Scene Release

Arts Documentary hosted by Samuel West, published by BBC broadcasted as part of BBC The Private Life of a Masterpiece series in 2006 – English narration
also known as
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Private Life of a Masterpiece is a BBC award-winning arts documentary series that tells the stories behind great works of art reaching from the Renaissance to modern art.
Behind beautiful canvases and sculptures lie tales of political revolution, wartime escapes, massive ego clashes, social scandal, financial wrangling and shocking violence.
In this fascinating series, the truth behind many seminal works of art is uncovered, illuminating little-known facts and surprising revelations – the history, contemporary reactions, and legacies of each are illustrated. The series reveals the full and fascinating stories behind famous works of art, not just how they came to be created, but also how they influenced others and came to have a life of their own in the modern world.

Fulmar Television & Film Production for BBC Wales

3)  God’s Child

This film tells the story of Gauguin and his painting “God’s Child,” a reinterpretation of the nativity scene in which he used his 14-year-old, pregnant Tahitian mistress as his model. Scholars and critics celebrate Paul Gauguin’s “Te Tamari No Atua,” better known as “God’s Child,” painted in Tahiti in 1896. The Impressionist artist’s unorthodox painting defied traditional representations of the Christmas Nativity. God’s Child explores the most unusual feature of the painting which is the way that it presents Mary. Traditionally, decorum prevented Mary from being depicted as if she had really gone through the painful experience of labour, but Gauguin’s Mary is clearly worn out from the process of giving birth. It was also extremely daring to show Mary partially naked in a Nativity scene.
This is a Nativity, and since it is by Paul Gauguin, it is modern and fresh like few recent nativities. This painting is intensely personal. The Madonna is Gauguin’s young Polynesian mistress, who was pregnant with his child. It is a brilliant departure in other ways from traditional nativities, relevant to the contemporary world.