The Art of Spain

Under Moorish rule for 700 years, Spain became the most advanced, wealthy and populous country in Europe – and the south was its heart. Critic and historian Andrew Graham-Dixon travels across Spain to discover some of Europe’s most vital and exciting art. He visits Córdoba, Seville and Granada to tell the story of one of the most colorful and sophisticated cultures to ever appear in Europe.

From the mystical world of El Greco to the tender genius of Velazquez, Spain’s Golden Age was an extraordinary time. But what of the violent heart and history beneath its beautiful surface? In the second part of his series on some of Europe’s most exciting and vital art, critic and historian Andrew Graham-Dixon travels to the country’s centre to explore Spanish art in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Spain’s turbulent history has shaped its artists – from Francisco Goya and Pablo Picasso to Joan Miró and Salvador Dalí. Historian Andrew Graham-Dixon shows how northern Spain has produced some of the most dazzling and iconic art of the modern age. As well as the giants of painting, Graham-Dixon argues that Spanish architecture is the art form taking the nation forward into the new millennium.