Podcasts about Waldemar Januszczak

Kirsty Wark and guests discuss how visual art and architecture have evolved over the last 25 years. In the latest of our special series reflecting the changing cultural landscape since the start of the millennium, Kirsty Wark discusses the significant shifts in visual art and architecture in the 21st century with Director of Exhibitions and Programmes at Tate Modern Catherine Wood; Sunday Times art critic Waldemar Januszczak; Katrina Brown of The Common Guild in Glasgow; and founder of architectural practice Studio Gil, Pedro Gil. What did the boom in museum and gallery building in the early 2000s say about the public appetite for art? How has programming of exhibitions changed to reflect greater diversity? Is the auction market for contemporary art out of control? And is AI making an impact on contemporary art? Featuring an interview with Turner Prize winning artist Jeremy Deller. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan

Daniel Libeskind, the architect best known for the Jewish Museum in Berlin and the World Trade Centre masterplan in New York, talks about designing a building to house Einstein's archive in Jerusalem. As Germany celebrates the 250th birthday of the painter Caspar David Friedrich with three major exhibitions, art historians Louisa Buck and Waldemar Januszczak discuss the significance of the Romantic artist famous for his paintings of people in evocative landscapes.And the musician and composer Karl Jenkins joins Samira to talk about celebrating his 80th birthday with a concert tour.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Olivia Skinner

Eurovision decided to ban Russian participation this year on the grounds that it might bring the contest into disrepute, following the invasion of Ukraine. Dean Vuletic, author of Postwar Europe and The Eurovision Song Contest, spoke to Tom Sutcliffe, ahead of tonight's first semi-final in Turin. The hashtag #BookTok has been viewed on TikTok 52.6 billion times and the platform's viral videos made by booklovers have reshaped the young adult bestseller lists. Joining Tom to discuss the social media trends and how they're influencing the mainstream industry are the co-founder of @CultofBooks Kouthar Hagi AKA Coco and Dan Conway, incoming CEO of the Publishers Association. Last month the distinguished art critic Waldemar Januszczak visited Ukraine to see what was happening to the country's art collections, as the war continues. He joins Front Row to discuss his new documentary, My Ukrainian Journey. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Sarah Johnson Photo: Kalush Orchestra, Ukraine's entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022

The Alnwick Castle Podcast gets artistic this episode, as host Daniel is joined by Sunday Times art critic and documentarian Waldemar Januszczak to explore some of the highlights of the Castle's painting collection. Waldemar talks about the importance of artists like Canaletto, Van Dyck, Titian and Palma Vecchio, all of whom have works displayed in Alnwick Castle's State Rooms. We pay special attention to William Dobson, the 'lost genius of British art', whose self-portrait at Alnwick is one of Waldemar's favourite paintings.You can see images of the artworks discussed in this episode on the Alnwick Castle Facebook and Instagram pages (find them @alnwickcastle and @alnwickcastleofficial respectively) or, of course, by visiting the Castle.If you enjoyed this episode of the podcast, please subscribe and share it with your friends, and we appreciate any ratings or reviews you can offer! You can get in touch with us on Twitter @alnwickcastle or by emailing podcast@alnwickcastle.com .

Nicolaus Copernicus, born in 1473, was the orphaned son of a copper merchant in Toruń. Thanks to his bishop uncle, he obtained a first class education at the Kraków Academy and then in Italy, where he became an avid observer of the night sky – even though he was supposed to be preparing for a church career. His day job as a church canon, diplomat and doctor in Frombork – when he wasn't defending castles against the Teutonic Knights – meant that it took him over 30 years to finish his book 'On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres' in which he presented an Earth-shattering new idea – that maybe it wasn't actually at the centre of the universe as everyone believed, but in fact revolved around the Sun. Although it would take another century until Galileo was able to prove Copernicus right inarguably using the later invention of the telescope, Copernicus's book, published in 1543 in Nuremberg, would mark the beginning of a very real revolution in science and our understanding of the universe. Listen to the episode to find out how he came to this unexpected conclusion, and what happened next. Click here to get the transcript Like our show? Sign up for our newsletter! Further reading Copernicus: Revelations about the Renaissance Man // on Culture.pl Astronomer Copernicus, or Conversations with God – Jan Matejko // on Culture.pl A Quiz About Copernicus: More Than a Great Astronomer! // on Culture.pl Further watching Copernicus, by Jan Matejko // video by Waldemar Januszczak on YouTube.com Further visiting Nicolaus Copernicus Museum // in Frombork, Northern Poland Thanks Małgorzata Czupajło // Educator at the Nicolaus Copernicus Museum in Frombork. Dava Sobel // Science history writer and author of A More Perfect Heaven: How Copernicus Revolutionized the Cosmos. Prof. Karl Galle // Science historian at the American University in Cairo, currently working on a book delving into Copernicus's life in Warmia, including his roles as a church administrator, diplomat, cartographer and doctor. Lastly, a special thank you to the Nicolaus Copernicus Museum in Frombork for their help in making this episode possible. Credits Written & produced by Piotr Wołodźko Edited by Wojciech Oleksiak & Adam Zulawski Hosted by Nitzan Reisner & Adam Zulawski Scoring & sound design by Wojciech Oleksiak

