How To Look At A Painting | Religious Art

How To Look At A Painting is an art series never before seen on television and provides viewers with a fresh and exciting perspective on how to truly appreciate and better understand the world of painting.

The series is based on the best-selling book by senior curator, Justin Paton, who also presents the show. Each week he embarks on a highly visual journey of exploration across the painted world to uncover and examine the marvels and mysteries of painting.

The heart of the series is Justin's engaging commentary on a wide variety of artworks, appealing to novice viewers, skeptics and experts alike. It is a thematic journey through the painted world of both New Zealand and international art and artists. Each episode focuses on a different topic and provides viewers with visual answers to Justin's search for understanding. From abstract to religious, contemporary to historical, portrait to landscape and from installations to paintings that seem like nothing at all - this is a journey through the unpredictable and wonderful, ever-changing world of art.

Tonight Justin asks, what happened to religious art when it came down from the walls of churches and began a new life on gallery walls? The team go in search of the answers. As Justin meanders past rude painting, pop-art, portrait and landscape painting in a gallery, we ask - how does religious painting fit in here? Through the works of the likes of Paul Gaugin, Arthur Boyd and Stanley Spencer, Justin illustrates that spiritual questions are still a major inspiration for contemporary artists. They're grounding old stories and symbols in the here and now.