First of six films, part of the Commissions and Collaborations season, in which a contemporary artist returns to the places which influenced a chosen artist from the past. Arikha on Velazquez. Israeli still-life and portrait painter Avigdor Arikha is a passionate believer in art drawn from direct observation - "from life". From his Paris home he travels to Spain to rediscover one of the world's greatest paintings, LasMeninas, by the 17th-century Spanish court painter Diego Velazquez. Executive producer
Keith Alexander says of the series: "Many people think that modern art has no roots whatever, but in this series distinguished contemporary artists assess some of the great names of the past who have influenced and inspired them." Producer Patricia Wheatley
Music and Arts: page 144