Eight masterpieces. Eight big names who changed the world. An electrifying feast of art.

Stream Simon Schama's Power of Art on BBC Select

Art is so much more than pretty pictures. It has the power to move, shock, inform and transform.

In this groundbreaking and award-winning series, art historian Simon Schama attempts to illustrate the sheer force of the visual image via eight iconic masterpieces. These works were often derided or dismissed when first created, but they went on to change the way we look at the world.

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art

Stream The $50m Art Swindle on BBC Select

$50 Million Dollar Art Swindle

The amazing true crime case of a maverick art dealer who executed an audacious swindle.

Stream 100 Vaginas

100 Vaginas

Seeing a body part that 51% of people own shouldn’t be radical. So, why is it?

Stream Grayson Perry - All Man on BBC Select

Grayson Perry: All Man

As a ‘lifelong cissy’ artist, Grayson Perry has spent his whole life messing with machismo.

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Grayson Perry: Rites of Passage

Our traditions don’t help us. Artist Grayson Perry is on a quest to design ones that do.

Stream Grayson Perry - Art Club on BBC Select

Grayson Perry's Art Club

Artist Grayson Perry releases a torrent of quarantine-creativity in his lockdown art club.

Stream Grayson Perry - Big American Road Trip on BBC Select

Grayson Perry's Big American Roadtrip

Britain’s most unpredictable artist, Grayson Perry, sits America down for its portrait.

Stream Shock of the Nude on BBC Select

Shock of The Nude

Peek behind the fig leaf to find the truth behind the nude in art.

Stream The World's Greatest Painitings with Andrew Marr

The World's Greatest Paintings

What makes a particular artwork an iconic masterpiece? Andrew Marr investigates.

Stream The Art Mysteries on BBC Select

The Art Mysteries

Think you know these works by Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne and Seurat? Think again.

Stream The Story of Women and Art on BBC Select

The Story of Women and Art

Restless, resistant and radical. How female artists transformed art from the outside

Stream The Romantic Revolution on BBC Select

The Romantic Revolution

Wild visionaries and imaginative truth seekers whose radical ideas still resonate today.

Learn More Stream Hokusai - Old Man Crazy to Paint on BBC Select

Stream Hokusai - Old Man Crazy to Paint on BBC Select

Hokusai: Old Man Crazy To Paint

You may not know his name but you’ll instantly recognize Hokusai’s most famous work.

Stream In Search of Frida Kahlo on BBC Select

In Search of Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo’s face is iconic. Musician Emeli Sandé uncovers the woman behind the art.

Stream Soup Cans & Superstars - How Pop Art Changed the Worldon BBC Select

Soup Cans and Superstars: How Pop Art Changed the World

Obsessed with sex, surface and celebrity. Was pop art radically ahead of its time?

Stream Simon Schama's Power of Art on BBC Select

Simon Schama's Power of Art

Eight masterpieces. Eight big names who changed the world. An electrifying feast of art.

Stream The Beauty of Anatomy on BBC Select

The Beauty of Anatomy

Think your body’s a work of art? 17th-century Dutch anatomists would agree.

Bright Lights, Brilliant Minds - A Tale of Three Cities on BBC Select

Bright Lights, Brilliant Minds

Paris, Vienna and New York. The seismic influence of three cities on the artistic world.

Stream A Brief History of Graffiti on BBC Select

A Brief History of Graffiti

From cave art to street art - what drives human beings to draw on the walls?

Stream Me, My Selfie, and I on BBC Select

Me, My Selfie and I

Know thy selfie: We’re so obsessed with how we look, are we forgetting who we are?

Stream The Man Who Shot New York on BBC Select

The Man Who Shot New York

More than just a photographer, New Yorker Harold Feinstein had an unquenchable thirst for life.

Stream Art of America on BBC Select

Art of America

Andrew Graham-Dixon tries to reach the heart of America through its art and artists.

Stream The Persians - A History of Iran on BBC Select

The Persians: A History of Iran

How was the world's first empire born and what led to its ultimate destruction?

Stream The man who shot beautiful women on BBC Select

The Man Who Shot Beautiful Women

Why is Erwin Blumenfeld, whose vision helped to shape modern photography, forgotten today?

Stream Apples, Pears And Paint - How to Make a Still Life Paintingon BBC Select on BBC Select

Apples Pears And Paint: How To Make A Still Life Painting

What can still life images of ordinary objects tell us about the artists who created them?

Stream The Impressionists on BBC Select

The Impressionists

Who were the Impressionists and what fueled their desire to alter the direction of art?

Stream Vincent Van Gogh - The Full Story on BBC Select

Vincent: The Full Story

What do we really know about Vincent van Gogh, arguably the world’s most famous artist?

