Color and Light

Civilizations was made possible, in part, by a grant from the Anne Ray Foundation.

And by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

NARRATOR: THE POWER OF COLOR.

FOR DIFFERENT FAITHS ACROSS THE GLOBE, COLOR ONCE ILLUMINATED THE DIVINE.

OVER CENTURIES, ARTISTS HAVE PAID FOR PIGMENTS WORTH MORE THAN THEIR WEIGHT IN GOLD... GLORIFIED IN COLOR'S ABILITY TO EVOKE LOVE AND PASSION...

CREATED ARTWORKS THAT PROCLAIMED A NEW ERA IN GOLDEN HUES...

EVEN ABANDONED COLOR IN DESPAIR.

IN THE MODERN WORLD, COLOR HAS BECOME AVAILABLE TO ALL, BUT IS IT MERELY DECORATION, OR CAN IT OFFER US A GLIMPSE OF SOMETHING SPIRITUAL?

GREAT HUBS OF TRADE, ENTERPRISE, AND WORSHIP, THE GOTHIC CATHEDRAL WAS THE CENTERPIECE FOR THE MEDIEVAL CITIES OF NORTHERN EUROPE.

AT THE ENTRANCE, ROWS OF SAINTS AND ANGELS WOULD HAVE BEEN PAINTED IN BRIGHT COLORS.

TODAY, A LIGHT SHOW PROJECTED ONTO AMIENS CATHEDRAL CAN RE-CREATE HOW COLOR WAS ONCE USED TO EVOKE A VISION OF HEAVEN...

BUT FOR THE FULL-COLOR EXPERIENCE, WE NEED TO LOOK INSIDE A CATHEDRAL LIKE CHARTRES.

SIMON SCHAMA, VOICE-OVER: WHEN A PILGRIM CAME THROUGH THE DOORS OF THE MEDIEVAL GOTHIC CATHEDRAL, A MIRACLE IMMEDIATELY HAPPENED.

INSTEAD OF BEING ROOTED LIKE A MORTAL TO THE SPOT OF EARTH ON WHICH YOU WERE STANDING, YOU WERE LIFTED UPWARDS.

SO THE ENTIRE ARCHITECTURE OF CHARTRES IS BUILT AROUND THIS EXTRAORDINARY ASCENT UP TOWARDS PARADISE FROM THESE SLENDER COLUMNS REACHING UP 120 FEET TO THESE SOARING VAULTS ABOVE US.

EVERYTHING IS CALCULATED ALMOST TO MAKE THIS MASONRY DISAPPEAR, BECOME SIMPLY A SKELETON SO THAT THE WHOLE CHURCH BECOMES NOTHING MORE THAN A VESSEL ENCASING THIS COLORED LIGHT.

NARRATOR: ALL AROUND ARE STORIES OF THE BIBLE, OF CHRIST, THE VIRGIN MARY, AND THE HOLY SAINTS.

THESE AREN'T TYPICAL STERN ARCHETYPES BUT FLESH-AND-BLOOD FIGURES DEPICTED IN BLAZING COLOR... AND WITH THEM, ORDINARY PEOPLE COULD SEE THEMSELVES-- WHEELWRIGHTS, WATER CARRIERS, BAKERS WITH THEIR LOAVES OF BREAD.

[SPEAKING FRENCH] SCHAMA: THE MEDIEVAL MIND THOUGHT THAT CERTAIN MATERIAL THINGS, BUT ABOVE ALL GEMS-- RUBIES, SAPPHIRES, TOPAZES-- HAD THE POWER TO TRANSPORT YOU FROM YOUR EARTHLY WORLD UP INTO THE IMMATERIAL WORLD OF HEAVEN, AND WHAT THOSE WHO BUILT CHARTRES WANTED WAS TO CREATE GREAT WINDOWS WHICH WERE SHEETS OF GEM-LIKE RADIANCE SO THAT WHEN YOU WERE INSIDE THE WALLS OF THE NEW JERUSALEM YOU ALSO WERE GIVEN A VISION OF PARADISE.

NARRATOR: COLOR WAS THE GATEWAY TO PARADISE, BUT IT CAME FROM THIS WORLD.

PHILIP BALL: MAKING COLORED GLASS IS AN ANCIENT TECHNOLOGY.

IT WAS KNOWN TO THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS, SO 2,000 YEARS OR SO BEFORE THE BIRTH OF CHRIST, AND SO MEDIEVAL EUROPE INHERITED THIS TECHNOLOGY.

HOWEVER, MAKING THE DEEP BLUE GLASS FOR WHICH CHARTRES IS FAMOUS WAS ONE OF THE HARDEST PROCESSES.

IT WAS REALLY ONLY KNOWN IN SOUTHERN ITALY.

SO THIS BLUE GLASS OF CHARTRES HAD TO BE IMPORTED, BUT ALSO, SOME OF IT WAS ACTUALLY RECYCLED ANCIENT GLASS.

THERE ARE RECORDS OF GLASS SHARDS BEING IMPORTED FROM BYZANTIUM AND FROM ANCIENT ROMAN REMAINS INTO MEDIEVAL EUROPE THAT WOULD THEN BE MELTED DOWN AND USED IN THE CHURCHES.

NARRATOR: IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE, MOST COLORED DYES AND PIGMENTS WERE MADE FROM EASY-TO-ACCESS INGREDIENTS FROM THE NATURAL WORLD...

ROOTS, BERRIES, BARKS, LEAVES, MINERALS, EVEN CRUSHED INSECTS.

THE RAREST AND MOST PRIZED PIGMENTS WERE IMPORTED INTO EUROPE TO A CITY THAT HAD ALWAYS FACED EAST--VENICE-- AND HERE COLOR WOULD UNDERGO A REVOLUTION.

TRADING FIRST WITH THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE, WHOSE GLITTERING MOSAICS WERE COLORFUL MARVELS OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY... AND THEN WITH THE ISLAMIC WORLD WITH ITS VIBRANT FABRICS AND PRECIOUS PIGMENTS, VENICE HAD GROWN RICH.

JERRY BROTTON: VENICE IS ABOUT WATER, BUT IT'S ABOUT WATER IN SO MANY DIFFERENT ASPECTS.

YOU KNOW, WATER MOVES.

YOU KNOW, IT'S DIAPHANOUS, IT'S A REFLECTION OF DIFFERENT COLORS, SO OF COURSE, YOU CAN SEE FOR VENETIAN ARTISTS THAT COLOR BECOMES SOMETHING WHICH IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT.

