[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:05.43,0:00:07.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Art...
Dialogue: 0,0:00:07.34,0:00:11.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,ArtSleuth
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.09,0:00:13.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The moon,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.46,0:00:16.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a church,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:16.06,0:00:20.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a cypress tree.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.51,0:00:24.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A picture by Vincent van Gogh.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.19,0:00:28.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A peaceful night in the country?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.84,0:00:29.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Yet
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.66,0:00:38.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,repose seems unlikely beneath that angry sky,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.17,0:00:42.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, Van Gogh painted this nightscape in a lunatic asylum,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.16,0:00:45.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a year before he killed himself.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.98,0:00:50.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The rebellious cry of a genius ahead of his time?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.03,0:00:54.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While his contemporaries succumb to the city’s bright lights,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.30,0:00:59.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Van Gogh flees Paris and gives us a stressed-out urbanite’s dream.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.14,0:01:02.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So - let us find release in the madness of art,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.20,0:01:06.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and reconnect with the quiet pleasures of country life.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.58,0:01:16.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Is his frenzied vision of night and stars simply that - a longing for the past?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:20.04,0:01:26.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Van Gogh - The Starry Night - Transfigured Night
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.55,0:01:29.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Part 1 : Madness -with Method
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.80,0:01:33.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Is his picture the spontaneous product of insanity?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.06,0:01:35.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A rash conclusion:
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.70,0:01:43.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Van Gogh’s nightscape dates from 1889 - when astronomy is attracting amateur enthusiasts, inspired by a string of popular handbooks,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:43.40,0:01:48.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,containing the first-ever photographs of the night sky.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.81,0:01:52.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This spiral, for example, is based on a real nebula.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.41,0:01:56.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Venus, nearing the end of its cycle, was unusually bright that year
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.82,0:02:00.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the moon is just as the painter might have seen it from his cell ...
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.32,0:02:05.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,… before dawn on 25 May 1889
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.04,0:02:09.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the view from Van Gogh’s window stops short at a wall.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.16,0:02:11.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So he invents a landscape,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.88,0:02:15.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,adding the cypress and the village steeple,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.15,0:02:17.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which give the picture depth
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.89,0:02:21.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and structure it.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.68,0:02:27.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And even the wild spiral keys in the vanishing point, directly below it.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.34,0:02:29.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If sanity rules the composition,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:29.68,0:02:36.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,surely madness powers the turbulent brushwork?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.14,0:02:42.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Van Gogh is working so fast he leaves part of the canvas bare!
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.34,0:02:47.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, his handling of the paint strengthens the contrast between the picture’s two halves.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.26,0:02:54.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At the bottom, the houses are outlined in black, like the figures in a stained glass window,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:54.14,0:02:59.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the trees resemble dense skeins of wool,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:59.44,0:03:03.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the earth has a carved solidity,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.03,0:03:08.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while the sky swirls and surges, like a shoal of fish,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:08.66,0:03:14.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the starlight spreads outward in concentric waves.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:14.54,0:03:20.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In short, the picture’s pulsing movement is a conscious effect, and Van Gogh uses it to create a powerful opposition between:
Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.04,0:03:22.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the earth’s tangible solidity,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.89,0:03:26.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the sky’s wave-like dynamism.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.81,0:03:34.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Viscous as tar, vibrant as flame, the cypress links them like a bridge.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.42,0:03:38.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why does Van Gogh pump all this drama into a potentially peaceful nightscape?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.87,0:03:44.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Part 2: Night -danger and deliverance
Dialogue: 0,0:03:44.66,0:03:45.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Van Gogh’s vision of night...
Dialogue: 0,0:03:45.46,0:03:46.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as a star-filled sky,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.67,0:03:52.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has been preceded by another - night as a time of release, when the day’s work is done.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.37,0:04:00.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A massive contrast with those avant-garde artists who revel in the glitter and bustle of the after-hours city.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:00.88,0:04:03.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Van Gogh takes a very different line
Dialogue: 0,0:04:03.79,0:04:07.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He sees the nobility of the peasants’ dimly-lit meal....
