Instructional DVDs by Subject

Presents the version of Abbott and Costello's Who's on first comedy routine that was perfected on their television series. Features the manager of the "St. Louis Wolves."

Examines the symbolism, aesthetics, and functionality of African art through the vast region's sculpture, masks, architecture, ornaments, clothing, and utensils. Explores religious beliefs through rituals and funerary statuary. Also presents prehistoric rock art, and the conceptual nature of African art.

Harlem in the 1920s and 1930s was the scene of a passionate outburst of creativity by African-American visual artists. Rich archival footage, including newsreels and photographs, recalls the influential force of the exhibitions, the vibrancy of Harlem and the many significant personalities that shaped the movement, such as William E. Harmon, W.E.B. DuBois and Alain Locke.

A look at the life and struggles of single mother and female artist, Alice Neel. Explores Alice Neel's tumultuous biography and the legacy to paint the subjects of her era, such as Andy Warhol, Allen Ginsberg, Bella Abzug and Annie Sprinkle.

A portrait of the most famous and controversial artist of the second half of the twentieth century. Explores the complete spectrum of Warhol's artistic output, from the late 1940s to his death in 1987.

A powerful film about advertising and inspiration. It reveals the work and wisdom of some of the most influential advertising creatives of our time, people who've profoundly impacted our culture. Their work grabbed the attention of millions and truly moved them. The social and cultural impact of their ads are brought to light in this dynamic exploration of art, commerce, and human emotion.

Program tracks the cultural evolution of art - from the ancient Greeks to the modern world, where art is big business - and addresses the technological changes that have fueled various artistic revolutions down through the centuries.

Go behind the scenes to meet today's most fascinating contemporary artists in Season Three of the Emmy-nominated ART:21--ART IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY documentary series.

Meet contemporary artists at work and speaking in their own words- direct, accessible, and unfiltered ...This unique four-hour series spotlights 17 artists working in the United States today, and invites viewers behind the working in scenes to see artists at work in their homes, communities,and unexpected sites- from an old-growth forest to a military base to a film set.

Through in-depth profiles and dynamic behind-the-scenes footage featuring artists speaking directly about their inspirations and ideas, Season Five shows a broad range of artistic practice, technical innovation, and experimentation, from artists tackling large-scale collaborative projects in hangar-like studios to those working in the quiet of more intimate studio settings.

Contemporary art reflects the ideas of our time, and artists are the creative role models grappling with today's most timely questions. What is the nature of reality? How do we respond to a world in flux? Why do some historical events shape the way we think today, and why have some been forgotten? Explore these ideas and many more in Season Six of Art in the Twenty-First Century. Spotlights contemporary artists at work from Nigeria to New York City, from Beijing to Brazil.

Season 7 features twelve artists from the United States, Europe, and Latin America, in locations as diverse as a New York City public housing development, a military testing facility in the Nevada desert, a jazz festival in Sweden, a ceramics factory in Germany, and an activist neighborhood in Mexico.

Meet diverse contemporary artists through revealing profiles that take viewers behind the scenes into artists' studios, homes, and communities to provide an intimate view of their lives, work, sources of inspiration and creative processes.

A program on the illuminated psalm book of Sir Geoffrey Luttrell. "Section one ... discusses how the psalter was made and decorated, focusing on what the paintings reveal about fashion, trade, and entertainment. In section two, images of feasting, warfare, heaven, and hell are spotlighted, providing insights into 14th-century values and the prominent role of religion in daily living.

Many artists use the pain, exhilaration and resolution of private desires to express themselves in their art. This documentary focuses on intense personalities who've used their art to explore the emotional impact, or dark humor of psychological truths. They discuss inspiration, aesthetic issues, the meaning of success, and how they overcame hardship to pursue a lifetime in art.

Chronicles the life, times, and work of true masters of the art world. Highlights important events in each artist's life through the views of leading authorities, art historians, and scholars.

This two part special details the impact of the arts on the human brain across a person's lifetime and explores its role in early human development. Stories are shared showing how the arts can improve children's school performance and reveals cutting edge science that explains the powerful, positive impact of the arts on the human brain.

