A preview of Rick Steves Art of Europe: The Modern Age. Watch the full episode at, or check your local public television listings. #ricksteves #ricksteveseurope #artofeurope
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Rick Steves, America’s most respected authority on European travel, writes European travel guidebooks, and hosts travel shows on public television and public radio.
[Music] Foreign [Music] The last roughly two centuries from the Mid-1800s on have seen unprecedented Change advances in technology the march Of democracy as well as two horrific World wars and the art reflecting this Age has been as turbulent exciting and Dynamic as the times We'll start with art that gave voice to The struggles for freedom And art that celebrated the Industrial Revolution Then Trace how dreamy Romantics Countered that by reveling in nature and Legends we'll follow the rapid evolution Of styles from sunsplashed impressionism To sinuous art nouveau We'll see art capturing the horror of War How art mirrored wild times Celebrated Europe's modern dynamism And reflects our ever-changing world [Music] These artists were known as the Impressionists freed from the stifling Constraints of the academy and inspired By the realists they took their easels Outdoors their philosophy like a Declaration of independence it was out Of the studio and into nature The Impressionists painted the French Countryside but the true subject wasn't
So much the Farms rivers and forests it Was all about the light [Music] They even studied which pigments would Reproduce reflected light most Accurately And when the light was just right they Painted furiously to catch the scene Before it was gone The way the light reflected off the Passing clouds the waving grass the Billowing dress Father of impressionism was Claude Monet The son of a grocer with little formal Education he dedicated his life to Discovering new ways of seeing things With this quick impression of a harbor At Sunrise Monet helped give the Movement its name the real subject the Impression of the light reflected on the Water rendered in a few squiggly lines Or broad Strokes of paint Impressionists used an Innovative Technique they applied bright colors in Thick dabs side by side on the canvas And let them mix as they traveled to Your eye Up close it's a mess but move back and Voila [Music] Since the colors never completely Resolve they continued to vibrate in the Mind giving impressionist paintings Their shimmering vitality