THE OTHER THING OF COURSE IS SIMPLY TRADE AND WATER.

IT'S THE FACT THAT VENICE IS THE GREAT GATEWAY TO THE EAST, SO MOST OF THE PIGMENTS THAT COME TO DEFINE THE RENAISSANCE PALETTE ALL COME FROM THE EAST ANYWAY.

THEY'RE ALL COMING FROM INDIA AND CHINA, AND THEY'RE COMING THROUGH THE OTTOMAN TRADE ROUTES INTO VENICE, SO VENICE IS OF COURSE THE FIRST RECIPIENT OF ALL THOSE DIFFERENT KINDS OF PIGMENT.

NARRATOR: THIS EXPOSURE TO THE COLORS OF THE EAST LED VENETIAN ARTISTS TO REBEL AGAINST THEIR COUNTERPARTS IN THE REST OF RENAISSANCE ITALY, WHO REGARDED COLOR AS A SECONDARY FORM OF ARTISTIC EXPRESSION.

SCHAMA: FOR RENAISSANCE ART THEORISTS, DRAWING ALWAYS CAME FIRST, AND THEN YOU FILLED IN EVERYTHING WITH COLOR.

THAT DRAWN IDEA, HARD AND LINEAR, THEN DICTATED COMPOSITION, AND IT WAS WHAT DISTINGUISHED THE TRULY HIGH ART FROM THE LOW, DECORATIVE, SMALL STUFF-- CERAMICS, JEWELRY, TEXTILES, ORNAMENTS FOR THE HOUSE AND BODY, BUT VENETIANS SEE ART AND THE WORLD QUITE DIFFERENTLY.

THE MAJESTY OF PAINTING LIES IN THE LOADED, SATURATED BRUSH AND THAT COLOR CAN MODEL COMPOSITION QUITE AS EFFECTIVELY AS THE DRAWN LINE.

NARRATOR: HERE IN THE VENETIAN CHURCH OF SAN ZACCARIA IS ONE OF THE FIRST EXAMPLES OF THE COLOR REVOLUTION THAT WOULD SWEEP VENICE IN THE 15th CENTURY.

IT'S AN A ALTARPIECE BY GIOVANNI BELLINI.

THE PAINTING IS AWASH WITH COLORS.

SAINT PETER'S GOLDEN OCHRE, SAINT CATHERINE'S ROSE AND GREEN... SAINT LUCY'S BLUE AND GOLD, SAINT JEROME'S VIBRANT REDS.

THE MOST EXPENSIVE COLOR OF ALL IS CENTER STAGE-- ULTRAMARINE, A COLOR DEDICATED ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY TO THE CLOAK OF THE VIRGIN MARY.

ANTONIO MAZZOTTA: ULTRAMARINE WAS USED SINCE 13th CENTURY TO REPRESENT THE VIRGIN AND HER BLUE MANTLE TO IDENTIFY THE MOST IMPORTANT FIGURE THROUGH THE MOST EXPENSIVE COLOR.

NARRATOR: IT WASN'T JUST THE VIVID COLORS USED IN BELLINI'S ALTARPIECE THAT WAS REVOLUTIONARY BUT THE WAY HE USED COLOR TO BUILD NEW FORMS IN HIS PAINTING.

MAZZOTTA: IN THE SAN ZACCARIA ALTARPIECE, BELLINI WAS VERY KEEN IN USING COLOR WITHOUT DRAWING, SO IT'S A SORT OF SYNTHESIS OF FORM AND COLOR WHICH CREATES THAT WONDERFUL HARMONY THAT WE PERCEIVE, AND WE ACTUALLY DON'T KNOW WHY WE PERCEIVE THAT HARMONY, BUT IT'S CREATED BY THOSE KIND OF EFFECTS.

THE PERFECT FORM WITH THE PERFECT COLOR.

NARRATOR: THIS REVOLUTION IN THE USE OF COLOR AND WITH IT NEW ARTISTIC POWER WAS TAKEN A STEP FURTHER BY BELLINI'S PUPIL TIZIANO VECELLI, KNOWN AS TITIAN.

PAINTED WHEN TITIAN WAS BARLEY IN HIS 20s, THIS PORTRAIT OF A WEALTHY VENETIAN GENTLEMAN TAKES SACRED ULTRAMARINE OUT OF THE CHURCH AND USES IT WITH SUCH STARTLING REALISM IT ALMOST LOOKS AS IF HIS SLEEVE IS COMING OUT OF THE PAINTING.

THE SECRET WAS IN THE PREPARATION OF THE PIGMENT.

BALL: WHAT I'VE GOT HERE IS ULTRAMARINE, THE MOST PRECIOUS PIGMENT IN THE MIDDLE AGES AND THE RENAISSANCE.

THIS IS ACTUALLY MODERN ULTRAMARINE, BUT IN THOSE DAYS, IT WOULD HAVE COME FROM A GROUND-UP MINERAL CALLED LAPIS LAZULI, AND IT WOULD HAVE HAD TO HAVE BEEN GROUND BY HAND INTO A POWDER BY ONE OF THE ASSISTANTS, AND IN FACT, THAT GRINDING PROCESS WAS QUITE CRUCIAL BECAUSE IF YOU GRIND MORE FINELY, SOME OF THE PIGMENTS WILL TEND TO BE LIGHTER BECAUSE THEN THE PARTICLES ARE SMALLER, THEY REFLECT MORE LIGHT, AND IT CREATES A LIGHTER COLOR.

SO THAT GRINDING PROCESS WAS UNDERSTOOD AND WAS CAREFULLY CONTROLLED BY THE ARTISTS.

NARRATOR: IN 1523, TITIAN WOULD DARINGLY TRANSPOSE THE SACRED BLUE ULTRAMARINE OF THE VIRGIN MARY ONTO AN INTENSE PAGAN LOVE STORY.

"BACCHUS AND ARIADNE" DEPICTS THE ELECTRIC MOMENT WHEN TWO PEOPLE LOCK EYES FOR THE FIRST TIME AND FALL UNCONTROLLABLY IN LOVE.

MAZZOTTA: BY THE TIME OF "BACCHUS AND ARIADNE," ULTRAMARINE IS USED FOR THE SKY AND PAINTERLY EFFECTS.

THEREFORE, IT HAS LOST ITS SACRED MEANING, WHICH WAS ALWAYS LINKED TO THE VIRGIN.

TITIAN USED COLOR ALSO TO EXPRESS LOVE AND JOY OF LIFE.

