Art on TV
TV is a massively successful medium, but what does it do best?
Perhaps great state occasions, sports, nature programmes, science, travel, drama of various sorts, comedy, news and current affairs, quiz shows, or cookery programmes.
One genre for which TV is wonderfully suited is arts programmes, particularly painting. There is very little of it on terrestrial TV. I have seen some progammes about detecting fake paintings: but they are more about forensics than art. Sometimes famous paintings or sculptures are shown in TV programmes. Often on TV whatever the programme is about the presenter becomes more important than the subject. The Antiques Roadshow deals with art very well, but often from the point of view of monetary value.
I much enjoy Portrait Artist of the Year and Landscape Artist of the Year on the Sky Arts channel. This is art actually happening before our very eyes. It is a good natured competition between very skilled and creative artists, who, in the case of Portrait Artist, are given the tasking of creating a portrait of a famous sitter in only four hours. The heats, semi-final and final are judged by three excellent experts on art, who have the difficult task of finding the best portrait out of those excellent ones before them. The judges are not puerile or rude as in TV competitions of other types. They can be humorous and light-hearted, but are very serious and conscientious in their assessment of the work. They are also supportive in their comments as the work progresses.
A feature of the Portrait show is the rapport between artist and sitter. The aim is more than just producing a good likeness of the sitter, but getting right into their character. One sitter said, “She keeps looking into my eyes as if she is looking into my soul.”
When the sitters see their portraits, they are genuinely moved, not only at the skill of the artist but also at how they are perceived. “Has something fundamental about me been revealed? Yes that is how I often feel.”
The landscape programmes also make brilliant TV. Visits to wonderful landscapes mainly in scenic parts of the country bring out the best in the artists, not always in the best of the weather. It is surprising how different artists see different thigs in the same landscape. I know little about art, but I guess that it is even harder to do a landscape in four hours than a portrait, as you may need to paint a forest, a mountain or a stately home in a park setting.
The winner of each competition goes on to win a commission to paint a famous person or scenic landscape, as the case may be.
If I wasn’t so busy with writing, music and gardening, I might want to get myself a paint set!
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