Why can’t we make quality television like this anymore?! No hokey embarrassing dramatization, no sensationalism with drawn out cliffhangers, no godawful colourgrading or hysteric music. Just tight, beautiful, in-depth and well rounded.
Because it is not 'cool'. The connotations of the word 'serious' are now limited to boring, Everything boring is bad and undesirable. Hence. We reject not just quality television like this, as you mention, but we also reject people who do not fit into that profile. Also, THIS is cool. And the constant desperation to be cool is uncool.
A fascinating insight into the lives and thought of two unique individuals- thank you so much for sharing these films. They must be turning in their graves...
Its a shame that many aspects of what Morris and Ruskin were preaching, have not made it to the 21st century. The art world does not see craft as being very important, and more of a step child to their erudite concept of worthy arts. As public schools dismantled the many great kinesthetic and technical programs, which were part and parcel of the craft movement, artists and art educators, stood by silently, saying nothing, and in some cases acted as though they were more worthy as they felt the Liberal-arts & classical priests tacitly invited art educators to be part of the new college trajectory in education. The well rounded student is to have a taste of the arts, though only as a bit of relaxation from the grind of the "core" subjects.
Well... as someone who goes on and on about this sort of thing, as friends and family roll their eyes, I'd say you have to have an elephant's hide to simply keep objecting and speaking up. I do! I keep speaking up (about THIS and many other abominations (too strong a word?) of our new technically advanced but socially aberrant world). I love your comment. I wish I ran into more comments like yours. It makes me feel less lonely. I worry that no one cares about the visual and tactile Arts (any part of them) at all. I watch (am obsessed by) all the shows about houses (people buying houses, building them, selling them, expanding them, DESIGNING them, moving from one to another, etc.). And what I notice is... very very few people have paintings on their walls. When did we fall out of love with Art? And now, people use their hands less and less... and don't know how to repair things. I very much appreciate your comment.
It's absolutely nonsense to claim that Ruskin's failed marriage to Effie Gray was a trivial matter! It's totally understandable that Ruskin himself tried to downplay this scandal. But no matter how you look at it, it's weird. And if he would've married Rose La Touche, he might've failed to make that marriage work, as well. I think that the upbringing as a spoiled only child by his overly religious and possessive parents hindered him to develop healthy social relationships. That said, these lurid episodes should not overshadow Ruskin's many achievements. He was a truly great thinker! And whatever his parents got wrong - they realized that their son was special and they supported him no matter what.
Regarding William Morris, and what has been the benefit of all this automation? Less expensive products for the consumer. Why should a consumer pay more for something made by a craftsman if he can get the same or similar item from a machine? Should the consumer pay more just to fill the craftsman with job satisfaction?
In the end Morris actually admitted this himself- he knew that his pieces were too expensive for average wage people which was his target audience in the first place.
Morris was not against machine. But a craftsman has individuality , creativity , has satisfaction & pride in their work & the finished product reflects this. Quantity over quality. It's a personal choice at the end of the day.
I would argue that Soetsu Yanagi interprets Morris' ideas to the point where the machine is not only useful, but helpful, in making the work of craftspeople easier and more widely available. I don't think the question is the machine, but the use of the machine itself, and the docu kind of pushes this idea by comparing craftsmen using "primitive" (or rather, 19th/early 20th century) machines versus factory workers pressing buttons. Morris I think is worried about the machine supplanting the work of the hands, and it's not necessarily that he's a luddite, but that he believes at a certain point the machine becomes to author of the article and it no longer has any human relationship between craftsman and user. It's a little romanticized, but knowing the man it's hard to fault him for these sorts of conclusions.
Good docu. Except the MEN keep talking about the male workers...their satisfaction...etc..as if half the workers at this time were not women. They were. I want to see more of the work. drawings of Ruskin.. Not men shaking their hands about so called describing it.
Please remember that Ruskin's wife Effie was later married to the Pre-Raphaelite - John Everett Millais - their marriage was quite the interesting scandal -interesting even today! Effie claimed that Ruskin never consummated the marriage of several years while with her and she was able to obtain an annulment.
AleadaA, Effie didn't just claim that Ruskin never had sexual intercourse with her. She was examined by two physicians, and they found that she was right. She was still a virgin after having been married to Ruskin for 6 years! But it has never been cleared up why the marriage was never consummated. The marriage was annulled because of Ruskin's alleged incurable impotence. But it's not at all certain if Ruskin was really impotent or if he just didn't want to have a sexual relationship with Effie.
1:23:11 I hate this kind of pathologizing people through the Freudian concept of "sublimation". But I guess such a way of thinking was and still is popular with people who are overly or should I say "pathologically" obsessed with sexuality (I have seen a lot of similar evaluations of other artists, scholars and scientists... it gets on my nerves).
I find it amusing how these people are portrayed, in those times most of the artists were incredibly privileged, historians elevate them as they are some semi-gods. They were rich! How many potentially amazing artists died and they never had a fricking chance to prove their potential, because they were poor people without education?!..and those pesky maids (7:00) bothering him about sunset...
