June 13th: Erasing women from the history of art

I just read an interesting article related to the National Gallery exhibition about Durand-Ruel and the Impressionists exhibition. I think she makes some excellent points: 

Under the title Inventing Impressionism: The Man Who Sold a Thousand Monets, the National Gallery in London recently mounted an exhibition about Paul Durand-Ruel (1831-1922). It’s just finished, but don’t worry if you didn’t see it, I’m about to tell you why you shouldn’t have. This is how it was presented on the website:

This spring, the National Gallery presents the UK’s first major exhibition devoted to the man who invented Impressionism, Paul Durand-Ruel (1831-1922). An entrepreneurial art dealer, Durand-Ruel discovered and unwaveringly supported the Impressionist painters and is now considered a founding father of the international art market as we know it today.

I would like to be somewhat picky. One man invented Impressionism? Can this be right? In what sense did a dealer invent Impressionism?

Click here to continue reading and find the original article

Wednesday 13th of March

Hello everyone. Greetings from 35,000 feet above Kansas, USA.  I’m on my way from Washington DC to Santa Fe for a few screenings of various films. My main pre-occupation right now is that I am absolutely starving and I’m in the last row – I may expire before the stone-age trolley reaches me.  I knew I should have bought a snack in the airport but I always have this problem that there are so many food outlets that I can’t bear to enter any of them. Silly really. I’m only two days in to this latest mini-tour and one does have to remember to look after oneself.  My last few hours have been pretty typical: rushing around New York to meetings and press interviews, then a dash to Brooklyn followed by another dash to Long Island for a screening (sold out which was great). Then – and this is frankly a bit unusual – a 3am train from NYC to Washington DC. Pretty comfortable actually if you don’t mind body-swerving the dazed and confused in Penn Station. A 7am arrival at Washington’s magnificent Union Station is a great start to any day – a glorious sunrise over the Capitol.  A 8.30 breakfast meeting at the NationalGallery of Art was interesting, fun and productive and then the long & expensive taxi ride to Dulles ($65!) to the inevitable ‘sorry, sir, your plane is delayed. We can reroute you through Denver instead of Dallas and it will only add three hours to your journey….’ . Fast-forward to hunger pains in Seat 37F.

Extraordinary country outside: one minute I’m looking down snowy plains, and then the next it’s sunny farmland  People who think the USA is just NY or LA really have no idea what they are missing: it’s not surprising there are ‘weather events’ every day in the USA.  Indeed the day I arrived in NY there was an almighty downpour and immediate minor flooding.  Still, it was better than the chaos I’d left behind. One inch of snow had caused the most almighty disruption in southern England. One friend spent almost 12 hours getting home a couple of dozen miles in his car. Total madness.  I had to catch a late train to London and stay in a hotel at the airport or I’d have never caught the plane.  And watch out for the Hilton that claims to be Terminal 5 – it’s a twenty minute bus rise away which you have to pay for!  Anyways…you don’t want to read about my moans. I would hope you were a bit more interested in our super-duper projects.  So….the big news is that EXHIBITION: GREAT ART ON SCREEN has launched and launched well. It has been an extraordinary effort over the past six months necessitating the dodging of all sorts of slings and arrows with only a few flesh wounds…  On the one hand has been the need to make a great film about the Manet exhibition from the Royal Academy.  In all the contractual haggling and publicity seeking, one must never lose sight of the fact that ‘the film’s the thing’.  The film is what you have to sit in an audience with in ten years time and still feel proud. The film is what needs to be the best film of its type ever made about Manet. We have certainly given it all we’ve got – a long, complicated, expensive edit has followed the shoot in January but I am delighted with how it has turned up.  Many, many lessons were learnt from LEONARDO LIVE. Some stuff I didn’t like because of the ‘live’ nature of the show and some I just felt we could have done better had there been less interference from TV-types who think, wrongly, that our audience has the attention span of a hyperactive child.  This time we have held shots of the paintings much longer, edited interviews to get the best material, made longer & better biographical film inserts, kept the speed of presentation down, etc.  We actually had a press review yesterday where the journalist wrote the film is actually better than going to the exhibition. I don’t want to promote that idea because I want people to go to the galleries and see these wonderful paintings face-to-face but I certainly believe we have made the next best thing.  And of course for those folk in Santa Fe that I am about to see tonight, 99.9% of them would have no liklihood of getting to see the exhibition so this is certainly bringing them into a gallery they would never ordinarily visit.   That leads on to the other area that has been gulping up my time – press & publicity.   We’ve had the idea and we’ve made the film.   All well and good but it might still play in empty cinemas.  That, for us, would be terrible.  (We still haven’t found a sponsor if anyone out there works for a big organisation and would like to help!!)  Thus we worked hard on the press launch recently - which did go very well indeed.  Plus getting the posters out there, the flyers, the social media, and all that.  We had nice pieces in the UK’s Daily Mail and Telegraph and an AssociatedPress report popped up in papers around the world. The Toronto Star and Wall Street Journal have done reports and word is spreading. Ticket sales in the UK are steady and we’ve still 4 weeks to go…..but until I see sold-out cinemas, I remain a ball of nerves.     Every morning and night in my hotels on this trip I find myself checking sales, answering enquiries, and firing off emails…endless, endless emails.

