myth that Romans didn't do art and were unoriginal". This is based on the view that Romans heavily incorporated Greek style in their art, and hence produced nothing new or original. Sooke has received some criticism from the media owing to the fact that there is no consensus among academics on this topic, and hence no 'myth' exists in the first place.

L'Amour à l'Oeuvre

2018

Painting Birds with Jim and Nancy Moir

2023

Comedic ornithological series, Painting Birds with Jim and Nancy Moir will follow prolific artist Jim and his wife Nancy as they explore some of Britain’s best beauty spots, joined along the way by a few famous friends. Their challenge? Create an original piece of bird art celebrating the unique species native to that region over the course of a weekend. Accompanied in each episode by local twitchers, artists and conservation experts, Jim, and Nancy will be guided through forest and fen as they venture through wild countryside and local bird sanctuaries to gather inspiration. They’ll spend meditative weekends sketching and painting their feathery subjects, tackling everything from grouse to goshawks and bitterns to bearded tits.

Big Sky, Big Dreams, Big Art: Made in the USA

2018

A history of American art with Waldemar Januszczak

The Art Mysteries with Waldemar Januszczak

2020

Art historian Waldemar Januszczak uncovers the secret meanings hidden within some of the greatest paintings by Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne and Seurat .

Rococo: Travel, Pleasure, Madness

2014

Rococo art is often dismissed as frivolous. But Waldemar Januszczak disagrees and in this three-part series he tries to bring Rococo art closer to us, and argues that the Rococo was the age in which the modern world was born.

Africa Rising with Afua Hirsch

2019

Africa on its own terms and in full voice - across Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa. Uncovering the energy and ambition of creatives reinventing African music, fashion and film.