We are super excited to welcome to this week's interview episode...Someone who is a TV documentary presenter, has twice won the Critic of the Year award and is the The Sunday Times art critic....it is a pleasure to welcome to the pod......Waldemar JanuszczakWaldemar is definitely the Topic Expert we needed to speak with and it was fascinating hearing his views on the famous paintings we discussed earlier this week.Hear:Why the Mona Lisa is so famous and Waldemar's thoughts on the painting.Why The Last Supper is such a magnificent painting.Waldemar quashing some of the inaccuracies we read about The Creation of Adam - plus Waldemar's close up first hand experience at The Creation of Adam.Waldemar suggesting Liam's likeness to The Scream.....Our research and reading can only take us so far - so from time to time we will interview an expert to ask them questions and hear their real life experience on a topic.Once you have listened we would love to hear your feedback.Contact us @TwoGuysOneTopic on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.If you are able to leave a quick review on your podcast player that would also be really appreciated.Thanks!Ollie and Liam Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hollywood star Sam Neill joins us from his home in New Zealand to discuss the perils of acting with sheep in his new film Rams, based on an acclaimed Icelandic drama about two estranged brothers and their flocks of a rare horned breed of sheep. A new colour blue has come onto artists’ palettes. Called YInMn it was discovered in 2009 by accident by scientists working on semiconductors but has only just become commercially available. Art critic Waldemar Januszczak looks at why this is significant and how artists have used the colour blue in painting. The next artist in our series #FrontRowGetCreative is Sarah Maple who will be exploring the art of collage. Using the idea of ‘negative space’, Sarah will be showing us how to create our own collage using text and imagery from magazines, newspapers and junk mail, the result of which will be a modern and striking image and a significant step up from what we were doing at primary school. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May

Veljko Paunovic was given the chance to meet Reading fans for the first time on Saturday - and he had specially prepared a 2-0 win for the Mad Stad faithful as 2,000 spectators were allowed to watch the game with Nottingham Forest. For this episode of The Tilehurst End Podcast, Marc Mayo and Adam Jones review the action with a handful of fans who attended the game sending in their take on how the day panned out. Simeon Pickup, Waldemar Januszczak, Ben Thomas, Harry Chafer and Nikhil Kapila sent in their thoughts - along with a special message for TTE from Pauno himself! Sponsored by ZCZ Films, The Tilehurst End Podcast can be taken in via PodBean, Spotify, Acast, YouTube or iTunes. Furthermore, thanks to all listeners who continue to pledge to our Patreon campaign. Listeners can always get in touch with the podcast via our Twitter and Facebook pages as well as our email, thetilehurstend@gmail.com, with thoughts on the show, opinions on the team, and potential topics to sink our teeth into always welcome. Show Order Recap - 01:55 Mailbag - 29:02 Newsbites - 49:30 Big Match Preview - 56;16

Lesley Manville, who was nominated for an Oscar for her last screen role in Phantom Thread, talks about her new film, Ordinary Love, which co-stars Liam Neeson and which explores the impact a diagnosis of breast cancer has upon an older couple. It was announced last night that the four artists shortlisted for this year’s Turner Prize are to share the £40,000 award after the contenders sent a letter to judges proposing they should win as a collective. One of the prize's judges, Alessio Antoniolli, discusses the panel’s decision, alongside critics Adrian Searle and Waldemar Januszczak who will consider the broader implications for arts prizes. An imagined film with vampires, witches and a girl gang is the story of Bat For Lashes' new album, Lost Girls. Natasha Khan discusses how moving to LA, 80s movies and falling in love shaped her fifth studio album, and her first after leaving a 10-year record deal. Presenter: Stig Abell Producer: Edwina Pitman