Of course I need to get to my hotel first….and here we are (LATER THAT DAY) …so, back to the joy of American internal flights.  OK, I’ve written before about the lottery of actually getting where you want to go and on time. Today was special: I arrive at Denver airport (half way on my trip) and turn up at the Great Lakes desk to get my boarding pass for the onward Denver to Santa Fe flight only to be told ‘there’s a small problem but we’ll sort it right out’.  American Airlines had issued me a revised ticket ok, all the way through to Santa Fe but hadn’t correctly confirmed to Great Lakes that they would be paying. So my seat is on the screen, I have a ticket in my hand but Great Lakes won’t issue a boarding pass until they receive confirmation from American. ‘No problem, Sir, take a seat and we’ll sort it right out’. Jump forward three hours and the gate is shut, the plane is ready to leave (the last of the day) and I still have no boarding pass. I won’t bore you with my efforts and arguments but suffice to say that in the end there were 5 Great Lakes staff all battling computer codes to issue me a ticket that I was forced to pay $438 for!  Chaotic, and sadly rather typical….  American airlines these days (for sound economic reasons) increasingly use their hubs – and flights get routed between them even if that means flying in the wroing direction for hours.  Worse though is that tickets are issued which involve making connections that are virtually impossible, especially if you care about your luggage or you’re not an Olympic sprinter.  Where possible, drive or take a train.  Where not possible, study the flight schedules very, very carefully.  It’s worth it.    But anyway, here I am for the first time in Santa Fe and has been worth every minute of today’s stress. It is stunningly beautiful and the cinema is packed with people who have come to watch a double-feature of In Search of Mozart and In Search of Beethoven.  And those are two films I am always happy to watch with a few hundred new friends….

 Image from www.thescreensf.com

Monday 28th January

Sorry it has been a few weeks since the last blog post but it has been extremely busy chez Seventh Art Productions/PhilGrabskyFilms.com

Last night at midnight we finished filming the Manet Exhibition at the super Royal Academy of Arts in London. Editing is proceeding frantically and as you can see from the attached press release, we’ll be in UK (indeed worldwide) cinemas on the 11th April. It has been a Herculean task but last night I stood all alone staring at Manet’s The Railway and felt doubly sure that this is the right thing to do: to bring these works and these exhibitions to people around the world – we know we’ll be seen in France, Chile, New Zealand, USA, Canada and many, many more. There is no way that 99% of those people – you – could get to the exhibition so this is the next best thing. And to have Munch from Norway and then Vermeer from the National Gallery London on the way too – plus others lining up. Wonderful. And very scary financially but hey, no pain, no gain.

