The Impressionists - For Christmas

A couple of years ago, A&E television, producers of a long running series entitled, Biography, produced a different type of biography than their usual fare. For this show, the biography was about the group of artists we now call, The Impressionists.

It ran originally on two nights as it was over 3 hours long. I was fortunate to have seen it and had my Super VHS on so I could record it. It was an absolutely enthralling and captivating show. It focuses initially on the lives of the original Impressionistic painters: Monet, Renoir, Degas, Pissarro, and Morisot. But, there lives were intertwined with other great artists of their time such as Manet and many others.

This show explains how they fit into the art world of the later half of the 19th century and why their eventual emergence after years of struggle came to be known as the "the second French Revolution." Their paintings were such a radical departure from the popular art of their time. One of the many things I learned was although the Impressionists eventually gained some notoriety in France, it wasn't until their works were shown in America that their popularity soared.

This is an important era in art history and this production is greater or equal than any book ever written on the subject. I think almost anyone, including someone with no in-depth interest in art would find this show amazing.

But, what really stands out are the paintings. They are absolutely stunning in the way they are shown in the film. Obviously great pains were taken to get them on film in such an impressive way. In short, this film is a feast for your eyes.

A year or so ago, this film came out on two DVD's in a box set . The quality is even better than the original TV show. I have owned this DVD for nearly a year now and I can't count the number of times I have watched it. If you are stuck for a gift for someone, or you want a treat for yourself, consider this box set DVD.

I did some research and found it priced as low as $23.97, which has got to be the deal of the century for such a magnificent work. You can search yourself, but I found it for this price online at Deep Discount DVD, a reputable store where I have purchase before. And, there is no sales tax and shipping is free. Here is the link:

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemid=ANE070245