The personal and professional life of Saint-Gaudens is traced from his birth in Dublin, to his death in Cornish, New Hampshire. His story is woven through six of his major works of art, which include the Standing Lincoln in Lincoln Park, Chicago; Shaw Memorial on Boston Common; Sherman Monument in Central Park; the serenely beautiful Diana in the Philadelphia Museum of Art; and the Adams Memorial in Washington DC.

Examine graphic and interior design, paintings, and other media to learn: the science behind color, color systems for different media, popular color schemes, color wheel relationships, to create tints, shades and tones by altering hue value and intensity, and how to create color combinations that evoke different responses.

Features Julie Harris in her Tony Award winning role as the eccentric nineteenth-century poet Emily Dickinson.

The Book of Kells' illuminated decoration and calligraphy adorning the Four Gospels have earned it the reputation as the most beautiful book in the world. This fascinating program tells the story of this magnificent masterpiece of Irish art.

Carved from a hundred million pounds of stone, soaring effortlessly atop a spiderweb of masonry, Gothic cathedrals are marvels of human achievement and artistry. But how did medieval builders reach such spectacular heights? Consuming the labor of entire towns, sometimes taking a hundred years to build, these architectural marvels were crafted from just hand tools and stone. Many now teeter on the brink of catastrophic collapse.

A genre as unique as the people who bring it to life, documentary challenges perceptions and inspires critical reflection on our world. But do documentaries represent the "truth'? Over 30 renowned directors--including Errol Morris, Nick Broomfield and Werner Herzog--reflect on the power of their craft, and their ethical and social responsibility as filmmakers in Capturing reality: The art of Documentary. With emotionally charged insight and clips from essential works of the genre, this is a lively and panoramic view of contemporary cinema unlike any other.

Combines colorful animation with live-action documentary sequences to tell the story of a 13th-century Welsh castle. Author David Macaulay, who wrote and illustrated the best-selling book of the same title, leads viewers on a castle tour, explaining its cultural and sociological significance and its architectural design. Detailed animation dramatizes the building of the castle and portrays the lifestyle of the early inhabitants.

Combines location sequences and animation to show the building of a Gothic cathedral. Begins with a tour of Chartres, Reims, Amiens, Bourges, Beauvais, Notre Dame de Paris, Laon, and the Royal Abbey Church of St. Denis. Discusses life in the medieval era and how churches were a center of life.

This video shows cave paintings of animals and mysterious symbols done thousands of years ago in Altamira Cave, Spain.

In the early fifties Coco Chanel introduced the suit that became her trademark. Using rare archival footage, this program explores the course of her career as well as the fascinating story of her personal life. Depicts the Chanel firm under the direction of Karl Lagerfeld; includes an interview with Lagerfeld.

Depicts characters and scenes from the Canturbury tales using paintings from the Ellesmere manuscripts, other contemporary pictures, and a map.

Chihuly leads a reunion of forty artists that worked with him over the years in a one week residency to recreate thirteen of his series at the hotshop in Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington.

Narrated by Claire Dodin, this moving documentary uses art masterpieces from the 13th century through the 19th century, featuring many of the world's greatest artists, including Botticelli, da Vinci, Raphael, Janmot, Rubens, Bougereau, van Eyck, Hughes, Memling and Rembrandt, and combines classical music by several of the world's greatest composers, including Mozart, Handel, Faure, Gauntlett and Schubert, to tell the story of Jesus Christ and Christianity through the ages.

Shows contemporary ceramic teapots from the Sanford M. Besser Collection of Contemporary Ceramic Teapots.

Craft in America is an exploration into the hearts and minds of artisans devoted to a diverse array of mediums -- from furniture making to and basket weaving to pottery and metalsmithing. Each episode reveals that craft has earned itself a place within the realm of fine art.

Explores the themes of origins and process as part of the vitality, history and significance of the craft movement in America, and its impact on our nation's rich cultural heritage. Capturing the beauty, creativity, and originality of the handmade, the film highlights artists and institutions.