The filming has been pretty intense; an awful lot to get through in terms of filming the paintings and filming tracking shots. Also of course there were many pieces-to-camera with Tim (our presenter) and various expert guests. What is not in doubt is that the film is full of interest for anyone interested in Manet, art, exhibitions and Paris in the 19th century. The exhibition had its official opening on Tuesday and we launched the brand EXHIBITION at the same time. Remarkably the RA attracted 500+ journalists and at least half of them took our press release from the press desk. From the response we’ve had subsequently, the press are interested and covering us. Lots of long days keeping on top of it all but it’s been terrible snowy weather so might as well work! When the golf courses re-open, well that will be a different story!

PRESS RELEASE BELOW:

 

 

Coming Soon:

The world’s greatest art exhibitions at a cinema near you

 

Unless it is a blockbuster on the scale of last year’s Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan exhibition at the National Gallery, London art exhibitions are, predominantly, seen by those who live locally. That was, until now.

Award-winning arts documentary maker, Phil Grabsky, has launched a ground-breaking project to connect major exhibitions from across the world with over 200,000 people in cinemas spread across some 30 countries. This global first aims to allow art lovers, old and new, to enjoy, marvel and delight at the works of some of history’s greatest ever painters.

Grabsky’s eponymous PhilGrabskyfilms.com, in association with Seventh Art Productions and BY Experience, has created a series of ground-breaking art events for cinema: EXHIBITION.

Featuring forthcoming major exhibitions of works from artists such as Manet, Munch and Vermeer, each film will capture and explore these important shows and bring a wealth of masterpieces to audiences via high-tech digital cinema technology. The films won’t just cover the exhibitions’ paintings: important questions will also be addressed. What lies behind the exhibition creatively and technically? What does this particular collection of paintings and objects reveal about the artist, or the particular historical period? What do we learn about the presenting institution? Answering them, and many more besides, will be world-renowned art historian and broadcaster, Tim Mar low. Acting as the presenter and guide through each exhibition, Tim is the ideal expert to explain these extraordinary exhibitions and deliver first-rate biographies of the artists. The films combine his in-depth knowledge of each subject with sensitively shot material about the artist and period and are filmed both at the exhibitions and on location.

Grabsky says “I have been driven by the desire to share the thrill of great exhibitions with everyone from Kansas City to Adelaide, Osaka to Naples, and Glasgow to Cape Town. To be launching with three stunning shows from three top-notch venues is an absolute thrill. If you can't get to the RA you have to see the film. And if you are lucky enough to get a ticket to the RA, then you'll want to see the film even more!”

Echoing Grabsky’s comments, Tim Marlow adds “I think that standing face to face with some of the greatest works of art ever made is one of the most powerful experiences in life. ‘Exhibition' gives us the opportunity to convey something of this power in a cinematic format which brings the viewer as close to the real thing as possible. Sometimes, the camera reveals even more than the naked eye ...”

Charles Saumarez Smith, Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts, said, “We are very excited to be working with Phil Grabsky and Tim Marlow to produce the film Manet: Portraying Life at the Royal Academy of Arts. The RA’s exhibition will be the first major show of Manet’s portraits, bringing together works from international collections and private lenders to UK audiences for the first time. With thanks to Seventh Art Productions and BY Experience, the film will be screened in cinemas in over 30 countries and in over 5 languages, giving audiences worldwide the chance to see this remarkable exhibition.”

EXHIBITION launches with a trio of films for spring, summer and autumn 2013:

MANET - from the Royal Academy of Arts, London, MUNCH - from the National Museum & Munch museum, Oslo and VERMEER - from the National Gallery, London.

And this is just the beginning. EXHIBITION is already in pre production for major exhibitions in 2014.