Dialogue: 0,0:04:07.22,0:04:11.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,… and the bright city’s dehumanising effect on its denizens.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:11.32,0:04:13.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At first glance, primitive and gloomy ...
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.77,0:04:18.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This mealtime scene, where the eaters exchange looks and words
Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.31,0:04:23.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in a single lamp’s consoling glow, is a celebration of well-earned rest from labour.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:23.27,0:04:29.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The family is united, like these small houses clustered round a single steeple, which stands for Christian belief.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:29.51,0:04:34.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Van Gogh is not the first to celebrate the peasants’ simple dignity:
Dialogue: 0,0:04:34.25,0:04:37.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,his revered predecessor, Jean-François Millet, has been there first.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:37.59,0:04:43.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The sense of communion with heaven and earth which pervades Millet’s “The Angelus”...
Dialogue: 0,0:04:43.55,0:04:48.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,makes Van Gogh’s pictures of nightlife in the city seem like visions of hell.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.29,0:04:57.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In “The Dance-Hall in Arles”, the light which brings people together has gone, and a swarm of dim lamps have taken over.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:57.27,0:05:04.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Individual dancers seem lost in the whirling, hysterical throng.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:04.87,0:05:09.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is an all-night café, and an all-night haze of alcohol envelops it.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:09.81,0:05:15.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The complementary reds and greens combine garishly
Dialogue: 0,0:05:15.62,0:05:18.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a billiard table replaces the respectable piece of furniture in the family kitchen:
Dialogue: 0,0:05:18.85,0:05:23.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a passion for gaming has sapped these people’s strength, and also their ability to connect with one another.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:23.26,0:05:29.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The drunks adrift on the edges of the picture seem to be shrivelling, like moths,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:29.70,0:05:34.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the burning glare of these three false suns.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:34.31,0:05:40.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In these pictures, Van Gogh seems to be using Japanese print techniques to unmask the falsity of modern life.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:40.74,0:05:45.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Exploiting the emotional power of black outline,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:45.06,0:05:48.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sharply contrasted planes,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:48.59,0:05:54.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and harshly juxtaposed complementary colours,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:54.37,0:06:04.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he pits the star-filled sky’s eternal order against the city’s tinsel and glitter.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:04.73,0:06:07.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the outcome is uncertain.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:07.92,0:06:10.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The sky may be solid and convincing,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:10.36,0:06:13.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but the stars look pale and insipid …
Dialogue: 0,0:06:13.03,0:06:17.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,beside the livid glare of streetlamps reflected in water.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:17.89,0:06:21.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Van Gogh has discovered what we now call “light pollution”:
Dialogue: 0,0:06:21.85,0:06:25.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,artificial light blinds us to the stars
Dialogue: 0,0:06:25.17,0:06:33.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and even invades the cities’ surroundings - like this streetlamp, which shows that yet another slice of countryside will soon be absorbed,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:33.31,0:06:41.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or this NASA satellite image, over a century on from Van Gogh, where the earth itself resembles a star-filled sky
Dialogue: 0,0:06:41.98,0:06:46.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Before trying again, Van Gogh retreats from Arles to a village…
Dialogue: 0,0:06:46.56,0:06:50.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where his brushwork changes radically:
Dialogue: 0,0:06:50.67,0:06:54.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the earth becomes as solid and immutable as the heavens,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:54.62,0:06:58.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while the sky and stars take on the pyrotechnic sharpness and dynamism…
Dialogue: 0,0:06:58.74,0:07:04.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of modern artificial lighting.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:04.61,0:07:10.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The result is spectacular but - frankly - over the top: this is genius run mad - yet again!
Dialogue: 0,0:07:10.89,0:07:15.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why is Van Gogh so bent on glorifying the power of the heavens?