A visual exploration of the history, vitality, and cultural significance of America's craft movement.

The fourth season, a groundbreaking, comprehensive visual exploration of the history, vitality, and cultural significance of America's craft movement. Threads explores the needle arts, including storytelling through quilts and textiles that speak to the creativity of the human spirit. Through the stories of four special artists, we will experience the drama and revelations art can bring to our lives.

Industry explores the business of the handmade, taking us to workshops where artists are crafting the future and making contributions to the local and national economies. The film highlights the important connection between the consumer and the maker and explores the value of exquisitely crafted handmade objects in today's creative economy, from quilts and wooden boats to textiles and fine jewelry.

The finely crafted handmade instruments and the world renowned artists who play them, demonstrating the perfect blend of form and function. By exploring how various instruments are perfected, and a unique journey through our country's past, detailing the contributions of jazz and Appalachian roots music to the American cultural landscape, as well as the intersection of the guitar and political activism, and how the legacy of West African instruments is embedded in the American banjo.

Craft in America is a groundbreaking, comprehensive visual exploration of the history, vitality, and cultural significance of America's craft movement. Family features Paul and Dante Marioni, Lisa Sorrelli, Philip and Matt Moulthrop, and Cliff and Holly Lee.

This program demonstrates the traditional techniques for making Acoma pottery.

In the face of horrific living conditions, Jewish inmates of Terezin concentration camp-artist, musicians, poets and writers-fought back with art and music.

Documentary
They are two of the world's most influential designers. Lella and Massimo Vignelli's work covers such a broad spectrum that one could say they are known by everyone, even by those who don't know their names. Adhering to self-proclaimed motto, "If you can't find it, design it," their achievements in industrial and product design, graphic and publication design, architectural graphics, and interior and furniture design have earned worldwide respect and numerous international awards.

Program details the life and work of the Mexican artist Diego Rivera, best known for his magnificent murals, and for his marriage to the artist Frida Kahlo. The film includes interviews with his family and others who knew him.

Three artists transform junk into fantastic treasures that fascinate, educate and provoke. Artists Vince Hannemann (Cathedral of Junk), Scott Stevens (Smut Putt Heaven) and Joe Minter (African Village in America) are interviewed.

Art critic Waldemar Januszczak unravels the secrets behind eight masterpieces of European painting, searching out art experts, literary and artistic allusions, and historical records to expose long-held secrets within the gilded frames.

Uses interviews and archival footage to tell the story of the melodramatic life and stunning architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. Bonus features include Ken Burns: Making history, a conversation with Ken Burns, Charlie Rose interview with producers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick and PC web link to the Frank Lloyd Wright Web site.

A documentary film about the experimental college based in North Carolina from 1933-1957 and its enormous influence on community, collaboration, and American modern art. The film looks at the unique educational style and long term significance of Black Mountain College through interviews with students, teachers, historians, and current artists.

Follows the life of American artist Georgia O'Keeffe and her tumultuous relationship with her husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz. As their relationship suffers, Alfred takes a younger lover. Georgia's search for solace moves her west, where she finds new inspiration for her paintings, and ultimately her own voice, in the New Mexico landscape.

Explores the connection of the religion of Islam with its art and architecture, revealing how artistic giants such as Siniam were led by Islamic movement to craft a glorious aesthetic heritage. Their faith is reflected in the related but distinct achievements throughout the centuries.

Traces the career of American abstract expressionist painter, Grace Hartigan, over the course of six decades.

Profiles artists Grace Medicine Flower and her brother Joseph Lonewolf, potters from Santa Clara Pueblo in New Mexico, who have revived and extended the traditional forms and techniques of their pre-Columbian ancestors in their work.

Art historian Tim Marlow explores the lives and works of the greatest artists in history. Filming takes place throughout the world.

In this program, the story is told of how Greek thinkers laid the foundation for architecture, painting, sculpture, history, philosophy, medicine, literature, zoology, botany, mathematics, astronomy, theater, and finally, the western scientific methodology.

