A selection of archive around art including Jackson Pollock, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and the Young British Artists.
Do you think a four year old could paint a Pollock? A recent BBC iWonder Guide sees some plucky children plus art critic Alistair Sooke trying to do just that.
Take a peek at the results and view archive of Jackson Pollock (also known as “Jack the Dripper”) in action. The guide also takes a look at techniques the artist employed and "the science behind the squiggles”.
Also take the opportunity to feel smug if you can spot the Pollock!
For a more in-depth look at abstract art explore this BBC Four collection in which archive interviews illustrate the creative practices and thoughts of artists including Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and the lesser known Paule Vézelay.
"Here are Henry Moore's hands and his tools” (Arena, 1986). John Read filmed Henry Moore six times in twenty-eight years and saw the artist’s initially small studio expand into a kind of sculpture park spanning two large fields and a wood to accommodate his increasingly large works.
(l-r) Writer John Read, cameraman John Baker, sculptor Henry Moore & an assistant cameraman during filming in 1967 (Copyright: BBC)
Known at the time as "the man who made sculptures with a hole in", Moore also talks about the messiness of the creative process in which there are accidents - "all this is the way you live". Filming also captures the challenges around installing large pieces (note the fleeing cat in the programme as one sculpture falls over).
Henry Moore looking at one of his works in bronze in a field near his Hertfordshire, 1978 (Copyright: BBC)
In a film on Barbara Hepworth, archive footage of the tools that Barbara Hepworth used in her work complement her comments that they have “become like friends”. Trained at the same school as Henry Moore Barbara Hepworth also veered towards large scale creations, housed in several studios around her house.
Talking about her creative journey, which was influenced by the Cornish landscape, she admits that "it look a long time for me to discover my own personal way of making sculpture."
An episode of Women of our Century highlights the work of Paule Vézelay who comes across as a true original in thoughts and works. She was apparently “bored to death” at the Slade. Interviewed by Germaine Greer she’s really not that interested in the battle of the sexes as long as work is original and good.
Germaine Greer with Paule Vézelay in 1988 (Copyright: BBC)
Vézelay talks about the years of practice needed to control the hand, her use of line and how her life is her work. Her frank responses make her a fascinating interviewee. Even though she says she’s not very clear about matters she’s happy to say that the “English don't like originality very much in art you know.”
Something that the Young British Artists might take issue with. This week Mat Collinson recalled taking part in the 1988 exhibition “Freeze” that helped to launch the careers of artists including Damien Hirst and Michael Landy.
The eighteen “skint” friends worked hard to ensure that their exhibition wasn’t the typical average student show, upgrading a then unpopulated space in the Docklands, so that it looked like a gallery.
Watch the interview plus archive from the exhibition, including Damien Hirst’s first spot paintings.
Eloise McNaulty is the Digital Content Producer for BBC Archives
“The English don't like originality very much in art you know.”
