American Visions 7of8 The Empire of Signs PDTV x264 AAC

American Visions - The Epic History of Art in America

Arts Documentary hosted by Robert Hughes, published by BBC in 2002 - English narration





Information
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American Visions
American Visions, an eight-part series on American art written and narrated by Time magazine art critic Robert Hughes, is both an account of American life and a tribute to American art that will likely propel thousands of the not-yet-converted into museums and galleries, antiques shows and auction rooms to see (and inevitably shop) for themselves. Filmed in 100 locations around the country, covering everything from Quaker to Shaker, George Washington to Bierstadt, Remington to Warhol, and the skyscrapers of New York City, Hughes has applied his considerable wit and imagination to the problem of revealing how art records and preserves both points of view and ways of life. It is American history told through art, not merely a history of art. It offers a perspective that is refreshingly elevating and inclusive. With the same voracious wit and opinionated brilliance that have characterized his criticism for Time magazine, this tour-de-force spans three centuries of events, movements, and personalities that have shaped American society and its art.


1) The Republic of Virtue
Robert Hughes charts the foundation of a national identity that sought architectural inspiration from Greece and Rome. He also looks at America's earliest major painters.

2) The Promised Land
Robert Hughes explains how America was shaped by Europeans - Spaniards in the south west, Pilgrims in the north east and struggling cavaliers in Virginia - who saw the New World as both paradise and hell.

3) The Wilderness and the West
Art critic Robert Hughes looks at America's majestic landscapes, exploring how artists have contributed to the religious and patriotic connotations of nature.

4) The Gilded Age
Robert Hughes considers how the Civil War industrialised society, bringing steam power, the Brooklyn Bridge, plutocrats and an urban underclass. Nostalgia for loss entered the culture and brought the Museum Age.

5) The Wave from the Atlantic
Mass immigration at the turn of the century confirmed America as a multicultural society, but also brought increased poverty and slum life. Robert Hughes examines how this was often reflected in art.

6) Streamlines and Breadlines
Robert Hughes considers America during the 1920s and 30s, including the skyscraper as the image of modernism, the Depression, regionalist art and black art.

7) The Empire of Signs
Robert Hughes examines America's development into the art capital of the West between 1945 and the late 1960s, with the advent of abstract expressionism and pop art.

8) The Age of Anxiety
Robert Hughes focuses on work that responded to the Vietnam War and civil strife. He traces the development of minimalism and ends up on top of an extinct volcano.

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Technical Specs
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* Video: Codec: x264 CABAC Main@L3.0
* Video: Bitrate: 1750 Kbps
* Video: Aspect Ratio: 1.333 (4:3)
* Video: Resolution: 720 x 480
* Audio: Codec: AAC LC
* Audio: Bitrate: 128 Kbps VBR 48KHz
* Audio: Channels: stereo (2/0)
* Audio: English
* Run-Time: 45mins
* Framerate: 29fps
* Number of Parts: 8
* Part Size: 674 MB
* Container: Mp4
* Source: PDTV
* Encoded by: Harry65
* Thanks to "llamabert"



Links
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1) Further Information

http://www.artcyclopedia.com/robert_hughes.html

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http://docuwiki.net/?title=The%20Shock%20of%20the%20New

http://docuwiki.net/?title=The%20New%20Shock%20Of%20The%20New

http://docuwiki.net/?title=Goya%20-%20Crazy%20Like%20A%20Genius