NARRATOR: AND ARIADNE WEARS ANOTHER COLOR THAT WAS ALMOST AS PRIZED AS ULTRAMARINE, A SCARF OF VERMILLION RED.

VERMILLION HAD BEEN USED IN EUROPE FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS IN ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS.

MADE FROM THE MINERAL CINNABAR, IT WAS A RED ALSO USED IN THE ART OF CULTURES AS DIFFERENT AS THOSE OF EARLY MESOAMERICA AND CHINA, WHERE IT WAS USED TO CREATE DAZZLING LACQUERWARE.

WHILE IN INDIA AT THE FAR END OF THE TRADE ROUTES TO VENICE, IT WAS USED TO CREATE THE TRADITIONAL RED DOT, OR BINDI, ON THE FOREHEAD.

FOR CENTURIES, MUCH OF INDIA HAD BEEN RULED BY THE ISLAMIC MUGHAL EMPERORS, WHOSE HIGHLY REFINED MINIATURE PAINTINGS WERE LARGELY RESTRICTED TO A COURTLY ELITE, BUT BY THE EARLY 1700s, LOCAL HINDU RULERS WERE BREAKING FREE OF MUGHAL CONTROL AND REASSERTING THEIR OWN EXUBERANT AND COLORFUL ARTISTIC TRADITIONS.

THE FESTIVAL OF HOLI CELEBRATES THE TRIUMPH OF GOOD OVER EVIL AND THE SPRINGTIME RETURN OF COLOR.

IT IS ONE OF THE MOST SACRED IN HINDU LIFE AND A SUBJECT THAT WAS POPULAR WITH HINDU ARTISTS.

THIS PICTURE STARS AN INDIAN MAHARAJA, A LOCAL PRINCE DEPICTED AS THE COMMANDER OF KARMA, HERE ENJOYING SEXUAL PLEASURE, ONE OF THE ESSENTIAL GOALS OF HINDU SPIRITUAL LIFE.

OTHER COURT PAINTINGS OF MYTHICAL SCENES WERE MANY TIMES LARGER THAN THE BOOK-SIZED PAINTINGS TYPICALLY FOUND IN THE MUGHAL COURT.

DESIGNED TO BE HELD UP AT COURT TO ILLUSTRATE POEMS THAT WERE READ ALONGSIDE THEM, THEY USED COLOR AND SCALE TO CREATE A MORE IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE.

BUT THE APPARENT SIMPLICITY OF THESE IMAGES WITH THEIR BLOCKS OF COLOR IS DECEPTIVE BECAUSE, UNLIKE WESTERN ART WITH ITS FOCUS ON CAPTURING A SINGLE MOMENT IN LINEAR TIME, IN THESE PICTURES TIME IS CYCLICAL.

THE SAME CHARACTER CAN APPEAR MULTIPLE TIMES IN THE SAME PICTURE AS IT TELLS ITS STORY.

IN THEM, COLOR BECOMES THE MEDIUM OF REVELATION WITH THE POWER TO SYMBOLIZE THE DEEPEST METAPHYSICAL TRUTHS OF THE UNIVERSE.

SCHAMA: THIS IS THE NOTHING, THE ABSOLUTE OF HINDU METAPHYSICS OUT OF WHICH EVENTUALLY THE WORLD WILL BE CREATED.

SO THE FIRST PANEL IS THAT NOTHING, AND YET THERE IS SOMETHING BECAUSE YOU CAN SEE THE BRUSH STROKES THERE, AND THE BRUSH STROKES, WHETHER VOLUNTARILY OR NOT, GIVE A SENSE OF THE PULSE OF THE ETHER.

IT'S NOT JUST EMPTINESS, IT'S NOT JUST ABSENCE AT ALL, AND IN THE SECOND PANEL, WE HAVE THE MAHASIDDHA, THE NEARLY PERFECT PERSON, IN WHOM CONSCIOUSNESS IS DAWNING, THE SECOND STAGE OF THE GREAT MOMENT OF PRIMORDIAL CREATION.

AND THIS EXQUISITELY PAINTED FIGURE IS HOLDING A LITTLE FLOWER AS THOUGH THE WORLD IS STARTING TO BUD AND BLOOM, AND IN THE THIRD PANEL, FINALLY, THE PHYSICAL MATERIAL OF THE WORLD RESOLVES INTO EARTHY MATTER, WHICH IS SILVER.

SO ALL WE HAVE ARE SILVER AND GOLD.

NOW NOTHING LIKE THIS HAD EVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE IN INDIAN PAINTING.

ACTUALLY NOTHING LIKE IT HAD EVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE IN ALL OF THE HISTORY OF ART.

WHAT WE'VE GOT HERE IS THE NEAREST VISUALIZATION YOU CAN GET TO OF A TRANCE.

NARRATOR: THIS TRANCELIKE QUALITY, INTENDED TO TRANSCEND SPACE AND TIME, MEANS PICTURES LIKE THIS CAN BE JUST AS EASILY READ FROM LEFT TO RIGHT AS RIGHT TO LEFT.

FLAT BACKGROUNDS OF GOLD LIKE THESE HAD ONCE BEEN POPULAR IN EUROPEAN PAINTINGS.

THE SHIMMER OF GOLD HELPED BALANCE INTENSE PIGMENTS LIKE BLUE ULTRAMARINES AND RED ROSE MADDER SEEN HERE IN JESUS' ROBE.

BUT PUTTING REAL PEOPLE IN REAL SPACES DEMANDED MAKING EARTH EARTH-COLORED, AND THIS SHIFT MEANT SHADOW AND LIGHT BEGAN TO MATTER MUCH MORE.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF PRINTING, ESPECIALLY WOODCUTS, REINFORCED THIS PUSH INTO EVER MORE COMPLEX PATTERNS OF BLACK AND WHITE CALLED CHIAROSCURO.

ANOTHER FACTOR, VISIBLE HERE IN LEONARDO'S "ANNUNCIATION" WITH ITS EVER-FADING ATMOSPHERIC TONES, WAS THE SWITCH TO OIL-BASED PAINTS.

OIL CHANGED ART'S RELATIONSHIP WITH COLOR FOREVER.

FROM AROUND THE MIDDLE OF THE 15TH CENTURY, ARTISTS, FIRST OF ALL IN NORTHERN EUROPE AND THEN GRADUALLY IN ITALY, STARTED TO USE OIL TO BIND THEIR PAINTS, LINSEED OIL AND NUT OIL, AND THE KEY DIFFERENCE IS THAT MIXING WITH OILS MAKES THE PAINT MUCH SLOWER DRYING SO THAT AN ARTIST CAN HAVE MUCH LONGER TO BLEND PAINTS, AND SO WITH OIL PAINTS, IT WAS POSSIBLE TO CREATE MUCH SUBTLER SHADING, SHADOWS, A GREATER VARIATION OF TONE BY MIXING THE COLORS ON THE CANVAS OR ON THE BOARD.

