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The Best Episodes of The Private Life of a Masterpiece Season 4

Every episode of The Private Life of a Masterpiece Season 4 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Private Life of a Masterpiece Season 4!

The Best Episodes of The Private Life of a Masterpiece Season 4

Private Life of a Masterpiece is a BBC arts documentary series that tells the stories behind great works of art reaching from the Renaissance to...

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  1. 8.2/10(8 votes)

    #1 - James McNeill Whistler: Portrait Of The Artist's Mother

    S4:E2

    The stark portrait, mainly in greys and black, that James McNeill Whistler painted of his mother is now a picture that is widely lampooned as a portrait of a prim Victorian lady. She is shown smoking reefers, wearing trainers, having a tatoo. But Whistler's approach was revolutionary in its time, wholly departing from the Victorian tradition of sentimental narrative painting. His relationship with his mother was also an intriguing study in contrasts.

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  2. 8.1/10(12 votes)

    #2 - Édouard Manet: Le déjeuner sur l'herbe

    S4:E1

    Two men sitting on the grass, with a picnic nearby. They are not looking at a naked woman seated nearby, who stares brazenly out of the canvas at the viewer. In the background a second woman is doing something hard to quite see. Just what is going on? The full story of the painting that many believe is the beginning of modern art.

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  3. 7.6/10(11 votes)

    #3 - Edvard Munch: The Scream

    S4:E3

    The Scream tells the life-story of the painting more widely reproduced than any other, even the Mona Lisa. It shows exactly how and why the Norwegian expressionist Edvard Munch arrived at his extraordinary image and how that image of the screaming person has reverberated down the decades to become an icon in modern culture.

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Season 4 Ratings Summary

"James McNeill Whistler: Portrait Of The Artist's Mother" is the best rated episode of "The Private Life of a Masterpiece" season 4. It scored 8.2/10 based on 8 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 1/19/2004. This episode is rated 0.1 points higher than the second-best, "Édouard Manet: Le déjeuner sur l'herbe".