It’s the opportunity of a lifetime for artist Phil Richards, who’s been commissioned to create Canada’s official portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for her Diamond Jubilee. Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Hubert Davis follows Richards over months of painstaking preparations, as he works to capture Her Majesty’s likeness and spirit on canvas.

In this three-part series, art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon journeys across America to explore themes and styles in American art from the 17th to the 21st centuries. Beginning with the early Puritans, he examines a persistent paradox in American history—an ideology rooted in God and nature, but a reality seeped in blood and the destruction of the natural world. Next up is the rise of mechanization, modernism, and Abstract Expressionism, and then Graham-Dixon takes a look at the age of capitalism and beyond, including Pop Art, a return to pantheism, and the “filthy money” versus “pure art” divide. A BBC Production. 3-part series, 50 minutes each.

Andrew Graham-Dixon takes a tour of the fascinating watery world of the Low Countries, exploring how the past has informed the area's art, architecture, and culture. Three powerful films look at how the artists of Belgium and Holland were in a constant search for identity in an area that was always politically contested. He explores how the art of Renaissance Flanders evolved from the craft of precious tapestries; in the Riiksmuseum in Amsterdam, Andrew examines how a period of economic boom driven by a burgeoning middle class led to the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century; and finally Andrew looks at how this entrepreneurial and industrious region rose again to become a cultural leader in the modern age and produced important forward thinking artists like Van Gogh, Mondrian, and Magritte who changed the face of art forever. A BBC Production.

This vibrant 30-minute series shines a spotlight on artists, their process and their impact on the communities who connect with their work. Actor, writer and educator Amanda Parris hosts this collage of short docs, digital series and the best arts-related content from across the CBC.

Hosted by Sean O'Neill of the Art Gallery of Ontario, this high-energy series is an immersive television experience that gives the audience a completely different view of the artistic process. In each episode, three talented artists from varied backgrounds face off in a challenging, real-time creative arena that will shatter their artistic boundaries.

St. Francis of Assisi revolutionized Christianity in 13th-century Tuscany with his down-to-earth belief that poverty, chastity, and obedience should shape an individual’s relationship with God. By going back to Christ’s original message, he played a pivotal role in the genesis of the Renaissance. This poignant program investigates how St. Francis’s infusion of emotion and nature into the Christian mainstream inspired artists of the period to produce naturalistic depictions of him that were full of action and feeling. Interviews with Monsignor Timothy Verdon, art historian at Canon Florence Duomo; Franciscan Friar Maurice Richard; and Alexander Nagel, art historian at the University of Toronto, are featured. (49 minutes)