NARRATOR: A CENTURY AFTER SUCH VENETIAN MASTERPIECES AS "BACCHUS AND ARIADNE," INTENSE COLORS-- ORANGES, REDS, BLUES, OR YELLOWS-- HAD BECOME INTERLOCKED WITH LIGHT AND SHADE.

FOR ARTISTS SUCH AS REMBRANDT, COLOR EVEN BECAME SUBORDINATE TO IT.

IN HIS HAND, LIGHT AND SHADE COULD NOW PROVIDE THE DRAMA ALMOST ON ITS OWN.

REMBRANDT CHOSE A PALETTE DOMINATED BY BROWNS BECAUSE THEY PRESERVED THEIR NATURALLY OBSCURITY IN ALMOST ANY LIGHT, HELPING HIM TO PERSUADE HIS VIEWERS THAT HIS CANVASES HAD DEPTH... AND NOT JUST PHYSICAL DEPTH.

THIS NARROW PALETTE OF SUBDUED COLORS COULD ALSO CONJURE THE MYSTERIES OF SPIRITUAL DEPTH AND THE NIGHT.

A CENTURY LATER, THE VENETIAN-BORN PAINTER GIAMBATTISTA TIEPOLO WOULD TAKE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LIGHT, SHADE, AND COLOR AND RETHINK THEM ONCE MORE.

AND DURING THE SO-CALLED AGE OF REASON, HE WOULD GIVE LIGHT THE UPPER HAND, CREATING WORKS WHOSE FIGURES APPEAR TO SHARE THE SAME PHYSICAL SPACE AS THE VIEWER.

HERE IN THE BISHOP'S PALACE IN WURZBURG, SOUTHERN GERMANY, WE CAN SEE THAT EFFECT IN SPECTACULAR FASHION.

COVERING 7,000 SQUARE FEET, IT BECAME ONE OF THE LARGEST CEILING FRESCOS IN THE WORLD.

DEPICTING APOLLO AND THE CONTINENTS, TIEPOLO PAID HOMAGE TO HIS PATRON'S IMAGE OF HIS OWN POLITICAL POWER.

IMPOSSIBLE TO TAKE IN ALL AT ONCE, THE FRESCO UNFOLDS AS YOU ASCEND EACH STEP OF THE STAIRCASE.

SCHAMA: TIEPOLO REALLY REINVENTS WHAT IT MEANS TO LOOK AT A PAINTING.

YOU CAN WALK ALL AROUND THIS SPACE.

HE WANTS YOU TO DO IT.

THE FIGURES MOVE, THEY'RE ENDLESSLY ANIMATED.

THIS IS A WORLD IN MOTION.

IT IS A COMMOTION OF FIGURES.

TIEPOLO--IT'S ALMOST AS THOUGH HE ANTICIPATES MOVIE DIRECTORS IN HIS INSISTENCE THAT EVERYTHING FLOATS, EVERYTHING IS ELASTIC.

THESE ARE REAL, LIVING PRESENCES.

THE MUSICIANS ARE PLAYING MUSIC.

THE MERCHANTS ARE MAKING MONEY.

THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE ACTUALLY ACTING IN THE EARTHY, MORTAL WORLD.

AND ONCE YOU FEEL THAT, YOU FEEL TIEPOLO HAS TURNED A CORNER IN ART.

HE'S NOT SO MUCH SOMEONE WHO IS SIMPLY AN ENTERTAINER FOR ARISTOCRATIC GRANDEES.

HE'S OF US, HE'S OF OUR FLESH AND BLOOD.

THAT MAKES HIM NOT SO MUCH ONE OF THE OLD MASTERS BUT ONE OF THE FIRST OF THE NEW MASTERS.

NARRATOR: PAINTED AT A TIME WHEN THE EMPIRES OF EUROPE WERE CARVING UP THE WORLD, THE FRESCO DEPICTS THE SUN GOD APOLLO BRINGING LIGHT INTO THE WORLD AND THE 3 CONTINENTS OF ASIA, AFRICA, AND AMERICA COMING TO PAY HOMAGE TO THE SUPPOSED GREATNESS OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION.

IN THE DECADES AFTER TIEPOLO'S DEATH, ONE OF HIS STUDENTS FRANCISCO DE GOYA WOULD PAINT SOME OF THE MOST IDYLLIC IMAGES OF THE 18th CENTURY.

GOYA WAS A ROYAL PAINTER AT THE SPANISH COURT, AND HIS EARLY COMMISSIONS INCLUDED DESIGNS FOR DECORATIVE TAPESTRIES, WHICH HARKED BACK TO THE COLOR-SATURATED IMAGES OF THE VENETIANS.

IN 1788, GOYA PAINTED THIS, "THE MEADOW OF SAN ISIDRO," THE ANNUAL SPRING FESTIVAL TO MADRID'S PATRON SAINT.

IT SEEMS TO BE A PERFECT ENLIGHTENMENT IMAGE AND DEPICTS A WORLD IN PERFECT HARMONY.

3 DECADES LATER, GOYA WOULD PAINT THIS...

THE SAME SCENE, BUT THE ORDERED WORLD NOW IN CHAOS, DANCING TO THE TUNE OF A MADMAN ON A DISCORDANT GUITAR.

SCHAMA: SOMEONE HAS TURNED THE LIGHTS OUT.

IN PLACE OF ALL THAT BRIGHTNESS AND LIGHT AT THE FESTIVAL OF SAN ISIDRO, WE HAVE THIS.

THE SKY HAS TURNED TO THE COLOR OF TAR, PITCH, SLUDGE.

IN PLACE OF LIVELINESS, IN PLACE OF PICNICKING, WE HAVE A GREAT CLUMP, A KNOT OF THE GIBBERING, THE PSYCHOTIC, THE UNHINGED, GLASSY-EYED, THEIR MOUTHS OPEN.

IN A CORNER OF THE PAINTING, THERE IS A FIGURE SEEN IN PROFILE WHO SEEMS TO SUM UP EVERYTHING THAT'S GOING ON IN GOYA'S HEAD.

THE FIGURE HAS AN OPEN MOUTH, AND THAT OPEN MOUTH SEEMS TO BE EMITTING A TERRIBLE HOWL OF PAIN.

