Invitation to Art; Marc Chagall

WGBH Educational Foundation · 1962

The Russian-born Chagall, perhaps best known for his painting of "The Firebird" (drawn from the music of Igor Stravinsky), is interviewed on this program. He does not speak English, which means that he interview must be conducted through an interpreter; this does slow the program considerably and makes it less satisfactory than it might otherwise have been. Nonetheless, this is the only television program on which Mr. Chagall appeared during his recent trip to the USA and is well worth watching. Of particular interest are his recollections of his early childhood, his method of translating emotions and ideas into forms that seem at first alien to the thought, his belief in poetry, truth and the spiritual influences of the Bible. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche) This series explores man and the world around him through the eyes of artists, past and present, and aims to develop an understanding of art as a direct expression of universal emotions. As the host, Dr. Brian O'Doherty, young Irish poet, painter, and art critic, brings a fresh, witty and warmly human point of view to the visual arts. In the first season (episodes 1 - 15), O'Doherty follows, through these arts, the cycle of man from childhood to old age and explores the society in which man lives in all its aspects - tragic, comic, and mundane. Dr. O'Doherty uses works of art now on display in the galleries of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, to illustrate the episodes. Patricia Barnard of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts supervises production. Her assistant is Thalia Kennedy of the Museum staff. In the second season (episodes 16 - 30), each episode either examines in detail the work and thought of one of the great artists of the past, or consists of skillful and sympathetic interviews by Dr. O'Doherty of distinguished living artists who have had a powerful influence upon the art of today. In the third season (episode 31 - 34), Dr. O'Doherty interviews a distinguished American artist who have had a powerful influence upon the art of today. In the fourth season (episodes 35 - 41), a pattern of ideas evolves, revealing the various roles of the artist. This series was originally record in black and white on kinescope. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)