The Dawn of Impression: Paris 1874 new_releases Release: 03-20-2025
In 1874, a group of scorned, penniless artistic mavericks held their own exhibition outside official channels, launching the Impressionist movement and changing the art world forever. Made in close collaboration with the Musee d’Orsay in Paris and the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., this documentary relates the story of that groundbreaking show and the movement’s birth, told in the words of those who witnessed it: the artists, the press, and the people of 19th-century Paris.

John Singer Sargent: Fashion and Swagger 2024    star_border 9.5
Filmed at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Tate Britain, London, the exhibition reveals Sargent’s power to express distinctive personalities, power dynamics and gender identities during this fascinating period of cultural reinvention. Alongside 50 paintings by Sargent sit stunning items of clothing and accessories worn by his subjects, drawing the audience into the artist’s studio. Sargent’s sitters were often wealthy, their clothes costly, but what happens when you turn yourself over to the hands of a great artist? The manufacture of public identity is as controversial and contested today as it was at the turn of the 20th century, but somehow Sargent’s work transcends the social noise and captures an alluring truth with each brush stroke.

Klimt & The Kiss 2023    star_border 8
The Kiss by Gustav Klimt is one of the most recognised and reproduced paintings in the world. It is perhaps the most popular poster on student dorm walls from Beijing to Boston. Painted in Vienna around 1908, the evocative image of an unknown embracing couple has captivated viewers with its mystery, sensuality and dazzling materials ever since it was created. But just what lies behind the appeal of the painting – and just who was the artist that created it? Delving into the details of real gold, decorative designs, symbolism and simmering erotica, a close study of the painting takes us to the remarkable turn of the century Vienna when a new world was battling with the old.