SOMETHING HAS GONE HORRIBLY WRONG.

NARRATOR: THE CLUE TO WHO GOYA HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR SPAIN'S DISSENT FROM COLOR AND LIFE INTO DARKNESS AND INSANITY IS TO BE FOUND IN THE CENTER OF THE PAINTING...

THE FRENCH LEADER NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.

IN HIS 60s, GOYA ABANDONED HIS ROLE AS COURT ARTIST TO BEAR WITNESS TO THE IRRATIONAL FORCES UNLEASHED BY NAPOLEON'S INVASION OF SPAIN.

"A PILGRIMAGE TO SAN ISIDRO" IS ONE OF 14 IMAGES NOW KNOWN AS "THE BLACK PAINTINGS."

PAINTED TOWARD THE END OF HIS LIFE, THEY WERE DAUBED DIRECTLY ONTO THE WALLS OF HIS HOUSE.

SCHAMA: THE BLACK PAINTINGS SEEM TO ME TO BE AN END GAME FOR GOYA, NOT JUST IN HIS OWN LIFE AND CAREER IN HIS SEVENTIES, BUT ALSO HIS FEELING ABOUT AN END GAME FOR ART, TRADITIONAL ART ANYWAY, THE ART THAT ASPIRED THROUGH BEAUTY TO ENNOBLE THE SPIRIT OF CIVILIZATION.

ONE OF THE MOST TERRIFYING OF ALL HIS PAINTINGS SHOWS SATURN CHEWING ON THE STUMP OF A SMALL BODY.

THAT'S WHAT IT'S COME TO.

THE HUGE TRADITION OF CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY IS REDUCED TO THIS HORRIFYING IMAGE OF SADISTIC CRUELTY.

NOW ALL THESE MONSTERS AND HORRORS AND DEMONS AND DRAGONS OF COURSE HAD APPEARED ALL OVER EUROPEAN ART BEFORE, BUT WHERE HAD THEY APPEARED?

THEY'D APPEARED IN IMAGES OF THE LAST JUDGMENT, OF THE APOCALYPSE, AND THEY WERE ALWAYS BALANCED BY A SENSE OF THE OPTIMISM OF SALVATION, BUT GOYA HAS COME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT GOD IS AWOL, IS ABSENT WITHOUT LEAVE, AND THERE'S ONE PAINTING WHICH IN A SENSE IS LEAST LIKELY TO HAVE THAT HORRIFYINGLY PESSIMISTIC ELOQUENCE, BUT IT DOES.

THERE ARE NO FIGURES.

THERE'S JUST A DOG, A MUTT, BUT FOR THIS DOG, THE MASTER IS GONE, DEAD, SLAUGHTERED, MISSING.

HE'S NO LONGER GOING TO BE FED.

HE'S SIMPLY FACED WITH DROWNING INSIDE THIS FORMLESS, BROWN VACUUM.

IT'S ALL COME DOWN TO THIS, THEN, A DOG WITHOUT A MASTER, SPAIN WITHOUT ITS GOD, HUMANITY ABSOLUTELY WITHOUT CIVILIZATION.

NARRATOR: EVENTUALLY, A NEW GENERATION OF WESTERN ARTISTS WOULD PUT VIBRANT COLOR BACK INTO EUROPEAN ART, AND INSPIRATION WOULD COME FROM ANOTHER CULTURE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD-- JAPAN.

AFTER A CENTURY OF CIVIL WAR, JAPAN'S CAPITAL WAS MOVED TO EDO, NOW MODERN TOKYO.

BY 1700, IT HAD BECOME ONE THE WORLD'S LARGEST CITIES, HOME TO OVER ONE MILLION PEOPLE.

DRIVING THE CITY'S EXTRAORDINARY GROWTH WAS A NEW CLASS OF HARD-WORKING MERCHANTS.

UNABLE TO ASPIRE TO POLITICAL POWER, THEY SPENT THEIR NEWFOUND WEALTH ON THEATER, MUSIC, AND ART, AND UNLIKE IN EUROPE, THE JAPANESE MASS-PRODUCED COLOR ART IN PRINTS CALLED UKIYO-E, WHICH TRANSLATES AS "PICTURES OF THE FLOATING WORLD."

UKIYO-E BEGAN WITH ONLY A FEW COLORS BUT COMBINED THEM IN INCREASINGLY SOPHISTICATED WAYS TO CREATE VIVID DEPICTIONS OF THE RAPIDLY GROWING CITY.

ITS STARS WERE FAMOUS KABUKI ACTORS, SUMO WRESTLERS, AND ESPECIALLY THE MOST FASHIONABLE COURTESANS AND PROSTITUTES OF THE CITY'S LICENSED PLEASURE DISTRICT... AND THEIR PERSONAL LIVES BECAME THE FOCUS OF INTENSE CELEBRITY GOSSIP.

MANY UKIYO-E PRINTS WERE LIKE "PLAYBOY" MEETS "VOGUE," BLENDING THE LATEST FASHIONS WITH WHAT WAS OFTEN EXPLICIT SEXUAL IMAGERY.

THESE PRINTS WERE CALLED SHUNGA AND WERE A KIND OF CALLING CARD FOR THE OIRAN.

UNLIKE GEISHAS, WHO TRADITIONALLY WERE ONLY ENTERTAINERS, OIRAN WERE PINUP GIRLS AND HIGH-CLASS PROSTITUTES WHO CATERED TO THE VERY WEALTHY.

[SPEAKING JAPANESE] ONE OF THE GREATEST OF ALL UKIYO-E ARTISTS WAS KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI... AND FOR HIM, COLOR COMBINED WITH LANDSCAPE ELEVATED THE ARTFORM TO A HIGHER SPIRITUAL DIMENSION.

A MASTER OF WHAT WE NOW CALL SERIAL PAINTING, HOKUSAI PAINTED ONE WORK THAT CONTAINS 36 VIEWS OF MOUNT FUJI.

ONE OF THEM WAS "THE GREAT WAVE," AND IN ONE OF THE FEW SURVIVING WORKSHOPS, HIGHLY SKILLED CRAFTSMEN STILL KEEP TRADITIONAL UKIYO-E PRINTMAKING ALIVE.

UP TO 5 WOOD BLOCKS NEEDED TO BE CRAFTED FOR A SINGLE IMAGE WITH THE COLOR APPLIED LAYER BY LAYER.

YET SOME OF UKIYO-E'S MOST MEMORABLE WORKS USE THE LEAST COLOR.

