Les Aventuriers de l'art moderne

From Bonaparte to Casanova, history is cast in the light of famous escapes from various European countries.

Métronome

Art movements were rife with hocus pocus during the early part of the twentieth century. Commissioning Editor Waldemar Januszczak as part of a major arts series looking at the history of Modernism.

Juger Pétain

"L'histoire au scalpel" (History under the Scalpel) is a French documentary series, notably broadcast on France 5 and Histoire TV, in which the forensic doctor and anthropologist Philippe Charlier uses modern scientific methods to investigate historical mysteries. By examining the relics and bodies of historical figures such as Napoleon, Louis XIII, Louis XIV, or Saint Louis, he seeks to elucidate the causes of their death, the diseases they suffered from, or to authenticate objects.

Antigang

Andrew Graham-Dixon undertakes an epic journey to uncover the art of China.

Napoléon III, le prix de l'audace

An investigation into the nature, details and reasons for the collaboration, from 1940 to 1944, during World War II, between the Vichy regime, established in the south of France and headed by Marshal Pétain, and Nazi Germany.

Using the very latest in drone and aerial photographic technology, tour across countries and their seasons, getting a unique view from above.

During the turbulent 19th century, a number of brilliant French artists developed the Romantic movement in Paris: writers Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, George Sand, Honoré de Balzac and Charles Baudelaire, painter Eugène Delacroix and composer Hector Berlioz, among others, changed the way of looking at art and created enduring works that have inspired the world to this day.

Histoire Immédiate

In an absorbing study, Andrew Graham-Dixon tells the story of a national art that conveys passion, precision, hope and renewal. He juxtaposes escapism with control and a deep affinity with nature against love for the machine. The fascinating story takes us from the towering cathedral of Cologne, the woodcuts of Albrecht Dürer and paintings of Grünewald to the gothic fairytale Neuschwanstein Castle, the Baltic landscapes of Caspar David Friedrich and the industrialisation lent expression of Adolph Menzel and Käthe Kollwitz. As the series progresses, it presents a rare focus on the cultural impact of Hitler's obsession with visual art, reveals how art became an arena for the Cold War and examines the redemptive work of the "visionary" Joseph Beuys – the most influential artist of modern times.

Thérèse, La Petite Sainte de Lisieux

A look into Frida Kahlo's world, revealing an artist driven by politics, power, sex and identity, with her epic love affair with Diego Rivera at the heart of it all.

Simon Schama explores the history of British portraiture, revealing the stories behind the most compelling images in British art and examining the ways portraiture is used to make a statement.

L'Amour à l'Oeuvre

In his most personal project to date, Simon Schama looks back at the dramatic history that has played out in his lifetime. Best known for writing history, he has lived a fair bit of it too. Born in 1945, on the night of the bombing of Dresden, Simon grew up as part of a generation determined to rebuild the world from the ashes of war. In this film, he reveals the stories of artists and writers who have been at the forefront of the fight for truth and democracy, often at great personal cost.

Karin och Carl Larsson

Women write art history – but in turn are systematically ignored by it. LOST WOMEN ART tells the story of the suppressed female avant-garde and by doing so introduces a new art history.