Baroque! From St Peter's to St Paul's is a three-part BBC Four documentary series on the painting, sculpture and architecture of the Baroque period. It was written and presented by Waldemar Januszczak and first broadcast in March 2009. ... won a Royal Television Society Award for best arts programme. Italy – Baroque's origins in Rome and Spanish Naples, including Borromini's architectural work such as San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Bernini's fountains, churches like Sant'Andrea al Quirinale and sculptures such as The Ecstasy of St Theresa; Andrea Pozzo's illusionistic work at Sant'Ignazio and Annibale Caracci's The Loves of the Gods; Caravaggio's career in Rome and Naples; Jusepe de Ribera, his 'Cabal of Naples' and its activities against rivals such as Caracci's followers Domenichino and Guido Reni. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thehistoryexpress/support

Baroque! From St Peter's to St Paul's is a three-part BBC Four documentary series on the painting, sculpture and architecture of the Baroque period. It was written and presented by Waldemar Januszczak and first broadcast in March 2009. ... won a Royal Television Society Award for best arts programme. England – The Royal Naval Hospital and Queen's House at Greenwich; Rubens, Van Dyck and Charles I's art patronage (including Banqueting House and its ceiling paintings); William Dobson's work during the English Civil War; the London churches of Christopher Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor; Blenheim Palace, the English Baroque invention of the country house within a landscaped garden and the career of John Vanbrugh; St Paul's. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thehistoryexpress/support

Baroque! From St Peter's to St Paul's is a three-part BBC Four documentary series on the painting, sculpture and architecture of the Baroque period. It was written and presented by Waldemar Januszczak and first broadcast in March 2009. ... won a Royal Television Society Award for best arts programme. Spain, its South American Empire, the Spanish Netherlands and the Dutch Republic – Velázquez and Las Meninas; Zurbarán; Baroque church architecture at Santiago de Compostela and in the Southern Netherlands; Rubens and the Southern Netherlands; Rembrandt, Frans Hals and Vermeer in the Dutch Republic. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thehistoryexpress/support

Debbie Harry is one of the defining musical artists of her age, known of course for her work with Blondie crafting and performing hits such as Heart of Glass, Dreaming and One Way or Another. As her memoir Face It is published, she talks to Front Row about the highs and lows of her professional and personal life, from writing her most successful lyrics to the double-edged sword of her looks, and her experience of drugs and sexual violence. The first-ever exhibition devoted to the portraits of Paul Gauguin opens at the National Gallery this week. Waldemar Januszczak reviews the show, which focuses on how the artist used portraiture primarily to express himself and his ideas about art, from the years he spent in Brittany and then French Polynesia towards the end of his life. And at a time when, despite the gravity of the situation, politics in the UK and the US has become more entertaining than ever, Caroline Crampton recommends some of the best political podcasts offering alternative takes on the news.

Front Row begins a series of unique book groups with each of the authors shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2019. Today novelist Lucy Ellmann, whose epic 1000 page novel Ducks, Newburyport is told in a stream of consciousness. Ellmann is joined by a group of Front Row listeners who get to quiz her on her book. Waldemar Januszczak discusses the work of painter Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, whose oil portraits depicting black figures are on show at the Corvi-Mora gallery in London and who will be the subject of a major retrospective at Tate Britain next year. Derek Paravicini, a blind autistic savant pianist with an extraordinary ability to play by ear and improvise, performs for us ahead of his concert at the Tetbury Music Festival in Gloucestershire. We also hear from his teacher Adam Ockelford. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Timothy Prosser

Ben Lewis talks about his book The Last Leonardo, about the world's most expensive work of art, the painting Salvator Mundi. Authenticated as a Leonardo in 2011, he examines its journey from Leonardo’s workshop in Milan through to the present day and explains why he has doubts about its authenticity. Art critic Waldemar Januszczak and editor of The Art Newspaper Alison Cole assess Leonardo's extraordinary art and legacy, from the Mona Lisa to The Last Supper. One of the UK’s foremost vocal ensembles I Fagiolini talk about and perform live from their new album, Leonardo - Shaping the Invisible, in which they have matched Leonardo da Vinci's artworks with vocal masterworks, illuminating his images through the prism of music. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Edwina Pitman