5 OF HOKUSAI'S 36 VIEWS OF MOUNT FUJI ARE PRINTED ALMOST ENTIRELY IN SHADES OF BLUE.

[WAVES ROLLING] SCHAMA: THIS EXTRAORDINARY IMAGE IS IN A WAY MY FAVORITE FROM THE ENTIRE SERIES, MORE I'M AFRAID THAN THE FAMOUS WAVE.

THIS ISN'T ACTUALLY A NATURALISTIC SCENE.

IT'S ACTUALLY FELT AS PART OF NATURE, BUT NATURE HAS BEEN TRANSLATED AS IF INTO A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE, INTO PATTERN.

WE READ IT AS THE FORCE OF NATURE, EVEN THOUGH THIS IS A SORT OF SET OF SYMBOLS PRACTICALLY.

WHAT IS VERY STRIKING IS HOW EXTRAORDINARILY MODERN.

YOU FEEL IF YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT WHERE MODERN ART BEGINS IT BEGINS RIGHT HERE IN EDO.

NARRATOR: ULTIMATELY, UKIYO-E WAS COMMERCIAL ART FOR THE MASSES.

WIDELY POPULAR IN ALL ITS FORMS, IT DEMONSTRATED THAT EVERY-DAY, TRANSITORY OBJECTS COULD BE CONSIDERED ART... SOMETHING THAT THE IMPRESSIONISTS IN 19th CENTURY FRANCE WERE ALSO TRYING TO DO.

JOACHIM PISSARRO: MONET, PISSARRO, DEGAS, CASSATT, THEY BEGAN TO COLLECT THIS FOR THE PLEASURE OF THE EYES, AS WELL AS FOR SORT OF VERIFICATION AND JUSTIFICATION OF WHAT THEY HAD BEEN ATTEMPTING TO DO.

WHEN YOU GO GIVERNY TO MONET'S HOUSE, YOU SEE THE HOUSE HAS BEEN KEPT PRETTY MUCH INTACT, AND YOU SEE ALL THIS COLLECTION OF PRINTS THAT IS STILL THERE ON THE WALLS.

YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE UKIYO-E, THEY WERE OFFERING AN ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE.

IT WAS THE PROOF THAT YOU HAD THE POSSIBILITY RIGHT THERE AND THEN TO EXPRESS YOURSELF THROUGH COMPLETELY DIFFERENT GRAPHIC, CHROMATIC, COMPOSITIONAL LANGUAGE.

NARRATOR: SUCH WAS THEIR ADMIRATION FOR THE BOLD, EXAGGERATED COLORS OF UKIYO-E THAT SOME IMPRESSIONISTS WERE INSPIRED TO CREATE IMAGES IN THEIR LIKENESS.

MONET ALSO BORROWED THE JAPANESE IDEA OF PAINTING PICTURES IN SERIES, THE SAME IMAGE PAINTED AGAIN AND AGAIN IN A QUEST TO FIND SOMETHING FRESH AND TRANSFORMATIONAL.

IN THIS SERIES OF PAINTINGS DEPICTING ROUEN CATHEDRAL, WE SEE MONET ATTEMPTING TO TRANSFORM THE OPTICS OF COLOR, ALMOST TRANSCENDING THE PHYSICAL SOLIDITY OF OBJECTS TO CREATE A RADIANT WORLD OF LIGHT.

SCHAMA: MONET HAD SAID THERE ARE NO OBJECTIVE FACTS ABOUT A LANDSCAPE OR A BUILDING WHICH WE NEED TO DESCRIBE LITERALLY.

THERE IS ONLY THE SENSATION OF LOOKING AT THEM.

AND HE TRIES TO DELIVER IN THESE PAINTINGS THAT SENSATION SO THAT THE FRONT OF THE CHURCH BECOMES A GREAT SPONGE THAT SUCKS UP THE LIGHT AT DIFFERENT MOMENTS OF THE DAY AND DELIVERS EXTRAORDINARY EUPHORIA OF HARMONY BETWEEN THE LIGHT, OUR EYES, AND THAT STONE.

WHAT IT BUILDS INTO IS A KIND OF SYMPHONY OF COLOR HARMONY.

WHAT IN THE END MONET IS PAINTING IN THIS SERIES IS NOTHING SHORT THAN THE COLOR OF TIME.

NARRATOR: THE IMPRESSIONISTS WERE WORKING AT A TIME OF UNPRECEDENTED SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

BY THE MID 19th CENTURY, CHEMISTS WERE MANUFACTURING WHOLE NEW PALETTES OF ARTIFICIAL PIGMENTS, AND ARTISTS WERE ALSO GRAPPLING WITH DISCOVERIES ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LIGHT AND COLOR.

BALL: THE IMPRESSIONISTS IN PARTICULAR WERE VERY INTERESTED IN TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THIS DIFFICULT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LIGHT AND COLOR.

WHAT IN PARTICULAR ARTISTS LIKE MONET CONCLUDED WAS THAT EVEN WHAT SEEMED TO US TO BE SUBDUED COLORS OR EVEN BLACKS AND WHITES, WHEN YOU GO OUT INTO NATURE AND REALLY LOOK AT THEM, THEY'RE MADE UP OF ALL KINDS OF COLORS.

MONET IN PARTICULAR BECAME CONVINCED THAT SHADOWS AND, IN FACT, THE ATMOSPHERE, AIR ITSELF, HAD A KIND OF VIOLET TINGE TO IT, AND SO THERE'S A LOT OF VIOLET IN HIS SHADOWS.

IN A SENSE, YOU COULD UNDERSTAND IMPRESSIONIST ART AS AN ATTEMPT TO TRY TO RE-CREATE THE COLORS OF NATURE FROM THE BRIGHT, SIMPLE COLORS THAT WE SEE IN THE RAINBOW.

NARRATOR: ONE OF THE ARTISTS WHO MADE FULL USE OF THIS INNOVATION IN COLOR PALETTES WAS A DUTCHMAN WHO TRAVELED TO THE SOUTH OF FRANCE, SEEKING WHAT HE CALLED THE "JAPANESE LIGHT."

TOD RAMOS: VINCENT VAN GOGH WAS A PAINTER IN A HURRY.

HE STARTED LATE, HE FINISHED EARLY.

HE HAD LITTLE TIME TO LEARN WHAT HE ACHIEVED, BUT IN THE TIME THAT HE DID SO, HE WENT BEYOND ALL OF HIS PEERS, ALL OF HIS CONTEMPORARIES.