Dialogue: 0,0:07:15.12,0:07:19.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Is forgetting the stars really such a big deal?
Dialogue: 0,0:07:22.93,0:07:25.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Part 3: Night strikes back
Dialogue: 0,0:07:25.78,0:07:28.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Regardless of what Van Gogh and other artists do with it, the night sky fascinates us because it puts us in touch with two fundamental things
Dialogue: 0,0:07:28.63,0:07:31.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,beauty and the sublime.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:31.14,0:07:39.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The classic vision of the heavens is that of an immense vault, which is beautiful because it stands for order and perfection.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:39.50,0:07:42.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Seen from afar, the bright and everlasting stars
Dialogue: 0,0:07:42.28,0:07:47.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,seem utterly remote from our drab and battered world, where change and corruption are the norm!
Dialogue: 0,0:07:47.42,0:07:54.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Modern physics may have shattered this innocent vision, but the yearning for perfection remains.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:54.84,0:08:01.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Van Gogh sees the star-filled sky as a map, and death itself as a kind of space shuttle.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:01.69,0:08:09.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“The sight of the stars sets me dreaming quite as simply as do the black dots which denote towns and villages on a map.”
Dialogue: 0,0:08:09.08,0:08:14.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“I think it not impossible that cholera and cancer may be celestial means of locomotion...
Dialogue: 0,0:08:14.67,0:08:21.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,... like steamships, omnibuses and the railway.”
Dialogue: 0,0:08:21.91,0:08:25.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,His two nightscapes are the product of this vision:
Dialogue: 0,0:08:25.42,0:08:35.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The first, where the sky seems a divine and unchanging masonry, and his treatment of the stars is conventional,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:35.59,0:08:44.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the second, where the cypress - the traditional cemetery tree - evokes death, which transports us from our world to the realm of celestial light.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:44.76,0:08:51.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the latter also reflects a more modern response to the heavens - a response linked with a sense of the infinite and the immense.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:51.51,0:08:59.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the world of music, the vault of heaven recurs as the image behind this set design for Mozart’s “Magic Flute”.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:59.08,0:09:04.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the tingling sublimity which we feel in the Queen of the Night’s aria no longer reflects a yearning for order, but a sense
Dialogue: 0,0:09:04.62,0:09:12.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of our littleness in the face of immensity.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:12.20,0:09:25.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In architecture, too, holes in the vaulting of Etienne-Louis Boullée’s huge Cenotaph for Isaac Newton
Dialogue: 0,0:09:25.05,0:09:27.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,simulate starlight and make humans ant-sized.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:27.96,0:09:30.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Immensity is also Van Gogh’s theme in his second nightscape.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:30.86,0:09:35.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He breaks new ground by giving his sky the elemental power, effectively captured by other artists, of:
Dialogue: 0,0:09:35.18,0:09:38.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,volcanoes
Dialogue: 0,0:09:38.21,0:09:40.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,avalanches
Dialogue: 0,0:09:40.81,0:09:43.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and floods.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:43.76,0:09:50.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He is celebrating, not scientific knowledge, but the willpower
Dialogue: 0,0:09:50.21,0:09:55.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which enables human beings to defy even forces which threaten to destroy them.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:55.59,0:10:04.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is the “dynamic sublime”, as embodied in minute, but steadfast figures who stand firm against the elements.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:04.61,0:10:12.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In El Greco’s seventeenth-century vision of Toledo, the cathedral forms an unshakable landmark beneath the stormy sky.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:12.78,0:10:21.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Van Gogh shifts these elemental forces to the star-filled sky above Saint-Rémy’s proud steeple.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:21.13,0:10:28.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Reason, not madness, guides his brush, and this nondescript Provençal village acquires mythical status,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:28.86,0:10:32.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as a sublime fixed point in a world rocked and buffeted by the swirling currents of modernity.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Special thanks : English translation Vincent Nash