All information will be available on participating cinemas worldwide at the official website, www.ExhibitionOnScreen.com

Edouard Manet, The Railway, 1873
National Gallery of Art Washington 

EXHIBITION: Manet: Portraying Life

Manet: Portraying Life will be presented on cinema screens around the world on Thursday 11 April 2013.

This eagerly awaited exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts will be the first ever retrospective devoted to the portraiture of Edouard Manet. Spanning this enigmatic and, at times, controversial artist’s entire career Manet: Portraying Life will bring together works from across Europe, Asia and the USA.

Manet’s portraiture has never been explored in exhibition form, despite it forming around half of his artistic output. He painted his family, friends and the literary, political and artistic figures of the day, giving life not only to his subjects but also to Parisian society. The exhibition consists of more than 50 works; including portraits of his most frequent sitter, his wife Suzanne Leenhoff, luminaries of the period; Antonin Proust, Émile Zola and Stéphane Mallarmé, along with scenes from everyday life revealing Manet’s forward-thinking, modern approach to portraiture. More at www.royalacademy.org.uk  

The film also reveals exclusive behind-the-scenes moments of the exhibition’s preparation, which normally go unseen by the public, and interweaves a detailed, superbly crafted biography of Manet and 19th century Paris. Host Tim Marlow and special guests will look at the craft of one of the all-time great artists.

Manet: Portraying Life at the Royal Academy of Arts is sponsored by BNY Mellon, Partner of the Royal Academy

EXHIBITION: Munch 150



Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1893
(c) National Museum, Oslo, Norway 2013

 Thursday 27 June 2013. In 2013, Norway will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Edvard Munch (1863–1944), a towering figure in modern art. Already hailed as a “once-in-a-lifetime show” global interest is understandably huge, especially after one of his four The Scream paintings recently sold for a record $120 million.

Munch 150 will be co-hosted by Norway’s National Museum and Munch Museum, both in Oslo. This exhibition marks the most ambitious presentation of his art ever. With 220 paintings on show, it brings together the greatest number of Munch’s key works in one place. More at www.nasjonalmuseet.no/en and www.munch.museum.no

The corresponding film will go behind-the-scenes to show some of the process of putting the exhibition together – as well as touring Norway to provide an in-depth biography of a man who lived from the mid 19th century right through to the German occupation during the Second World War. Norwegian and international experts will offer their insights and knowledge to host Tim Marlow.

EXHIBITION: Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and Leisure

Johannes Vermeer,
A Young Woman Standing at a Virginal, c.1670
National Gallery, London

Thursday 10 October 2013. The National Gallery, London, is offering a major retrospective on one of the most startling and fascinating artists of all – Johannes Vermeer, painter of the famous Girl with a Pearl Earring. The National Gallery has chosen to focus on Vermeer’s relationship with music. It was one of the most popular themes of Dutch painting and revealed an enormous amount about the sitter and the society they lived in. New research, revealed for the first time at this exhibition, shows how his technique and materials affected his works. More at www.nationalgallery.org.uk  

Tim Marlow goes beyond the exhibition to tell the entire story of Vermeer’s life – and, in doing so, shows in fabulous HD detail, many other of the artist’s captivating works. For those inspired by the 2003 film, Girl with a Pearl Earring, starring Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson, this new, cinematic exploration will take their enjoyment and fascination of Vermeer’s life and work to a new level.



Leonardo Live

Wednesday 9th November 2011

I’ve been counting down the days and, finally, it is done. LEONARDO LIVE has passed. This is the morning after the night before. I don’t think I’ve ever known such a stressful project – not Afghanistan, Nigeria, Angola, Brazil, nowhere. But we made it – on TV and in 41 cinemas across the UK, we had an unbroken 73 minute show live from the National Gallery. It is two years since I first thought it would be nice to share the privilege of being at great exhibitions after-hours with a wider audience, i.e, in this case, a cinema audience. I always recognised that the Leonardo would be a good first show to do but I had no idea at all it would be such a perfect choice.

