Romancing the Stone: The Golden Ages of British Sculpture

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Alastair Sooke

Jonty Claypole

Mark Halliley

Romancing the Stone: The Golden Ages of British Sculpture: Episode 3: Children of the Revolution

Documentaries

Children of the Revolution

Episode 3

Episode 3: Children of the Revolution

BBC Four - Romancing the Stone: The Golden Ages of British Sculpture, Children of the Revolution

Alastair Sooke looks at the 20th century's mixture of innovation, scandal and creativity.

Alastair Sooke looks at the 20th century's mixture of innovation and shock and talks to Damien Hirst, Rachel Whiteread, Antony Gormley and Anthony Caro.

'Sculpture has changed more in the last hundred years,' says Alastair Sooke, 'than in the previous thirty thousand.' The third and last episode of the series tells the dramatic story of a century of innovation, scandal, shock and creativity. 

It begins with the moment at the turn of the 20th century when young sculptors ceased visiting the Elgin Marbles at the British Museum and looked instead at the 'primitive' works of Africa and the Pacific islands. The result was an artistic revolution spearheaded by Eric Gill and Jacob Epstein that would climax in the anti-sculptural gestures of Gilbert & George and Damien Hirst. 

Yet for all the provocation and occasional excesses of conceptualism, sculpture has never enjoyed such popularity. From the memorials of World War One to the landmarks of Antony Gormley and Rachel Whiteread, sculpture remains the art form that speaks most directly and powerfully to the nation. 

The programme climaxes with a series of encounters between Alastair and leading sculptors Damien Hirst, Rachel Whiteread, Antony Gormley and Anthony Caro.

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Series that reveals how sculpture communicates our most cherished beliefs and values.

Series that reveals how sculpture communicates our most cherished beliefs and values - the British soul captured in three dimensions.

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Romancing the Stone: The Golden Ages of British Sculpture

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