NARRATOR: AIDED BY THE CONVENIENCE OF THE FIRST TUBED PAINTS, VAN GOGH SOUGHT TO HARNESS THE POWER OF COMPLEMENTARY COLORS LIKE BLUE AND ORANGE, RED AND GREEN, VIOLET AND YELLOW, SEEKING TO CREATE EFFECTS THAT NO OTHER PAINTER HAD EVER ACHIEVED BEFORE.

RAMOS: HE SUDDENLY DISCOVERS THIS WONDERFUL CONTRAST OF SETTING ONE COLOR AGAINST ANOTHER, FINDING THE COMPLEMENTARY COLOR.

HE WAS INTERESTED IN SETTING ALIGHT, IF YOU LIKE, THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE EARTH COLOR AND THE YELLOW.

NOW HE CAN ELECTRIFY THE DIFFERENCE BY FINDING A COMPLEMENTARY COLOR, AND THE COMPLEMENTARY COLOR IS OF COURSE HIS CROWN BECAUSE HE KNOWS EXACTLY HOW TO MAKE SOMETHING GO IN FRONT OF SOMETHING, HOW SOMETHING COMES BACK TO YOU, AND THEN IF IT BECOMES BORING, HOW TO EXCITE IT WITH AN ELECTRICITY OF COLOR.

NARRATOR: FOR VAN GOGH, COLOR BECAME A SPIRITUAL MEDIUM, WHOSE POWER WAS SUCH THAT IT COULD RIVAL, EVEN REPLACE THE CHURCH IN CONVEYING THE MIRACULOUS FORCE OF LIFE.

SCHAMA: SO ON A WARM NIGHT IN SEPTEMBER IN 1888, HE COMES DOWN FROM HIS LITTLE APARTMENT IN THE PLACE LAMARTINE IN ARLES AND GOES ROUND THE CORNER, AND HE SEES THIS GREAT EXPANSE OF THE RIVER RHONE WITH THE CITY OF ARLES REDUCED TO A LITTLE RIM OF HUMAN ACTIVITY, AND SOMEHOW, THIS AMAZING MOMENT SPEAKS TO HIM THAT HE CAN ACTUALLY DO THIS COSMIC PAINTING.

SAID, "YOU DON'T NEED TO DO BIBLE PAINTINGS, "YOU DON'T NEED TO GO TO CHURCH.

"THE CHURCH OF THE DAY IS THIS, "THIS GREAT ILLUMINATION, LIKE A BURST OF BEAUTY "FROM A STAINED-GLASS WINDOW.

THIS IS THE RADIANCE OF HERE AND NOW."

NARRATOR: ULTIMATELY, VAN GOGH'S DESPERATE ATTEMPTS TO HARNESS THE POWER OF COLOR TO REDEEM THE WORLD COULD NOT SAVE HIM FROM HIMSELF...

BUT AS HE HAD ONCE WRITTEN, HE WAS PAVING THE WAY FOR A NEW MESSIAH OF ART, ONE WHO WOULD RESTORE LIGHT AND COLOR TO THEIR RIGHTFUL PLACE.

FOR SOME, HENRI MATISSE WAS THE FULFILLMENT OF THAT PROPHECY.

ONE OF THE GIANTS OF EARLY 20th CENTURY ART, MATISSE SPENT HIS FORMATIVE YERS PERFECTING THE DRAWN LINE.

HE WOULD GO ON TO MAKE COLOR CENTRAL TO PAINTING, HEALING THE RIFT BETWEEN HIGH ART AND DECORATIVE ART THAT HAD BEGUN IN THE RENAISSANCE.

IN JANUARY 1912, MATISSE ARRIVED IN TANGIER, MOROCCO.

HE HAD COME SEEKING INSPIRATION FROM THE ISLAMIC WORLD'S LOVE OF PATTERN, COLOR, AND LIGHT.

INSTEAD, HE WAS CONFINED TO HIS HOTEL ROOM BY TORRENTIAL RAIN AND A STORM THAT LASTED FOR DAYS.

[THUNDER] SOPHIE MATISSE: HE GETS THERE.

IT'S, LIKE, PRACTICALLY A MONTH OF RAIN AND CLOUDS AND EVERYTHING.

CAN YOU IMAGINE WAITING, LIKE, 3 WEEKS THROUGH RAIN?

SO WHEN IT DID LIGHTEN UP AND THEN THE SUN COMES OUT, I THINK THE COLORS LITERALLY EXPLODED IN FRONT OF HIM, OR THAT'S HOW HE FELT.

THIS MUST HAVE BEEN JUST COMPLETELY A PHENOMENAL EXPERIENCE FOR HIM.

REALLY CHANGED HIS LIFE.

NARRATOR: THE EXPLOSION HE WITNESSED IN NATURE WAS MATCHED BY THE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF THE MEDINA, THE HEART OF THE CITY.

[MAN SPEAKING ARABIC ON P.A.]

AND HERE IN TANGIER, HE FOUND ART THAT STILL HAD AN INSTINCTIVE POPULAR APPEAL, AN ART THAT WAS OWNED BY EVERYONE FROM THE MOSQUE TO THE MADRASSA TO THE MARKET.

EVERYWHERE MATISSE LOOKED WAS PROOF OF HIS LONG-HELD INTUITION THAT COLOR, PATTERN, AND DECORATION FROM THE ISLAMIC WORLD SHOULD NEVER BE THOUGHT OF AS THE POOR RELATION TO THAT OF THE WEST.

SCHAMA: HE CAME HERE TO MOROCCO AT EXACTLY THE TIME WHEN THE PLACE WAS BEING BATTLED OVER BY COLONIAL POWERS, AND THE TITLE TO THEM DOING THAT DEPENDED ON THEIR CLAIM TO BRING CIVILIZATION TO A BACKWARD, PRIMITIVE PEOPLE.

NOW HENRI MATISSE FELT SOMETHING LIKE THE OPPOSITE, THAT WESTERN CULTURE, MODERN ART IN PARTICULAR, WOULD BE REINVIGORATED BY UNDERSTANDING THAT IT HAD SOMETHING TO LEARN, NOT SOMETHING TO TEACH OTHER CULTURES.

WITH THAT, HE TURNED EVERYTHING UPSIDE DOWN.

NARRATOR: INSPIRED BY HIS EXPERIENCE IN A TANGIER CAFÉ, MATISSE PAINTED THIS, A PICTURE THAT IN MANY WAYS BORROWS FROM THE TILES AND CARPETS HE SAW ALL AROUND HIM.