Tiffany is joined by the art critic and TV documentary maker, Waldemar Januszczak, the writer Michael Savage (Grumpy Art Historian), and the ex-museum director, Tom Freudenheim (Old Fart Thoughts On Museums) to discuss whether arts sponsorship should be ethical.  They reflect on the significance of the decision taken in March 2019 by the National Portrait Gallery and the Sackler Trust not to proceeded with a £1m donation, questioning to what extent we are seeing a tipping point in arts funding. They assess to what extent the politicisation of museums is a new phenomena, or if it has been part of the cultural world for decades, and argue over whether it's a positive or negative development, before reflecting on where vital money for the art world will come from, including... museum charging.  ► GUESTS    Waldemar Januszczak,  is an art critic and and television documentary maker. He tweets at @JANUSZCZAK.  You can read his Sunday Times article compelling the dropping of Sackler sponsorship here: The ugly truth about art: why Nan Goldin is taking on the Sacklers  Michael Savage blogs here, as Grumpy Art Historian.  He tweets at @GrumpyArt Tom Freudenheim can be found writing in the Wall Street Journal and here on OFTOM   He has a twitter account, but doesn't really tweet  @TomFreudenheim   ► FURTHER INFORMATION  Find out more about Pain (Prescription Addition Intervention Now) organised by Nan Goldin to address the opioid crisis, here.  Read Adrian Ellis, director of AEA Consulting, in the Art Newspaper, on increased public scrutiny of museum boards in a social media age, which sets this issue in a broader context.     ► MUSIC Signature tune:  Nick Vander Black Kopal - Galaxy I The rest:  Tim Hart - Royalty-Free Music Large Collection (100+ Tracks) - Track 24 Ecstatic Waltz Tim Hart - Royalty-Free Music Large Collection (100+ Tracks) - Track 40 Keys   ► SOCIAL MEDIA  Behind the Scenes at the Museum is on Instagram: @BehindtheMuseum & Twitter: @BehindtheMuseum --- Behind the Scenes at the Museum is written and presented by Tiffany Jenkins and produced by Jac Phillimore. 

As France vows to restore Notre-Dame de Paris after last night's devastating fire, we discuss the artistic, musical and cultural significance of this great Cathedral. With music historian Mark Everist, art critic Waldemar Januszczak and French literature academic Eve Morisi. Roger McGough, one of Britain’s most widely read poets, talks about his latest anthology, joinedupwriting, in which he explores themes of childhood, ageing and politics. He reflects on the appeal of different forms of verse and how the critical reaction to his work sits with its popular appeal. Lucy Kirkwood's hit 2013 play Chimerica comes to Channel 4 as a new TV drama series, updated to the Trump era. Sarah Crompton reviews. Presenter: Stig Abell Producer: Timothy Prosser

You Were Never Really Here stars Joaquin Pheonix as a contract killer who uncovers a conspiracy while trying to save a kidnapped teen from a prostitution ring. The film is directed by Lynne Ramsay who made We Need to Talk About Kevin. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews.What's the key to delivering a perfect performance as an award ceremony host? TV critic Emma Bullimore and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh review Jimmy Kimmel's efforts in last night's Oscars ceremony, as well as Joanna Lumley at the BAFTAs and Jack Whitehall at the Brits, and consider what makes the perfect host.Steve Reich says the pioneering percussion Colin Currie is 'one of the greatest musicians in the world'. Today Currie returns the compliment, launching his own record label with his recording of Reich's piece 'Drumming'. He talks to John Wilson about this and the recent developments in music for percussion.Artist Charlotte Salomon died aged 26 in Auschwitz, leaving behind an impressive collection of over 700 paintings called Life? or Theatre? Ahead of events on Salomon at Jewish Book Week, Griselda Pollock and Waldemar Januszczak discuss her life and work. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Kate Bullivant.

To coincide with the publication of a book which collects all her artwork from the past decade, Tracey Emin comes into the Front Row studio to look back at that prolific period which saw her represent Britain at the Venice Biennial.Twenty-five years after publishing The Ice House, the first of her many highly successful crime novels, Minette Walters discusses her historical fiction debut, The Last Hours, set in a medieval Dorsetshire village during the start of the Black Death. Paul Gauguin's two years in Tahiti saw the French painter create some of his most celebrated artworks. But his time in French Polynesia is also seen as controversial due to alleged relationships with young girls while there. A new French-language biopic starring Vincent Cassel comes out this week about Gauguin's time on Tahiti, art critic Waldemar Januszczak gives his verdict on the film. For National Novel Writing Month we hear from three people hoping to complete a novel this November.