Love these documentaries much of the content of which is more pertinent than ever. The trip through Hammersmith - even if a little dated now still says it all ! I remain grateful however for the wonderful artistic works in all their forms not least the architecture which we can still enjoy and be astounded by today - although I despair at the diminishing ideals of another kind of world where humanity is not expropriated and commoditised in cruel and destructive ways. The story of the 'Pre-Raphaelite' women is however archetypal in itself as patriarchal ideas are not easily disentangled from a 'socialist' Utopian context.
paulnugent, yes, I felt the same! The claim that his disastrous marriage to Effie Gray was just a minor blip in Ruskin's productive life, is rather silly. And if Ruskin had really married Rose La Touche, that marriage might've failed as well. These episodes are important for understanding Ruskin. That said, he was a great and very unique thinker!
Prevention of Sexual Assault, Mandatory Classes, for 6th thru 12th grade. This will reduce the criminal element, 20 or 25 years, from now. U.S Military and Police Agency, must become more educational in these schools, in U. S.A.
Why can’t we make quality television like this anymore?!
No hokey embarrassing dramatization, no sensationalism with drawn out cliffhangers, no godawful colourgrading or hysteric music.
Just tight, beautiful, in-depth and well rounded.
To be fair, how would you make Victorian morris and the pre raphaelites extra spicy?
Yes!
Because it is not 'cool'. The connotations of the word 'serious' are now limited to boring, Everything boring is bad and undesirable. Hence. We reject not just quality television like this, as you mention, but we also reject people who do not fit into that profile. Also, THIS is cool. And the constant desperation to be cool is uncool.
instaBlaster...
Because television is made by idiots.
For anyone else who's just here for Morris, that part starts at 55:30.
😉
👍
Life saver thank you
A fascinating insight into the lives and thought of two unique individuals- thank you so much for sharing these films. They must be turning in their graves...
Excellent and fascinating programs - thanks so much!
Its a shame that many aspects of what Morris and Ruskin were preaching, have not made it to the 21st century. The art world does not see craft as being very important, and more of a step child to their erudite concept of worthy arts. As public schools dismantled the many great kinesthetic and technical programs, which were part and parcel of the craft movement, artists and art educators, stood by silently, saying nothing, and in some cases acted as though they were more worthy as they felt the Liberal-arts & classical priests tacitly invited art educators to be part of the new college trajectory in education. The well rounded student is to have a taste of the arts, though only as a bit of relaxation from the grind of the "core" subjects.
Well... as someone who goes on and on about this sort of thing, as friends and family roll their eyes, I'd say you have to have an elephant's hide to simply keep objecting and speaking up. I do! I keep speaking up (about THIS and many other abominations (too strong a word?) of our new technically advanced but socially aberrant world).
I love your comment. I wish I ran into more comments like yours. It makes me feel less lonely.
I worry that no one cares about the visual and tactile Arts (any part of them) at all. I watch (am obsessed by) all the shows about houses (people buying houses, building them, selling them, expanding them, DESIGNING them, moving from one to another, etc.). And what I notice is... very very few people have paintings on their walls. When did we fall out of love with Art? And now, people use their hands less and less... and don't know how to repair things.
I very much appreciate your comment.
Very informative and enjoyable
BRILLIANT IN EVERY RESPECT!!
It's absolutely nonsense to claim that Ruskin's failed marriage to Effie Gray was a trivial matter! It's totally understandable that Ruskin himself tried to downplay this scandal. But no matter how you look at it, it's weird. And if he would've married Rose La Touche, he might've failed to make that marriage work, as well. I think that the upbringing as a spoiled only child by his overly religious and possessive parents hindered him to develop healthy social relationships.
That said, these lurid episodes should not overshadow Ruskin's many achievements. He was a truly great thinker! And whatever his parents got wrong - they realized that their son was special and they supported him no matter what.
1:46:40 Did he just admit to theft ? 🙄
God did make the earth. That’s the truth.
Which God? Mammon?
@@debralegorreta1375 I bet my money on Brahma, first one to take credit for creating the Earth ;-)
Regarding William Morris, and what has been the benefit of all this automation? Less expensive products for the consumer. Why should a consumer pay more for something made by a craftsman if he can get the same or similar item from a machine? Should the consumer pay more just to fill the craftsman with job satisfaction?
In the end Morris actually admitted this himself- he knew that his pieces were too expensive for average wage people which was his target audience in the first place.
Morris was not against machine. But a craftsman has individuality , creativity , has satisfaction & pride in their work & the finished product reflects this. Quantity over quality. It's a personal choice at the end of the day.
I would argue that Soetsu Yanagi interprets Morris' ideas to the point where the machine is not only useful, but helpful, in making the work of craftspeople easier and more widely available. I don't think the question is the machine, but the use of the machine itself, and the docu kind of pushes this idea by comparing craftsmen using "primitive" (or rather, 19th/early 20th century) machines versus factory workers pressing buttons. Morris I think is worried about the machine supplanting the work of the hands, and it's not necessarily that he's a luddite, but that he believes at a certain point the machine becomes to author of the article and it no longer has any human relationship between craftsman and user. It's a little romanticized, but knowing the man it's hard to fault him for these sorts of conclusions.