This video describes the life and work of the artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. He was the "celebrated French bohemian artist of the Moulin Rouge. His famed posters and prints captured the joyous spirit of the "belle époque" in Paris during the late 19th century, even though Henri suffered from alcohol abuse and a bone condition that caused his legs to stop growing at an early age, while the rest of his body grew normally. Hear the words of confidantes and colleagues as captured in their letters and journals. See Lautrec's most famous works, as well as rare studies and sketches.

Tells the extraordinary story of a postal clerk and a librarian who managed to build one of the most important contemporary art collections in history with very modest means.

From the Greeks to the present, this program explores the evolution of play structure, staging techniques, and acting styles.

This series presents a unique and masterly survey of the greatest achievements in the history of art from the medieval era to the post-impressionist world. This authoritative and thought-provoking series employs powerful graphic images to entertain and inform the student and the art lover.

Reveals how the first big artistic discoveries were made and how they have cascaded down the centuries to define the look of the present day. Encompassing everything from cave paints to ceramics and pyramids to palaces, this film explores the global trend for unrealistic depictions of the human body; the secret powers of the feature film; how politicians manage to manipulate people so easily; visions of the afterlife; and why we use imagery at all.

Explores the life and work of the major artists of the Hudson River School. The program presents more than 200 paintings and prints of the period and juxtaposes them with dramatic location photography of the Hudson River area.

Documents the inspirational life of Inocente Izucar, a homeless, undocumented fifteen-year old girl in San Diego, a bourgeoning artist, and the extraordinary challenges she must contend with on a daily basis.

Segment one of this program presents Rodin's The Kiss, Boccioni's Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, and Picasso's The Three Dancers to chart the progression of distortion as a means of expressing more than what a figurative subject can represent. Segment two uses Kandinsky's Cossacks and Pollock's Summertime Number 9A to illustrate how color, line, and shape communicate ideas and emotions without a recognizable subject. Segment three spotlights Sir William Nicholson's The Lowestoft Bowl, Cezanne's Still Life with Water Jug, and Picasso's Still Life to demonstrate how the still life, in moving from realistic to abstract, made possible the concept of mixed media.

A dramatized program of Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the artists, illustrating how each great master developed techniques by building upon the works of his predecessors.

Discusses the architecture and sculpture of mosques and Koranic schools, the illumination and calligraphy of sacred texts, music, the art of the garden, and the influence of the abstract arabesque on Western art.

This documentary relates the life and work of Jackson Pollock, from his triumphant entry into the art world to his tragic death. Includes revealing interviews and archival footage by Lee Krasner, Pollock's wife, and Ed Harris, star of the film Pollock.

The story of John James Audubon is a dramatic and surprising one. He saw more of the North American continent than virtually anyone of his time, and came to stand for America-- the America of wilderness and wild things. Audubon was a self-taught artist and a self-made man whose life was rife with action and contradiction.

A documentary about a two-story tall, 340-ton, granite boulder that was moved from a quarry in Riverside to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and mounted atop the walls of a gigantic slot in the earth. The massive artwork, titled Levitated Mass, is the latest 'land sculpture' by one of America's most exciting and misunderstood artists, Michael Heizer.

Photographer, painter, filmmaker, poet, essayist, philosopher -- Man Ray was an extraordinary man with extraordinary talents. One of the primary leaders of the American modernist movement, he single-handedly pioneered some of the 20th century's most important arts innovations.

The extraordinary story of a woman who defied tradition, a painter whose work captivated Edgar Degas, and the only American asked to join the French Impressionists. Best remembered for her tender yet unsentimental depictions of mothers and children, Cassatt was also a driving force for women's suffrage and other issues of her day.

A visit to Paris gives a self-centered teenager a lesson in art, life and love, as she interacts with her aunt, Mary Cassatt.

For centuries, Michelangelo has been perceived as a tortured and lonely man -- a solitary genius who suffered both personal and financial agonies in creating his art. Michelangelo: Artist and Man reveals the truth of this perception and examines their falsehoods by looking beyond the myths -- into the very soul of the artist whose talents were so remarkable that during his own lifetime he was called Divine.