The press has been utterly extraordinary – ‘the greatest exhibition I’d ever seen’, ‘the most wondrous exhibition ever’ and so on. It really helped achieve a remarkable success – 95% sold out. I had originally thought to do a live screening to kids at midday in cinemas but the cinema chain that I managed to bring on board decided, for them, it had to be for an adult (and paying) audience. Then I had to get a broadcaster interested and the enthusiastic and ambitious SkyArts came on board. It wasn’t quite that straightforward, of course, but suffice to say without Sky there would have been no project. Luckily the National Gallery were open to the idea and I was lucky enough to hook up with the one person with the insight, energy and sheer brilliant person skills to make this happen. Gosh, looking back, there were so many hurdles – access, cabling, lighting, so on and so forth. But we just kept moving forward small step by small step.. It seems that no-one had filmed live from the gallery before (though that seems hard to believe) but certainly from the basement that is the Sainsbury Wing it seemed impossible. We tested with radio frequency cameras (which worked OK) but, in the end, thanks to the advice of the live production team we worked with (Leopard), we went for cabling. I can still remember spending most of my two week holiday in France dealing with that on the phone; it seemed impossible. But, again thanks to our National Gallery colleague, we somehow were able to lay cables into the roof of the gallery space at the same time as they were building the rooms for the exhibition.

When you remember this is the biggest exhibition in years and includes paintings & drawings worth not millions but billions, the fact they let little old us in is a thing of wonder! At the same time as this was on-going, there were satellite links to book, press releases and posters to check, picture clearances to be sought (and that is another massive task). Above all perhaps, there was the creative process to engage in: what is the film going to show? How? What? We decided very early to have two presenters (Tim Marlow and Mariella Frostrup) and a mix of pre-recorded background films as well as live talk with intelligent guests in front of the paintings. That basic premise never changed though maybe too many people were involved in the scripting at different stages – all wanting to do a good job but sometimes you need one clear voice to drive it forwards. This was tricky because the live script had to be pre-written and the pre-recorded script had to work around it. I’d have expected it to be the other way around so that was a long, difficult process. The default of ‘Live’ folk is quick, quick, quick whereas I lean to taking more time to let people look and learn. The best way on a show like this is probably somewhere in-between. Anyway, the day dawned finally and the 70-odd crew made their way to the gallery. A road outside was shut off to allow the trucks to park and set up their satellite links. Mariella and Tim came in and did their make-up, rehearsals, and so on. The minutes ticked by until finally at 6.40 we went live to cinemas with a special 20 minute (cinema-only) intro of fun facts and then at 7pm we went live to both cinemas and on TV. The next 75 minutes were nail-biting. Tim & Mariella were super, as were most of the guests. The technology worked – my word, I can still remember the endless, endless hours spent on discussing the technology to get these signals out live. Hats off & thanks again to Leopard Films for working so hard to get the show up in the air live and bouncing back down again to cinemas and TVs around the country. Along the way, we had an autocue failure and a camera failure but, again, that’s live TV I guess.

The point is what did the folk in the cinemas and front rooms think? And that answer came back to me very quickly – they loved it! They forgave the glitches because they just loved seeing the paintings in huge HD, they enjoyed hearing the background, they enjoyed the guests. Some cinemas immediately rebooked it for a repeat showing. SkyArts’ viewing figures were, for them, huge. And everyone said that this certainly had been a gamble but it had proved to be a gamble that had paid off. The National has already asked me what exhibition should we do next! And I have meetings with four other major London institutions and a couple of international galleries too…This could run and run. If I have anything to do with it, you need never miss a major exhibition again!!

Phil Grabsky's Blog - Milan - The Boy Mir, In Search of Haydn, Leonardo Live.

