Art That Made Us

Sign language

BBC Four

Knowledge, arts, music and culture from the UK and the world.

BBC Four reflects arts, music and culture with an ambitious range of intellectually and culturally enriching programmes, taking an expert and in-depth approach to its subjects.

BBC 4

Documentaries

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media: Arts

An alternative history of the British Isles, told through art.

An epic story of creativity. How works of art from Britain's past have shaped us. Some are surprising, others familiar - but all are at the heart of dramatic moments of change.

BBC Two England

England

Simulcast of network BBC Two in high definition.

BBC Two HD

BBC Two Northern Ireland

Simulcast of BBC Two Northern Ireland in high definition

BBC Two Northern Ireland HD

Simulcast of BBC Two Wales in high definition

BBC Two Wales HD

Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

BBC Two Wales

BBC Four HD

David Threlfall

Duncan Singh

Ewan Roxburgh

Melanie Fall

Michael Jackson

Denys Blakeway

ClearStory Ltd

Art That Made Us: Series 1: Rise of the Cities

Episode 6

Rise of the Cities

Series 1

BBC Two - Art That Made Us, Series 1, Rise of the Cities

The industrial revolution forces artists to respond to upheaval in life and landscape.

With the industrial revolution transforming the British Isles, the cities and country are divided, and artists respond to the upheavals to lives and the landscape.

The 19th century saw a decisive shift in power from the countryside to the cities. With the industrial revolution transforming the British Isles, a divide opened up between the urban and the rural, forcing artists to respond to the upheaval to lives and the landscape. Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson reflects on the inspiration of JMW Turner, arguably the first environmental artist, and we encounter Penry Williams’s attempt to capture the beauty of industry with paintings like Cyfarthfa Ironworks Interior at Night.

Some artists attempt to capture the poverty and squalor caused by the rapid urbanisation around them. Actress Maxine Peake reads from Elizabeth Gaskell’s campaigning novel North and South, architect Fiona Sinclair assesses Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson’s architecture for the people of Glasgow, and artist Jeremy Deller explores William Morris’s drive to bring nature back into Victorian homes through his hand-crafted wallpaper designs.

As art becomes appropriated by commerce in the late 19th century, some artists fight back with new individuality and flair. Writer and drag performer Amrou Al-Kadhi explores the meaning and inspiration of Oscar Wilde’s writing, and artist Shani Rhys James reflects on the quiet anger that simmers underneath Walter Sickert’s Camden Town Nudes, an unflinching vision of the grimy realities of working-class lives at the turn of the 20th century.

Art That Made Us: Series 1

BBC Two

Knowledge, drama, comedy and the arts for a broad adult audience.

BBC Two is a lively channel of depth and substance, carrying a range of knowledge-building programming complemented by great drama, comedy and arts.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Art That Made Us

Series 1

Rise of the Cities

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Brand

Series

BBC Four

About BBC Four