Stream The Art of Architecture on BBC Select

The Art of Architecture

What does it take to plan and build some of the planet’s most awe-inspiring structures?

Stream War Art with Eddie Redmayne on BBC Select

War Art with Eddie Redmayne

Academy Award winning actor Eddie Redmayne discovers the artists who saved lives during WW1

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history

Stream Bacchus Uncovered on BBC Select

Bacchus Uncovered: Ancient God of Ecstasy

What does Bacchus, the ancient god of wine and excess, have in common with Jesus Christ?

Stream Genius of the Ancient World with Bettany Hughes on BBC Select

Genius of the Ancient World

The original free thinkers. The stories of the Buddha, Confucius and Socrates.

Stream Mars Uncovered on BBC Select

Mars Uncovered: Ancient God of War

What can the ancient, immortal, Roman god Mars teach us about warfare in the modern age?

Stream Venus Uncovered on BBC Select

Venus Uncovered: Ancient Goddess of Love

Forget everything you thought you knew about the frequently nude, love goddess Venus.

Stream The Persians - A History of Iran on BBC Select

The Persians: A History of Iran

How was the world's first empire born and what led to its ultimate destruction?

Watch A History of Chritianity on BBC Select

A History of Christianity

Where did Christianity originate and how did the religion develop and take hold globally?

Stream Archaeology - A Secret History on BBC Select

Archaeology: A Secret History

Better living through archeology. How can our past make sense of our present?

Stream Greek Myths - True Stories

Greek Myths: True Stories

Godlike genius. Exploring the inspiration of our Greek myths.

Stream Fake News - A True History on BBC Select

Fake News: A True History

Fake news isn’t new: an entertaining look at 200 years of lies and the media

Stream Cousins at War on BBC Select

Royal Cousins at War

It makes The Crown look like Sesame Street. The bitter regal rivalries that led to war.

Stream American History's Biggest Fibs on BBC Select

American History's Biggest Fibs

American history is fake, fact? Historian Lucy Worlsey delves deeper into US mythology.

The Birth of Empire - The East India Company on BBC Select

The Birth of Empire: The East India Company

The world’s first megacorp. How Britain’s East India Company grew into an imperial power.

Stream The Romantic Revolution on BBC Select

The Romantic Revolution

Wild visionaries and imaginative truth seekers whose radical ideas still resonate today.

Stream Racism - A History on BBC Select

Racism: A History

Where did the notion of racism come from and how did such an abhorrent idea develop?

Stream Queen Victoria and her Nine Children on BBC Select

Queen Victoria and her Nine Children

Devastated by her husband’s death Queen Victoria starts to meddle in her children’s lives.

Watch The Flu That Killed 50 Million on BBC Select

The Flu That Killed 50 Million

Is Spanish flu the warning from history that should have crushed coronavirus?

Stream Vienna - Empire, Dynasty and Dream on BBC Select

Vienna: Empire, Dynasty and Dream

The rise of one of the great cities and how it offers a window into power, faith and war.

Stream Filthy Cities on BBC Select

Filthy Cities

Dan Snow explores the murky histories of London, Paris and New York from the bottom up.

Stream Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners on BBC Select

Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners

People as property: historian David Olusoga on the untold stories of British slavery.

Stream Secret Cities on BBC Select

Secret Cities

How much can the artistic history of a great city tell us about its character?

Stream Genius of the Modern World on BBC Select

Genius of the Modern World

Emigres, recluses, enemies of the state. How Marx, Nietzsche and Freud changed the world.

Bright Lights, Brilliant Minds - A Tale of Three Cities on BBC Select

Bright Lights, Brilliant Minds

Paris, Vienna and New York. The seismic influence of three cities on the artistic world.

Stream Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness on BBC Select

Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness

Can the thoughts and ideas of history’s greatest thinkers help in our day to day lives?

Watch Rome: Empire Without Limit with Mary Beard on BBC Select

Rome: Empire Without Limit with Mary Beard

World renowned historian, Mary Beard, is back to shatter myths about the Roman Empire.

Stream War Art with Eddie Redmayne on BBC Select

War Art with Eddie Redmayne

Academy Award winning actor Eddie Redmayne discovers the artists who saved lives during WW1

Stream The Six Queens of Henry VIII on BBC Select

The Six Queens of Henry VIII

Rediscover the Queens who shaped a King & his legacy in The Six Queens of Henry VIII, BBC's new look at the King's infamous wives.

Watch The World's First Computer on BBC Select

The World's First Computer

Think your computer’s had it? Meet one found in a shipwreck that’s 2,000 years old.