Milan 28 August 2011: well, I know I moan about funding and stuff but some days are really worth all the headaches. Today was one. I started before dawn to drive up to Heathrow airport to catch the early flight to Milan. I know they take a lot of stick but I really enjoy flying BA (most of the time) and this was, again, a nice comfortable flight. Then, after the long train ride into Milano Centrale (one of the greatest train terminals in the world), I was at my hotel by midday. Then began a typical day of working on three projects at once. To begin with I did 2 hours of emails concerning the Boy Mir film. The recent screenings in NY, LA and Chicago were, overall, very successful in terms of generating reviews and interest. The actual screenings were poorly attended (but so were the other docs I saw) but many of those who did see the film have become very active in supporting it and spreading the word. Ultimately, I think it's word-of-mouth that makes a film gain traction so that's hopeful. On the other hand, we lost our extra bookings in NY & LA because, almost bizarrely, we got too much press attention. I certainly can not tell cinema managers how to do their jobs; they know best. BUT I'd have thought having a great line from the LA Times or Village Voice would help sell tickets - I'm not convinced documentary film-goers are that concerned about seeing something the week it comes out. But, hey, I can't really be sure. Anyway, since my trip to the USA, I've been getting a stack of emails and facebook messages which take time to deal with. At 2.30pm I switched to project 2: Leonardo Live. It was 30 degrees and my shoulders are now a mess but for three hours I traipsed with HD camera and tripod the wonderful city of Milan from one Leonardo location to the next - gathering up some GVs (general views) that we need as background for our live show on the 8th November (Leonardo Live will go to cinemas and TV at 7pm UK time on the 8th November - a first-ever live event from the opening of an art exhibition and not any old exhibition but the biggest worldwide exhibition of this year).

I could have used an assistant today or someone to carry the tripod at least but the budget doesn't allow for it - broadcasters, when they insist we work for smaller and smaller budgets, should come on a shoot sometime. I bet none of them could carry a tripod - never mind camera, tripod and rucksack - for more than 2 minutes. Funnily enough, the last Leonardo shot was a great statue outside La Scala. And there I changed to project no 3: In Search of Haydn. Today's search took me to another super interview with Gianandrea Noseda who is rapidly shooting up my charts as one of my favourite people.. Not only did he give me an excellent interview but then I attended his rehearsal (with La Scala's orchestra) of Dvozak's Symphony no 8 in G major and a piece by Weber. Both were great: for 2 and a half hours I was utterly engrossed by both the music and Gianandrea's attention to detail, energy, control and, well, sheer artistry. I was privileged to be there. Things got even better when - and I will now be accused of name-dropping, I know - I then went to dinner with Gianandrea and one of the world's best pianists Leif Ove Andsnes. I tried my best to contribute but really I just wanted to ask questions and hear them talk! The food was fabulous too - thank you Milan! Thank you Italy! You may have Berlusconi but he will pass and the food, the architecture, the music and so much more will go on for ever. It's now 1am - my feet are killing me, my shoulders wrecked, my belly bigger, my brain scrambled, my nose sunburnt but it's been a good day - oh, one extra treat: Man City won away to Spurs 5-1. OK, early flight tomorrow. Must go. Ciao.

Phil Grabsky's Blog - Croatia, Brighton and New York

Monday 8 August: A big week for the release of my film: The Boy Mir – Ten Years in Afghanistan. Today in Croatia at a film festival. The films get shown in the most beautiful setting: on a huge inflatable screen in a mountain canyon, bizarrely next to the entrance to Tito’s once-secret cave complex. This could so easily be a peaceful Afghanistan in 20 years. Could but won’t be. At 2 o’clock in the morning I was in a bar with singing Croats, Serbians, Macedonians, Slovenians…I can’t say the former Yugoslavia is totally at ease with itself but what a dream for Afghanistan to get here. Bed at 2.30am .