Good docu. Except the MEN keep talking about the male workers...their satisfaction...etc..as if half the workers at this time were not women. They were. I want to see more of the work. drawings of Ruskin.. Not men shaking their hands about so called describing it.
The film is an artefact of its time. Like everything else.
Women in the arts and crafts movement is discussed briefly beginning @1:16:30 in the video.
@Neighborhood Nationalist fellas like you are why burdizzos sell
You find drawings of Ruskin in his masterpiece "Modern Painters"
@Vir Nobilis No, women were not all housewives during the time of Ruskin.
Thanks for uploading. The Morris episode, from a distance of almost 40 years is absolutely fascinating.
Thank you for uploading this! It is the best documentary on these times, issues, men I have ever seen. Much to follow up on here.
Please remember that Ruskin's wife Effie was later married to the Pre-Raphaelite - John Everett Millais - their marriage was quite the interesting scandal -interesting even today! Effie claimed that Ruskin never consummated the marriage of several years while with her and she was able to obtain an annulment.
It is stated in the documentary that Effie later married Millais.
AleadaA, Effie didn't just claim that Ruskin never had sexual intercourse with her. She was examined by two physicians, and they found that she was right. She was still a virgin after having been married to Ruskin for 6 years! But it has never been cleared up why the marriage was never consummated. The marriage was annulled because of Ruskin's alleged incurable impotence. But it's not at all certain if Ruskin was really impotent or if he just didn't want to have a sexual relationship with Effie.
Information v entertainment. And here, happily, information triumphs.
sopranos??!?!!?! asked mark
.....ruskin replied jerry
"fuck! I thought I killed 20 minuted of William Morris"
-Mark Corrigan
1:23:11 I hate this kind of pathologizing people through the Freudian concept of "sublimation".
But I guess such a way of thinking was and still is popular with people who are overly or should I say "pathologically" obsessed with sexuality (I have seen a lot of similar evaluations of other artists, scholars and scientists... it gets on my nerves).
William Morris was also an early teacher of Yeats.
For anyone else who's just here for Ruskin, that part ends at 55:29.
Ruskins lovelife was as successful as Morris's. For different reasons however
Those damn pre-Raphaelites lol
I just finished 600 pages of Ruskin by Tim Hilton. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
I visited Brantwood many years ago and have always wanted to go back. This is a wonderful, serious documentary. Really glad I found it. Thank you
Is that a young Jonathan pryce doing voice over on part two?
@11:27: That guy had issues. Calm down, bud.
They don't make them like this anymore
'John Ruskin: sermons & stones', by Paul Dean, a freelance critic, living in Oxford, UK..The New Criterion, November 2019 issue...p 18....
38:11 He got very skilled labour on the cheap from Ireland ... that doesn't sound very socialist to me!
I find it amusing how these people are portrayed, in those times most of the artists were incredibly privileged, historians elevate them as they are some semi-gods. They were rich! How many potentially amazing artists died and they never had a fricking chance to prove their potential, because they were poor people without education?!..and those pesky maids (7:00) bothering him about sunset...
Thank you for sharing this Laurence. I've returned to it many times since lockdown. Your father was one of the great writers and critics.
Dramatic man, his contributions seem unrecognized beyond his industry, and his commentary even less so.
51:00 dark cloud
Love these documentaries much of the content of which is more pertinent than ever. The trip through Hammersmith - even if a little dated now still says it all ! I remain grateful however for the wonderful artistic works in all their forms not least the architecture which we can still enjoy and be astounded by today - although I despair at the diminishing ideals of another kind of world where humanity is not expropriated and commoditised in cruel and destructive ways. The story of the 'Pre-Raphaelite' women is however archetypal in itself as patriarchal ideas are not easily disentangled from a 'socialist' Utopian context.
0:16 RIP my headphones. Very enjoyable documentary btw.
Well done and so interesting.
I have a soft spot for William Morris! I can understand his dedication to crafts as an artform.
He spent the last 30 yrs of his life there?. Somewhat priveiliged existence one could surmise?.
Epic rant at 11’28”. Bravo!
paulnugent, yes, I felt the same! The claim that his disastrous marriage to Effie Gray was just a minor blip in Ruskin's productive life, is rather silly. And if Ruskin had really married Rose La Touche, that marriage might've failed as well. These episodes are important for understanding Ruskin.
That said, he was a great and very unique thinker!
Like 1,000 ✨
thank u so much!
Men. Well, more precisely: male ego.
turner ewatercolours
Prevention of Sexual Assault, Mandatory Classes, for 6th thru 12th grade. This will reduce the criminal element, 20 or 25 years, from now. U.S Military and Police Agency, must become more educational in these schools, in U. S.A.