Mat talks with Sunday Times' art critic Waldemar Januszczak about Centrifugal Soul, his latest exhibtion at Blain|Southern London. Their intriguing, in-depth and jovial conversation covers ideas about evolution, showing off, Brexit, Mat's new touring exhibition and his recurring interest in Victorian innovations.

After an awkward mix-up, Moonlight was eventually revealed as best picture at the Oscars. Critic Tim Robey discusses why it was a worthy winner over La La Land.Mary Beard discusses Rome and Shakespeare alongside Angus Jackson, season director of a new run of the Roman plays at the Royal Shakespeare Company.Critically acclaimed writer Ross Raisin talks about his new novel A Natural, which is about a young footballer whose dreams of reaching the upper leagues are rapidly fading and whose identity is conflicted.Guido Cagnacci's masterpiece The Repentant Magdalene is on loan for three months at the National Gallery, the first time the painting has been on view in the UK in over 30 years. Art critic Waldemar Januszczak examines the power of this extraordinary work and discusses the depiction of Mary Magdalene in art.

View this week's image here. Waldemar Januszczak is a British art critic and television documentary producer and presenter. Formerly the art critic of The Guardian, he took the same role at The Sunday Times in 1992, and has twice won the Critic of the Year award. Producer: Dan Morelle Subscribe, rate and review on iTunes and follow Janina on Twitter. Follow History Hit on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Please share this episode on Twitter and

Supersonic is a new documentary charting the success of Oasis, the Manchester band with 8 number one albums and estimated sales of over 70 million. John talks to director Mat Whitecross - who also directed Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, the biopic of Ian Dury - about charting brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher's rapid rise to stardom.In Mel Gibson's new film Blood Father, the actor is cast as a recovering alcoholic with anger issues, capitalising on the actor's off-screen controversies over the past decade. Antonia Quirke reviews.Beyond Caravaggio at the National Gallery, which focuses on the work of the Italian painter and his influence on the art of his contemporaries and followers, is reviewed by Waldemar Januszczak.Sir Karl Jenkins discusses his new choral work Cantata Memoria - For the Children, in commemoration of those killed in the Aberfan disaster 50 years ago, which has its world premiere in Cardiff tomorrow.Presenter John Wilson Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Professor David Reynolds describes the Battle of Verdun, which pitched French and German forces against each other in one of the bloodiest episodes of the First World War. Meanwhile, art critic and broadcaster Waldemar Januszczak talks to us about his new BBC Four series The Renaissance Unchained See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Tom Shakespeare, film director Peter Greenaway and art historian Matthijs Ilsink join Matthew Sweet in Holland for an exhibition marking the 500th anniversary of the death of artist Hieronymus Bosch. Matthew also talks to Plebaan Geertjan van Rossem, priest at St John's Cathedral in 's-Hertogenbosch, to get a religious perspective on Bosch's work. Het Noordbrabants Museum in 's-Hertogenbosch, Holland, presents the Jheronimus Bosch – Visions of a Genius exhibition from February 13 to May 8, 2016. 20 paintings (panels and triptychs) and 19 drawings are on display. You might also be interested listening to Saturday 13 February, 1302-1500: Saturday Classics: Ahead of his BBC4 series Renaissance Unchained, art critic Waldemar Januszczak conjures up the sound world of this epoch of huge passions and powerful religious emotions across all of Europe. The term 'Renaissance', or 'rinascita', was coined by Giorgio Vasari in 16th-century Florence, and his assertion that it had fixed origins in Italy has since influenced all of art history. But what of Flanders, Germany and the rest of Northern Europe? Waldemar presents music from the time of the Renaissance greats: Jan Van Eyck, Hans Memling, Albrecht Dürer, Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo and El Greco. Producer: Laura Thomas

On Start the Week Tom Sutcliffe discusses who owns culture. The writer Tiffany Jenkins tells the story of how western museums have come to acquire treasures from around the world, but dismisses the idea of righting the wrongs of the past by returning artefacts. The Zimbabwean writer Tendai Huchu believes the west shouldn't underestimate the impact of colonisation on cultural identity. Ellen McAdam, Director of Birmingham Museums Trust, discusses the pressures regional museums are under. While the art critic Waldemar Januszczak eschews traditional views of Renaissance art, arguing that far from a classical Italian form, its roots are in the 'barbarian' lands of Flanders and Germany. Producer: Hannah Robins.