Tuesday 9 August: Hotel balcony door bursts open at 3.50am. A storm has whipped up and it’s mighty windy. Slept on and off till 6am. Went downstairs for the car that was to take me to Zagreb airport. Only problem was the local tunnel had been shut by the storm – disaster; I had to get to the airport. Eventually a high-speed dash at Top Gear speeds along an alternative (and beautiful) coast road got me to the gate with 3 minutes to spare. Went in to the office in Brighton and waded through emails and post. Was heading to London for Kevin Spacey’s Richard III but rioting London kind of put me and the clan off. I was never scared to go out in Kabul.

Wednesday 10th August: New York Times get in touch – I’m nervous about their review as it’s the one review that everyone in the US and indeed internationally takes notice of. Meanwhile two other projects I have underway take up a lot of time – one on the life of Haydn and the other called Leonardo Live – a live broadcast to TV and cinemas in November from what will be an extraordinary exhibition at the National Gallery. But I’m drowning in contractual squabbles. Talking to my lawyer till the plane took off for New York didn’t feel like I was any kind of a hot-shot; I felt like an overworked, underpaid, tired Dad that was spending another three days away from his kids.

Thursday 11th August: Making War Horse was on PBS last night, which is great. I have to admit my first thought though was to check any press for Mir.. and the Village Voice had posted something. Relief, it's great: 'makes you laugh and breaks your heart in equal measure'...That's the DVD cover sorted then! I hope the NY Times tomorrow is even half as nice - or, at least, not bad. Off walking to a meeting in this wild, wonderful New York City. An American male is more likely to die here than in the US military in Afghanistan. Statistics, huh? $600 billion dollars, Thousands dead. Is life any better there? Depends who you are. Has there been progress? Of course. Is the country any less likely to return to civil war? No. Are we any safer in the West? You can die from a million ways. Terrorism is not your biggest worry – maybe those cigarettes, or that drink at lunchtime before you drive home. New York City though…no sign of being in a country at war. I know a film won't do much - if anything at all - but I do hope some people take a look.

The Boy Mir - Ten Years in Afghanistan will be showing in the excellent Docuweeks Theatrical Showcase at the IFC Center. It's an honour to have been selected and I can't wait, among other things, to see the other films. Anyone who loves films - actually anyone who loves life! - should come here or to LA to see what's been chosen for screening.

Leonardo Live - Tuesday 8th November 2011

I am not sure whether to breathe a sigh of relief or become more nervous...as tickets are now on sale for our big autumn arts project - LEONARDO LIVE. I came up with the idea almost two years ago to bring the big London exhibitions to a wider, even worldwide, audience - a mix of live Tim Marlow show to both Sky Arts and cinemas but LIVE on the eve of the exhibition's opening. I choose the huge November show at the National Gallery - Leonardo da Vinci. Like all these things, I severely underestimated the complexities in ramping up from a pre-recorded show to a live one and I'd say it's been a project that has needed my attention and input every single day! But I won't bore you with the horrors of negotiating contracts, access, budgets, etc. - what I will say is that there will be ten Leonardo paintings remarkably brought to the exhibition - unique and unlikely to ever be repeated. Plus dozens of other artworks that are relevant to the core show too. Tim Marlow and Mariella Frostrup will present an 85' show at 7pm on the 8th November and you can watch it on Sky Arts in the UK or at selected Picturehouse Cinemas. We'll have background mini-docs and expert guests and hopefully no-one will fall over or slip up. It is scary doing live stuff but if I can get through Afghanistan I can get through this! More to the point, it will bring Leonardo to a wider audience in, I hope, a wonderful way - and I always want to encourage people to look and admire the work of creative genius - whether a Beethoven or a Bruegel. TV broadcasters doubt there is an audience for art and stick any shows they do make on the smaller 4th channels (BBC4/More4 in the UK - or NOT AT ALL in the USA!) but you and I KNOW they are wrong, don't we?

Tickets for Leonardo Live are available to purhcase here.