"LE CAFÉ MOROCCAN" TURNS ITS BACK ON LITERAL REPRESENTATION, POINTING THE WAY TOWARDS PURE COLOR ABSTRACTION.

MATISSE: IF YOU WERE TO SEE THIS PAINTING ALONE AND NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MATISSE, YOU MIGHT THINK IT CAME IN THE FORTIES WHEN HE WAS DOING THE CUTOUTS BECAUSE THEY ARE KIND OF JUST SHAPES ON A FLAT BACKGROUND.

THERE'S THIS KIND OF SUBTLE THING, THE BLACK ARCHWAYS.

THERE ARE ELEMENTS AND MOTIFS THAT ARE VERY TILE-LIKE.

IT'S NICE.

THE MEDITATIVE QUALITY WITH THE FLOATING QUALITY, AND THAT'S TWO THINGS THAT WHEN YOU MEDITATE IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE KIND OF FLOATING IN SPACE, IT'S A REALLY NICE FEELING WITHOUT BEING BOGGED DOWN BY ALL THE STRESS OF THE DAY.

NARRATOR: AS HE AGED, MATISSE REMAINED A TIRELESS INNOVATOR.

EVEN DURING THE DARK DAYS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR WHEN FRANCE HAD SURRENDERED AND HE WAS EFFECTIVELY HOUSEBOUND AND DISABLED BY ABDOMINAL CANCER, MATISSE CONTINUED TO PUSH ART, COLOR, AND FORM IN NEW AND UNEXPECTED DIRECTIONS.

MY GRANDFATHER HAD THE GALLERY HERE IN NEW YORK AND BEGGED HIM TO OF COURSE LEAVE WHILE IT WAS POSSIBLE, BUT, UM, HE DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE BECAUSE IF ANYBODY WITH ANY WONDERFUL THING TO OFFER TO THEIR COUNTRY LEAVES, WHAT'S LEFT OF THE COUNTRY AFTERWARDS?

SO HE DID STAY, BUT, UM, IT WASN'T EASY CERTAINLY.

SO THERE WAS A LOT OF HARDSHIP GOING ON, BUT I DON'T THINK HE WANTED TO TALK ABOUT ANY OF THAT IN HIS ART.

YOU KNOW, WHAT HE WAS DOING, HE WAS LEADING PEOPLE TO LIGHT AND TO PEACE AND TO HEALING.

NARRATOR: THOUGH CONFINED TO A WHEELCHAIR, MATISSE EXPRESSED HIMSELF IN A CELEBRATION OF PHYSICAL FREEDOM, CHANNELING CHILDHOOD MEMORIES OF DANCING BODIES AND CIRCUS ACTS.

SCHAMA: HE'S WORKING NOW LIKE A PAPER SCULPTOR, ALMOST AS IF HE'S CREATING THE ULTIMATE ILLUSTRATED CHILDREN'S BOOK.

HE'S CARVING DIRECTLY INTO COLOR.

HE'S LETTING THIS BLAZING COLOR ACTUALLY BUILD THE FORMS.

THE SPEED AND THE FREEDOM IS SUCH THAT HE'D NEVER BEEN ABLE TO DO WHEN HE WAS PAINTING, AND YOU HAVE THE SENSE THAT HE FEELS PAINTING, WHICH HE CAN'T DO PHYSICALLY ANYWAY, IS TOO STUDIOUS AND LABORIOUS, AND WHAT THE CUTOUTS ARE ARE A GREAT UNCORKING OF CREATIVE ENERGY.

IT'S AS THOUGH THERE'S SOME SORT OF ELECTRICITY THAT'S NOW PULSING AND SURGING THROUGH THOSE OLD HANDS OF HIS.

NARRATOR: MATISSE HAD HELPED GIVE BIRTH TO A NEW KIND OF ART THAT OPENED THE GATES TO ABSTRACTION AND ABANDONED THE DRAWN LINE AND CONVENTIONAL IMAGE ENTIRELY.

BALL: ULTIMATELY, YOU ARRIVE AT ARTISTS WHO ARE CONSTRUCTING WITH PURE COLOR-- MARK ROTHKO FOR EXAMPLE OR IN PARTICULAR YVES KLEIN, WHO STATED QUITE CLEARLY THAT HE FELT AT SOME POINT ARTISTS WOULD PAINT IN COLOR AND NOTHING BUT COLOR, AND OF COURSE, THAT'S WHAT HE DID HIMSELF SO MUCH SO THAT HE WANTED HIS OWN COLOR, AND YVES KLEIN'S FAMOUS BLUE IS ACTUALLY THE VERY ANCIENT COLOR ULTRAMARINE, BUT NOW IT WAS BEING PRODUCED INDUSTRIALLY AS A PIGMENT, SO YOU COULD MIX IT UP IN HUGE VATS AND COVER THESE CANVASES AND THESE SCULPTURAL FORMS JUST WITH THIS BLUE AS YVES KLEIN DID.

NARRATOR: JUST AS YVES KLEIN'S REFORMULATION OF ULTRAMARINE IN THE 1960s RECALLS THE HEAVENLY BLUE LIGHT OF CHARTRES' STAINED-GLASS WINDOWS, SO TODAY CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS HAVE CONTINUED TO ESPOUSE COLOR AS THE KEY MEDIUM OF ARTISTIC SPIRITUAL INTENSITY.

BALL: WHEN STRONG COLOR IS USED IN THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES IN THE GOTHIC CATHEDRALS, THE ASSOCIATION IS WITH THIS IDEA THAT LIGHT IS SOMEHOW ASSOCIATED WITH GOD, THAT GOD CREATED THE UNIVERSE, IN FACT, OUT OF LIGHT, SO IT'S A METAPHYSICAL IDEA THAT PURE COLOR CAN BE USED TO EXPRESS SOMETHING METAPHYSICAL.

IT'S PERHAPS PARADOXICAL THAT WHEN WE SEE, FOR EXAMPLE, THE USE OF BLACK BY ANISH KAPOOR IT'S ALSO REFERRING TO SOMETHING OUTSIDE OF ITSELF.

IT'S REFERRING TO A VOID AND THEREFORE TO BE A SCREEN FOR US TO PROJECT OUR THOUGHTS AND OUR CONTEMPLATIONS ONTO.

NARRATOR: AFTER NEARLY A THOUSAND YEARS, THE STORY OF COLOR HAS COME FULL CIRCLE... REUNITED ONCE MORE WITH THE DEEPEST SPIRITUAL IMPULSES OF ART.