Art in Troubled Times

July 21, 2009

Landmark two part series exploring what happens to art in times of recession.

Part 1 – A New Deal for Art – looks back to America in the Great Depression, when art and artists were subsidised – contrasting that to American attitudes to arts funding today.

Part 2 – The Home Front – looks at Britain’s big moment for publicly funded art – again, a time of trouble, the Second World War – at the legacy of that outburst of optimism, and at how the current recession is affecting the art market and arts institutions now. Art dealer Kenny Schachter says that, in a perverse way, this recession is the best thing that has happened to the art world in ten years.

“Fascinating”
The Times

“enjoyable, even moving”
Financial Times

“A timely two-part exploration of how recession affects the arts …
a big weighty slice of history and argument wrapped up with some rather lovely images.”
Andrea Mullaney, The Scotsman

REVIEWS

• The Scotsman

LINKS

• Official BBC Website