Examines the life of Siegfried Bing, French art dealer, collector, and sponsor, credited as the inspiration and force behind the movement known as art nouveau and who promoted and exhibited the works of such artists as Munch and Toulouse-Lautrec. Discusses the influence of Japanese art on Bing's sensibility.

Features the life and photographic career of George Masa, a Japanese immigrant to western North Carolina who photographed extensively in the Great Smoky Mountains, and whose works were instrumental in the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Appalachian Trail.

French director Henri-Georges Clouzot created a film showing the process in which Pablo Picasso created his work. Captured is the moment and mystery of creativity as the master completed twenty artworks, ranging from playful black-and-white sketches to widescreen color paintings. Almost every painting created in this film was destroyed after it was finished. In 1984 the French government declared the film a national treasure.

A portrait of the artist and illustrator whose vision captured the soul of America's heartland.

Examines Norman Rockwell, "the artist of the people," using archival footage and visual images from the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Featuring interviews with historians, critics, family, friends and admirers, this production gives an in depth look at the artist, his art and the Americana he created with his brushstrokes.

Presents an intimate look at Voulkos' working technique at the 1993 Olympic Games of Clay in Ringebu, Norway, demonstrating in a candid and entertaining way the artist's production of a work of art formed by direct encounter with material without preconception or contrivance.

Pablo Picasso spent his life destroying convention. He left a legacy that places him securely among the most important artists of all time. Follows Picasso from his childhood in Spain through the many phases of his 70-year artistic career.

A documentary that looks at women as artists, as subjects of paintings by both male and female artists, and the roles of and discrimination against women artists historically.

This program looks at postmodernism as reflected in architecture and art. Using numerous examples drawn from the United States and Britain, this documentary seeks to define the movement through commentary by authors, architects and art critics.

Dennise Buckley demonstrates both beginning and advanced pottery techniques. Topics covered include clay preparation, hand building, centering and coning, throwing cylinders and throwing bowls.

This award-winning series reveals the full and fascinating stories behind famous works of art, not just how they came to be created, but also how they influenced others and came to have a life of their own in the modern world. The works of art featured here are both instantly familiar and profoundly mysterious.

With a strong focus on designers and artists, this program explores strategies for achieving commercial success. The benefits of having a professional portfolio, photographs, business cards, and a Web site are emphasized, along with how to use the five Ps-product, price, people, placement, and promotion. The video also addresses the use of promotional strategies when seeking employment, the concept of branding, and the best way for creative people to get their work into the public eye.

Raku in the West today invites experimentation while retaining as much of the philosophical content rooted in 16th century Japan. This program assumes some basic pottery skills. Subjects include: Raku clay, hand & slab construction, slip painting, manipulated shapes, glazing, kiln firing and the smoking process.

This program critically examines the following masterpieces of realism in American painting: Grant Wood's American Gothic ; Georgia O'Keeffe's The white calico flower ; Reginald Marsh's Twenty cent movie ; Edward Hopper's Nighthawks ; Andrew Wyeth's Christina's world ; and Richard Estes' Ansonia.

Follows Andy Goldsworthy's bohemian free spirit all over the world as he demonstrates and opens up about his creative process. From his long-winding rock walls and icicle sculptures to his interlocking leaf chains and multi-colored pools of flowers. Goldsworthy's painstakingly intricate masterpieces are made entirely of materials found in Mother Nature - who threatens and often succeeds in destroying his art, sometime before it is even finished.

The styles and techniques of Rudy Autio, founder of the "Clay as Art" revolution, is filmed in his studio making a sculptural vessel in ceramics.

One of the world's greatest sculptors, Ruth Duckworth is profiled. In the '50s and '60s she became an internationally influential ceramist when she rejected the traditional forms of the art and embraced a modernist style.

After having his first art exhibition at age 13, Salvador Dali rose to become one of the world's most well-known and controversial artists. Putting himself into hallucinatory states without drugs, Dali created the works that made him a master of Cubism and brought him to the top of the Surrealist movement. After breaking with the movement in the 1930s, Dali worked in fashion, film, and theater, collaborating at times with Harpo Marx, Alfred Hitchcock, and Walt Disney.

