Invitation to Art; Edgar Degas

WGBH Educational Foundation · 1962

Degas, says Dr. O'Doherty, did not like flowers, dogs, women or even himself. Nonetheless, these were the subjects of some of his greatest paintings. The conflicts and tensions he felt produced the incisive lines, the rigorous balance perceived in many of these great works. Once again our genial guide takes us on a systematic tour of the works of a great artist, and a most unusual man. Among other details isolated and explained are Degas' reasons for painting pictures that seem to be interrupted, or cut off by the frames; his fascination with ballet dancers (one of which "comes to life" on the program, as ballerina Collette Flynn performs some of the classical steps while O'Doherty compares her with Degas' portraits of dancers); his shift from oil paints to pastels; and his gradual change in the uses of color. (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)