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🔔 Notify me about new seasonsSynopsis
The story of art from the dawn of human history to the present day—for the first time on a global scale. Inspired by Civilisation, Kenneth Clark’s acclaimed landmark 1969 series about Western art, this series broadens the canvas to reveal the role art and the creative imagination have played across multiple cultures and civilizations.
Themes
Episodes
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- E1 Second Moment of CreationNext upApr 17, 2018 · 53 min · ★ 5.0
Synopsis
Examine the formative role of art and the creative imagination in the forging of humanity itself. Images and artifacts found in Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia and South America testify to the urge to develop civilizations. Liev Schreiber narrates.
Guest stars: Simon Schama (Self - Columbia University), Wulf Hein, Pablo Picasso (Self(archive footage))
- E2 How Do We Look?Apr 24, 2018 · 53 min · ★ 4.2
Synopsis
Explore the many functions of the human image in art. Portraits, paintings and sculptures, both life-size and colossal, perform a role—assuaging loss, expressing strength, inspiring fear—and were instrumental in depicting the human body today.
Guest stars: Mary Beard (Presenter), Antony Gormley (Self - Sculptor), Kehinde Wiley
- E3 God and ArtMay 1, 2018 · 53 min · ★ 3.0
Synopsis
Trace the relationship between religion and art, which has inspired some of the most ingenious, affecting, majestic and breathtaking works of art ever made. Yet beneath great works of religious art often lie conflict, intrigue and divine mysteries.
Guest stars: Simon Schama (Self - Columbia University), Mary Beard (Self - Presenter), Kira Perov, Maya Jasanoff, Soraya Syed
- E4 EncountersMay 8, 2018 · 53 min · ★ 3.4
Synopsis
See how advances in seafaring and a thirst for trade and exploration sent human beings around the planet. Distant and disparate cultures met for the first time, and art became the great interface by which civilizations understood each other.
Guest stars: Mary Beard (Presenter), David Olusoga, Eduardo Matos Moctezuma
- E5 RenaissancesMay 15, 2018 · 53 min · ★ 3.4
Synopsis
Travel east and west to explore the connections and rivalries between Renaissance Italy and the Islamic empires that experienced their own cultural flowering in the 15th and 16th centuries. Both spheres were open to influences flowing both ways.
Guest stars: Simon Schama (Self - Columbia University)
- E6 Paradise on EarthJun 12, 2018 · 53 min · ★ 2.5
Synopsis
Explore one of humanity’s deepest artistic urges: the depiction of nature. But landscape painting is seldom a straightforward portrayal of observed nature; it's a projection of dreams, idylls, escapes and refuges—the elusive paradise on earth.
Guest stars: David Olusoga (Presenter)
- E7 Color and LightJun 19, 2018 · 53 min · ★ 2.5
Synopsis
Explore the story of light and color in art—both in the search for greater realism and spiritual ecstasy. Journey from Gothic cathedrals and Indian courtly painting to modern art.
Guest stars: Simon Schama (Self - Columbia University)
- E8 The Cult of ProgressJun 26, 2018 · 53 min · ★ 2.5
Synopsis
Examine the rise and fall of “progress” as an ideology, and see how the “civilizing” project that arose from Enlightenment ideas was fraught with contradictions that troubled European artists in different ways.
Guest stars: David Olusoga (Presenter), Maya Jasanoff, Edgar Heap of Birds, Salima Ikram
- E9 What is Art Good For?Jul 3, 2018 · 53 min · ★ 2.8
Synopsis
Explore art in the age of revolution, war and profound scientific change and consider the question: Should art create a separate realm, a place of escape, or should it plunge into the chaos, transforming the way we see and live in the world?
Guest stars: Simon Schama (Self - Columbia University)
Cast & crew
Liev SchreiberVideos
Trailers
Images · 5
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Reviews · from TMDB members
TriceratopsAUJan 14, 2026
My goodness, what an absurd attempt at a documentary. Tedious and full of factual errors. I can't believe I actually used to respect Simon Schama. Bizarre that he participated in this ridiculous nonsense for the BBC. Alas, yet another person who has bent the knee. If anyone would like to watch a much superior documentary about art and it's effects on the Western world I recommend the original version of this series, Civilisation (1969). It's hosted by Kenneth Clark, a gen… Read more
tleman who would be aghast at seeing what the BBC has turned into.