This 8-volume provocative series on modern art picks up at the threshold of the 20th century. Includes interviews with, among others, Matisse, Picasso, and Dali.

A documentary series featuring 22 Southern studio craft artists from : Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.

Award-winning author and historian Amanda Vickery hosts this engrossing look into an often-overlooked subject: the life and work of female artists. The series offers a comprehensive examination of women artists, from the Renaissance through the early 20th century.

This video was filmed at the Archie Bray Foundation in 1988 and consists of several ceramic artists discussing their work and working methods.

Surrealism, a reaction against the rationalism that plunged Europe into the First World War, sought to reunite the conscious and subconscious minds in order to create a new view of reality. Incorporating archival clips, this film analyzes the history of the movement through the works of André Breton, Max Ernst, Man Ray, Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Luis Bu*nuel and Herbert Read. Also includes footage of modern surrealists Conroy Maddox and Jake Chapman.

From ancient hunters to preserving human remains, this History Channel episode explores the art and science of taxidermy.

Filmmaker Ken Burns traces the life and career of one of America's best known painters.

The Hamilton Wood Type Museum in Two Rivers, Wisconsin personifies cultural preservation, rural re-birth and the lineage of American graphic design. At Hamilton, international artisans meet retired craftsmen and together navigate the convergence of modern design and traditional technique. But the Museum's future is unclear. What is the responsibility of artists and historians to preserve a dying craft? How can rural towns survive in a shifting industrial marketplace where big-box retailers are king?

Today Impressionist art is found on T-shirts and mugs, but it wasn't always popular. London Sunday Times art critic Waldemar Januszczak hosts a lively guide to these revolutionary and influential artists, visiting their studios and the rustic vistas that inspired them. It's a super introduction to Monet, Manet, Degas, Seurat, Cezanne, Pissarro, Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassat, Van Gogh, and other greats.

Shows how cities live and die from the ground up-and down. Explores the transportation, water and sewer systems, and architectural landmarks of 5 great cities. Historians, urban planners, architects and social scientists assess the past, present and future of the crowded, crowning symbols of civilization.

Impressionistic picture of the life and love of the acclaimed artist Vincent Van Gogh.

Explores the questions of what drove Van Gogh to suicide and whether his madness contributed to his accomplishments. His pathology is examined by experts in the fields of psychiatry and neurology.

The paintings of Johannes Vermeer are intriguing as much for their subjects as for the poetic ways in which these are portrayed. Vermeer's use of light and color, proportion and scale mesmerizes the viewer. His everyday scenes are imbued with nuances of reflection and meaning that are at once familiar and mysterious. This film celebrates one of the most extraordinary painters in the history of art.

Biography Channel presents a comprehensive look at a life of passion, genius and determination that is often overshadowed by one tormented act. Get the real, complete story of why the painter cut off his own ear, but also explore the rest of his remarkable life, including his complicated relationships with women and his long partnership with his brother Theo. Take an up-close look at his greatest masterpieces, and examine their importance and influence with world-famous scholars.

Discusses how to use the visual arts to give children the opportunity to experience, explore and learn. The teacher's role is to introduce the many media and techniques that are developmentally appropriate and safe while encouraging the children to work comfortably in open ended activities.

Swiss artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss harness air, water, fire, chemical reagents and common household items to enact a chain reaction, applying the principles of cause and effect to generate a continuous process 100 feet long.

Explores "the thorny balancing act between motherhood and artistic expression ... Follows five women artists as they navigate the challenges of making work outside the elite art world."

The series takes a fresh look at quilts and spreads the word about their unique position at the center of a startlingly broad grid of topics, ranging from women's studies to the contemporary art market.

The first major documentary study of Winslow Homer, this program features over 180 images of Homer oil paintings, watercolors, etchings, and illustrations, combined with in-depth commentary from respected art scholars and historians...

Dramatizes the life story of Eastman as he fought relentlessly to create and then dominate the consumer camera market.