Art of the Americas

In this three-part series, art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon journeys across America to explore themes and styles in American art from the 17th to the 21st centuries. Beginning with the early Puritans, he examines a persistent paradox in American history—an ideology rooted in God and nature, but a reality seeped in blood and the destruction of the natural world. Next up is the rise of mechanization, modernism, and Abstract Expressionism, and then Graham-Dixon takes a look at the age of capitalism and beyond, including Pop Art, a return to pantheism, and the “filthy money” versus “pure art” divide. 3-part series, 50 minutes each.

This classic six-part series, which aired on PBS during the nation’s bicentennial, examines the careers of some of the most talented Native American artists of the Southwest as they were unfolding at that time. The many examples of their work, combined with intimate glimpses of Indian cultures, make each program a valuable time capsule of an era when Native American art first began to attract the attention of the mainstream modern art community both in the U.S. and around the world. Rod McKuen narrates. 6-part series, 29 minutes each.

Gives a brief history of winter tourism in Florida. Visits the winter homes of Henry Flagler, Marjorie Merriweather Post and John Ringling.

This program follows the magnificent museum exhibition that travels across 33 centuries of Mexican art, from the 12th- to 10th-century B.C. gigantic Olmec heads to Frida Kahlo's self-portrait. The exhibition is divided into four periods: the pre-columbian, whose artistic purpose was to venerate the gods, commemorate the rulers, and give form to the natural world; the Viceregal, whose art was intended to teach the native population about Christianity and turn them into loyal and productive servants of Spain; the 19th century, with its Mexican adaptation of European Romanticism and Naturalism; and the 20th century, with its themes of revolution and pride in Mexico's Indian heritage. The artistic voyage, which covers a range of ages and peoples, beliefs and styles, is united by the strong prevailing sense of Mexican identity and place. (28 minutes)

This beautifully filmed program looks at the wall paintings of some of the most famous Mexican muralists—Diego Rivera, Juan O’Gorman, José Clemente Orozco—and at the work of Luis Barragán, one of the greatest Mexican architects of the 20th century. Their common medium is the wall. The muralists sought to return art to the people, by putting it on the walls of public buildings, just as it had been in the days of their Mayan forefathers. Barragán embraced a modernism imported from Europe, but developed a style that echoes with memories of ancient times. Both the muralists and Barragán used the wall to create something distinctively new and vital, but they all found their guiding force in the roots of Mexican art and culture, in traditions grounded in the pre-Columbian era. (56 minutes)