Search - Every Picture Tells a Story on DVD

A BEAUTIFUL & EDUCATIONAL DVD JOURNEY THROUGH 8 MASTERPIECES

Harold Wolf | Wells, IN United States | 05/13/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These 8 episodes of "Every Picture Tells a Story" peer deeply into masterpiece art works in a fresh way. Superior to anything I (and my wife) have seen. My M.S. & B.S. art degrees and over 2 decades of art teaching helps me grant this new Athena DVD set 5 colorful stars. This DVD set also rates "2 paint brushes UP-WAY UP."

THE PRESENTER, Waldemar Januszczak, U.K., is an art critic who never learned to be sophisticatedly boring, dull, & lifeless. He will even make you laugh by finding a lighter side to masterpieces of art. He provides his opinion alongside the findings of other authorities, so you can decide for yourself. He does this in a manner somewhat similar to a European travelogue. Enjoyable. Scenic.

Individual episodes are less than 25 minutes, a perfect length for classroom use at universities and High Schools. 1 or 2 episodes touch on language and/or sexual topics that might want to be previewed and opted upon by "conservative" schools. Probably just a PG rating if it were to be rated, however.

INTERDISCIPLINARY TEACHING: Each painting episode touches not only on the art itself, but on history, geography, and literature related to the piece. This is true educational integration, highly sought by state-of-the-art school curriculum.

WHAT DOES IT INCLUDE?
"Mr and Mrs Andrews", Gainsborough, England. A mystery of the unfinished masterpiece.
"The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp", Rembrandt, Dutch. The artist's haunting of death. Painting is compared to TVs "E.R."
"The Tempest", Giorgione, Venice. Giorgione means 'Big George'. This is a mysterious painter of even more mysterious art. Is Homer's "Odyssey" a clue?
"The Birth of Venus", Botticelli, Florence. Venus' voluptuous vulnerability vexing the virile. Not birth, so where does this painting's meaning spring from?
"Boy Bitten by a Lizard", Caravaggio, Rome. Finding the why from a lizard bite which was painted by a Roman artist and murderer.
"Mona Lisa", Leonardo da Vinci, Paris. Don't bother with "The Di Vinci Code" book. Episode is about solving the real Leonardo mystery.
"Le dejeuner sur l'herbe", Manet, France. The naughty, naked, picnic lady leaves behind illegal, immoral, impressionism--immortally.
"The Arnlfini Marriage", Jan van Eyck, Bruges, Belgium. A 15th century mystery in oil on an oak panel.

WHAT IS BONUS/extra?
For each episode: "The Rest of the Story"
For each episode: "Artist Biographies"
For each episode: SDH subtitles
A viewer's guide booklet with:
Featured painting reproduction
Questions to consider (individually or in a classroom)
List of other artistic work featured on each episode
Bibliography of 4 options for additional learning related to each episode's painting

This DVD 2-disc set truly brings masterpiece wonder to the masses.
Every High School, College, and Public Library should own this.
8 very affordable lesson plans for art teachers and professors.
Hours of enjoyment for the art lover. YES, a perfect gift."

A winner on two counts

Craig Betteridge | Berkeley, CA United States | 09/09/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"
About the only thing I'm confused about is did Simon Schama do "Simon Schama's Power of Art" before or after Januszczak's "Every Picture Tells A Story"? Did Schama attempt to copycat Januszczack's work or was Januszczack's work a how-to to Schama?

In the end, they are both good but Januszack 'Every Picture Tells a Story' is masterful and leaves Simon (never met a simile I didn't like) Schama in the dust.

Insightful and compelling.

I'd like to see a lot more from Mr. Januszczack.

[...]




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Interesting, but...

Linda Evans | 10/27/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"A little disappointed that the host rambles on occasionally, and strays off the subject of the painting. He gives lots of details about the painters life history. I guess I wanted more details about the painting, not the painter."