BBC - The Impressionists Painting and Revolution (2011) Part 1 Gang of Four

Art writer Waldemar Januszczak explores the revolutionary achievements of the Impressionists.As the name suggests Waldemar Januszczak's aim is to show that despite appearing on chocolate boxes and tea towels the impressionists' art was and still is pretty revolutionary. Despite veering into gimmickry from time to time the series covers the ground well. The last episode, in which he considers the optical theories underlying Seurat's dottiness and how Monet's cataracts affected his vision, is perhaps the best of the lot.

Part 1: Gang of Four

In the first episode, Waldemar delves into the back stories of four of the most influential Impressionists - Pissarro, Monet, Renoir and Bazille - who together laid the foundations of the artistic movement. He finds out what social and cultural influences drove them to their style of painting, how they were united and how ultimately they challenged and changed art forever. Waldemar journeys from the shores of the West Indies, to the progressive city of Paris to the suburbs of South London, where these four artists drew inspiration from the cities and towns in which they lived. He discovers how the Impressionists broke conventions by depicting every day encounters within the unpredictable and ever changing sights around them.

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