Ahead of his BBC4 series Renaissance Unchained, art critic Waldemar Januszczak conjures up the sound world of this epoch of huge passions and powerful religious emotions across all of Europe. The term 'Renaissance', or 'rinascita', was coined by Giorgio Vasari in 16th-century Florence, and his assertion that it had fixed origins in Italy has since influenced all of art history. But what of Flanders, Germany and the rest of Northern Europe? Waldemar presents music from the time of the Renaissance greats: Jan Van Eyck, Hans Memling, Albrecht Dürer, Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo and El Greco.

The Survivalist is a dark imagining of a post-apocalyptic world where society has collapsed and each must fend for himself. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews this BAFTA nominated film staring Martin McCann.Composer Mark-Anthony Turnage and Kevin O'Hare, the Director of The Royal Ballet, discuss Strapless, a new ballet inspired by John Singer Sargent's scandalous Portrait of Madame X, choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon.The Royal Librarian, Oliver Urquhart Irvine, reveals the exhibition, Shakespeare in the Royal Library, at Windsor Castle which traces the royal family's connection with Shakespeare and includes the second folio collected works that Charles I took with him to prison.The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary! is a stage adaptation of Gustave Flaubert's novel at the Liverpool Everyman. Except that this version is a comedy. Vicky Armstrong reviews.Waldemar Januszczak assesses the Louvre's restoration of Leonardo da Vinci's St John the Baptist, which one expert argues is putting this masterpiece at risk.Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Angie Nehring.

The new BBC drama series, Dickensian, sees Charles Dickens's most famous stories and characters co-existing on the same Victorian streets. John Wilson talks to Tony Jordan, the creator of the series.The German conductor Kurt Masur led both the London and the New York Philharmonic Orchestras and encouraged a peaceful reunification of Germany. Norman Lebrecht pays tribute to Masur who died at the weekend aged 88.Ron Howard has proved himself an extraordinarily diverse director, from his Oscar-winning A Beautiful Mind to Frost/Nixon, Apollo 13, Parenthood, Splash and Rush. His latest film, In The Heart of The Sea, starring Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker and Ben Whishaw, he explores the true story that inspired Melville's Moby Dick.And if you're in need of some cultural inspiration this Christmas but have had enough of the obvious festive fare, Front Row have selected four arts experts to champion an alternative Christmas treat each day this week. Tonight, the art critic Waldemar Januszczak reveals his out of the ordinary Christmas image.

Timothy Spall has brought JMW Turner to life in Mike Leigh's new film, Mr Turner - he tells Damian Barr how he did so, learning to paint like the master and using his own love of the sea. The Picasso museum in Paris closed for renovation in 2009, and was scheduled to re-open two years later. But the work took four years longer than that, went over budget and culminated in the sacking of the museum's president. Waldemar Januszczak reviews the refurbishment. Damian talks to the legendary Portuguese pianist Maria João Pires, who at the age of seventy has recorded Beethoven's Piano Concertos for the first time. And Memphis, the musical, arrives in the UK, starring Beverley Knight and Killian Donnelly. A story of music, race and America in the fifties, how well does it work on the London stage? Gaylene Gould reviews. Presenter: Damian Barr Producer: Sarah Johnson.

Tom Sutcliffe talks to the celebrated composer, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies on the eve of the premier of his tenth symphony. His latest work creates a musical structure based on architectural proportions, inspired by the 17th century architect Francesco Borromini. Waldemar Januszczak turns to the 18th century and Rococo for his inspiration, and looks at how this artistic movement spread from painting and interior design, to music and theatre. The environment, both built and natural, is key to Trevor Cox's study of sound as he listens intently to the cacophony around us. While the psychologist Victoria Williamson explores our relationship with music, including why we're prone to earworms, certain rhythms repeating endlessly in our heads. Producer: Katy Hickman.

With Kirsty Lang. Singer Michael Stipe and bassist Mike Mills from the band REM discuss what it feels like to 'call it a day as a band' after 30 years, 15 studio albums and 85 million albums sold. They reflect on their career in the light of a new retrospective double album called REM, Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage, 1982-2011. Artists including Tracey Emin, Rachel Whiteread, Howard Hodgkin and Martin Creed have created posters for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, unveiled today. Three of the artists reveal their inspirations, and Waldemar Januszczak discusses whether the new posters are winners. In a time of austerity, the TV schedules still find space for programmes about the super-rich. Boyd Hilton assesses the appeal of shows such as Billion $$ Girl, about the daughter of F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone, and Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Producer Philippa Ritchie.

Actor, play write and director Steven Berkoff, joins Waldemar Januszczak to discuss his taste for the French art and his passion for Dali.