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Waldemar Januszczak

Waldemar Januszczak

Acting

Biography

Januszczak was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire, to Polish refugees who had arrived in England after the Second World War. After studying history of art at the University of Manchester, Januszczak became an art critic – and then arts editor – of The Guardian. In 1990 he was appointed head of arts at the UK's Channel 4 television and in 1992 he became art critic for The Sunday Times. He has been voted Critic of the Year twice by the Press Association. Januszczak has been described as "a passionate art lover, art critic and writer. His presentation style is casual but informed, enthusiastic, evocative and humorous. He bumbles about on our TV screens, doing for art what David Attenborough has done for the natural world," and someone who acts out of "a refusal to present art as elitist in any way. He makes it utterly accessible and understandable."

Known For

Celebrity Antiques Road Trip
6.0

Antiques experts accompany celebrities on a road trip around the UK searching for treasures and competing to make the most money at auction

Celebrity Antiques Road Trip

2011
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N/A

Channel 4 documentary series covering all branches of the arts.

Arthouse

1997
The Impressionists: Painting and Revolution
10.0

Art writer Waldemar Januszczak explores the revolutionary achievements of the Impressionists.

The Impressionists: Painting and Revolution

2011
Picasso: Magic, Sex & Death
N/A

Picasso: Magic, Sex, & Death is a three-episode Channel 4 film documentary series on Pablo Picasso presented by the artist's friend and biographer John Richardson, and directed by Christopher Bruce or British art critic Waldemar Januszczak, who was also the series director. On-screen contributors include Picasso descendants such as Paloma Picasso, Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, Diana Widmaier-Picasso, Maya Picasso, and Claude Picasso; along with authorities such as Mary Ann Caws, Billy Klüver, Gérard Régnier, James Lord, Bernard Minoret, Robert Rosenblum, Linda Gasman, Marilyn McCully, David Gilmore and Gertje Utley; one former mistress; and one flirtation.

Picasso: Magic, Sex & Death

2001
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The sunny landscapes and shimmering portraits of the 19th century impressionists adorn candy boxes and designer T-shirts. But as critic Waldemar Januszczak reveals in this four-part documentary, the artistic movement didn't always enjoy the widespread popularity it has today. In their time, impressionists were artistic rebels who threw out the rules set by Paris's prestigious art salons. As Januszczak visits the studios, hot spots, and rustic vistas that inspired the artists, he sheds light on a motley collection of personalities, from Jean-Frederic Bazille, a gifted, nearly seven-foot-tall painter who helped bankroll his fellow artists, to Claude Monet, whose obsession with water compelled him to build a floating studio. When they banded together for eight legendary exhibitions between 1874 and 1886, they forever expanded the boundaries of art.

Understanding Art: Impressionism

2011
The Dark Ages: An Age of Light
8.0

Christianity slowly emerged from being a persecuted minority to the state religion of the Roman Empire. This episode is a history of the ways believers grappled with a way to depict Jesus. Simple symbolic meaning developed into splendid art and churches.

The Dark Ages: An Age of Light

2012
Handmade in Bolton
N/A

Shaun Greenhalgh and Dr Janina Ramirez research and remake a selection of precious objects from the past using traditional materials and methods.

Handmade in Bolton

2019
B movie
6.8

This mini documentary features a rare interview with infamous graffiti artist Banksy, delving into how he started out as a graffiti writer up to his shift to gallery art, installations, CDs, and more. Til this day only a hand full of people know his real identity, such as friends appearing here: 3D of Massive Attack, Damien Hirst, and others.

B movie

2009
Art's Wildest Movement: Mannerism
10.0

Art critic Waldemar Januszczak delves into the heart of Mannerism, as he explores the development of the art style, examines its characteristics, and questions what it achieved.

Art's Wildest Movement: Mannerism

2024
Baroque! From St Peter's to St Paul's
7.7

In this three-part documentary series Waldemar Januszczak discovers paintings, sculptures and architecture of the Baroque period. Starting from the square of Saint Peter's Basilica in Italy to St Paul's Cathedral in England.

Baroque! From St Peter's to St Paul's

2009
Big Sky, Big Dreams, Big Art: Made in the USA
N/A

A history of American art with Waldemar Januszczak

Big Sky, Big Dreams, Big Art: Made in the USA

2018
The Art Mysteries with Waldemar Januszczak
7.3

Art historian Waldemar Januszczak uncovers the secret meanings hidden within some of the greatest paintings by Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne and Seurat .

The Art Mysteries with Waldemar Januszczak

2020
Gauguin: The Full Story
10.0

Art critic and broadcaster Waldemar Januszczak wrote and directed this examination of a man who was not only a great painter but sculptor, wood carver, musician, print maker, journalist and ceramicist. As well as telling the remarkable story of Gauguin's life, Januszczak also celebrates Gauguin's achievements and examines the various accusations of sexual misconduct, familial neglect and racism that are frequently made against him.

Gauguin: The Full Story

2003
The Renaissance Unchained
N/A

Four-part series in which Waldemar Januszczak challenges the traditional view of art's most important epoch - the Renaissance.

The Renaissance Unchained

2016
Here Comes the Summer: The Undertones Story
N/A

In 1978 the Undertones released Teenage Kicks, one of the most perfect and enduring pop records of all time - an adolescent anthem that spoke to teenagers all over the globe. It was the first in a string of hits that created a timeless soundtrack to growing up, making the Undertones one of punk rock's most prolific and popular bands.

Here Comes the Summer: The Undertones Story

2012
Rococo: Travel, Pleasure, Madness
N/A

Rococo art is often dismissed as frivolous. But Waldemar Januszczak disagrees and in this three-part series he tries to bring Rococo art closer to us, and argues that the Rococo was the age in which the modern world was born.

Rococo: Travel, Pleasure, Madness

2014
Manet: The Man Who Invented Modern Art
5.3

Manet is one of the main candidates for the title of the most important artist there has been. As the reluctant father of Impressionism, and the painter of Dejeuner sur l'herbe, he can probably be accused of inventing modern art. But his story is fascinating on many other levels. As a piece of compelling biography, Manet's is the unlikely tale of the stubborn son of the most highly placed judge in France who decides to become an artist and embarrass his father. The resulting family tensions are the stuff of legend. Then there was Manet's dramatic private life, including exotic romantic affairs and a particularly horrible death. Always cited as the father of the Impressionists, Manet stubbornly refused to show with them, and was careful to maintain an aesthetic distance from Monet, Renoir and the others. While they worshipped him, he looked down on them.

Manet: The Man Who Invented Modern Art

2009
Ugly Beauty
N/A

Documentary in which art critic Waldemar Januszczak argues that beauty is still to be found in modern art, despite several recent books claiming the contrary.

Ugly Beauty

2010
Mary Magdalene: Art's Scarlet Woman
3.0

Waldemar Januszczak explores the impact of Mary Magdalene's myth on art and artists. In art all Christian saints are inventions but Mary Magdalene has been the subject of more invention and re-invention than any other.

Mary Magdalene: Art's Scarlet Woman

2017
The Lost Supper
N/A

This rare film tells the strange, disquieting and protracted story of the restoration of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous masterpiece, The Last Supper. Some say the results of the restoration are glorious. Others have called them tragic. Da Vinci’s famously fragile fresco was always going to be a challenge for its secretive Italian restorers. No one, however, could have foreseen how problematic and strange their task would become. Marked by a series of extraordinary mishaps, mistakes, and miscalculations, the incredible restoration is hilarious to watch but may have resulted in the loss of a masterpiece.

The Lost Supper

1998