London History & Culture: Experience London/Britain/Europe!

J.M.W. Turner - A National Gallery of Art Film Presentation (Livestream)
Produced by the Department of Exhibition Programs, National Gallery of Art, this documentary chronicles the rise of Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), one of the greatest landscape painters of all time.
One of the greatest landscape painters of all time, Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) rendered the subtle effects of light and atmosphere in revolutionary ways. This documentary chronicles the rise of Turner, a barber's son who entered the Royal Academy art school at age fourteen to become, over the course of six decades, Britain's most renowned painter. It includes footage of locations important to Turner in Wales, England, Switzerland, and readings from writers and artists of the era, including John Ruskin and Lord Byron.

Joseph Mallord William Turner RA (23 April 1775 – 19 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbulent, often violent marine paintings. He left behind more than 550 oil paintings, 2,000 watercolours, and 30,000 works on paper. He was championed by the leading English art critic John Ruskin from 1840, and is today regarded as having elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting.
Turner was born in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London, to a modest lower-middle-class family and retained his lower-class accent, while assiduously avoiding the trappings of success and fame. A child prodigy, Turner studied at the Royal Academy of Arts from 1789, enrolling when he was 14, and exhibited his first work there at 15. During this period, he also served as an architectural draftsman. He earned a steady income from commissions and sales, which he often only begrudgingly accepted owing to his troubled and contrary nature. He opened his own gallery in 1804 and became professor of perspective at the academy in 1807, where he lectured until 1828. He travelled around Europe from 1802, typically returning with voluminous sketchbooks.
Intensely private, eccentric, and reclusive, Turner was a controversial figure throughout his career. He did not marry, but fathered two daughters, Evelina (1801–1874) and Georgiana (1811–1843), by the widow Sarah Danby. He became more pessimistic and morose as he got older, especially after the death of his father in 1829; when his outlook deteriorated, his gallery fell into disrepair and neglect, and his art intensified. In 1841, Turner rowed a boat into the Thames so he could not be counted as present at any property in that year's census. He lived in squalor and poor health from 1845, and died in London in 1851 aged 76. Turner is buried in St Paul's Cathedral, London.

Prado Museum - Madrid, Span: A Collection of Wonders Film Screening!

Let’s travel to one of my favorite places, Madrid, Spain, to see one of the world’s greatest art museums, the Prado. Our online/virtual adventure will feature a very brief overview of the museum followed by a full screening of the documentary film “The Prado Museum: A Collection of Wonders” hosted by Jeremy Irons (preview link below).

The Prado Museum (/ˈprɑːdoʊ/ PRAH-doh; Spanish: Museo del Prado), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th century, based on the former Spanish royal collection, and the single best collection of Spanish art. Founded as a museum of paintings and sculpture in 1819, it also contains important collections of other types of works. The Prado Museum is one of the most visited sites in the world and is considered one of the greatest art museums in the world. The numerous works by Francisco Goya, the single most extensively represented artist, as well as by Hieronymus Bosch, El Greco, Peter Paul Rubens, Titian, and Diego Velázquez, are some of the highlights of the collection. Velázquez and his keen eye and sensibility were also responsible for bringing much of the museum's fine collection of Italian masters to Spain, now one of the largest outside Italy.

The collection currently comprises around 8,200 drawings, 7,600 paintings, 4,800 prints, and 1,000 sculptures, in addition to many other works of art and historic documents. The Prado is one of the most-visited art museums in the world and is one of the largest museums in Spain.

The Prado, with the nearby Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum and the Museo Reina Sofía, forms Madrid's Golden Triangle of Art, which was included in the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2021.

The Prado Museum: A Collection of Wonders

The first cinematic journey through the rooms, stories and emotions of one of the most visited museums in the world. ACADEMY AWARD® WINNER JEREMY IRONS will be guiding spectators on a discovery of a heritage of beauty and art.

Film Trailer:

Live Aid London 1985: 40th Anniversary - Music History Livestream

Live Aid was a two-venue benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative held on Saturday, 13 July 1985. The event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia, a movement that started with the release of the successful charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in December 1984. Billed as the "global jukebox", Live Aid was held simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia.

We’ll see highlights from the London performers which included …
Coldstream Guards
Status Quo
The Style Council
The Boomtown Rats
Adam Ant
Ultravox
Spandau Ballet
Elvis Costello
Nik Kershaw
Sade
Sting, Phil Collins & Branford Marsalis
Howard Jones
Bryan Ferry
Paul Young
U2
Dire Straits
Queen
David Bowie
The Who
Elton John & Freddie Mercury
Brian May
Paul McCartney
Band Aid

In a separate program, later in the day, we’ll feature the Philadelphia performers.

***