The Art of Gothic - Britain's Midnight Hour is a short documentary by Andrew Graham-Dixon. He explains over three 1 hour long episodes the origins and progression of Gothic from the 18th Century. Starting with the episode Liberty Diversity Depravity...
Gothic was originally a term used to describe a medieval style of building, a sacred architecture dedicated to the glory of god, but also came to be associated with the sinister and supernatural. The Castle of Otranto was the first Gothic novel written by Horace Walpole in 1764. Walpole was an eccentric literary wit, and included all the elements of haunted castles, strange happenings and unknown lusts in his novel. Everything else in Gothic fiction comes from The Castle of Otranto. The 18th Century readers swooned and their pulses raced whilst reading it. Strawberry Hill House was built by Horace Walpole in 1749, where he thought location was important as his building was outside the centre of things. What Walpole loved about the Gothic style was not its beauty but the fact it was a bit queer. The Idea of Otranto came to him in a dream where, on a big Gothic stairwell he saw a disembodied hand in armour, suggesting a nameless motif. In the mid 18th-century Gothic was mutating. It was much more than an architectural style, it now became a movement in art and literature. Even a new language to suggest what couldn't be openly voiced. Georgian England loved Gothic books in which young girls embedded themselves in them. The Monk, by Matthew Lewis is the most shocking 18th Century novel, causing a scandal. Towards the end of the 18th Century, Gothic novels were incredibly popular because readers were not only able to express their fears and terror but to also explore their fantasies.
Following The City and The Soul...
In the second episode, Graham-Dixon talks about the 19th-Century and the many changes as England transformed from a rural society to an urban society due to the Industrial revolutions leaving the Victorians feared for their futures. Science was introduced and they frowned upon it, believing it was dark and were convinced it was destroying the human wonder by removing god from the equation. Augustus Pugin was an architect and designer, he is best known for designing the Houses of Parliament. He believed that modern architecture was bad and Gothic architecture was good, gaining many followers. Mary Shelley found solace in the graveyard, where she often visited her mothers grave who she sadly never met. Here, she was inspired to write famous novel Frankenstein. Many people actually tried to revive people using powerful electrical currents. The people feared science might run out of control and believed art was the tree of life and science was the tree of death. Unfortunately for them, science was ruining the countryside and people had to suffer the consequences of change by living through these changes, it was an industrial trauma. Dickens became the most popular writer because his novels contrasted and stated "If you're looking for Gothic horror, you don't need your imagination, you're living in it'. He focused on many other writers and artists, one that caused controversy was John Martin, who created The Great Day Of His Wrath, a painting suggesting the end of the world, his work almost looking into the future. Because of all the negativity about the Industrial revolution Augustus Pugin, an architect and designer, believed that modern architecture was bad and Gothic architecture was good, gaining many followers. He is best known for designing the Houses of Parliament. The modern Victorian world was causing many problems. By the beginning of the 20th Century there were two kinds of Gothic; one being the horror - Frankenstein and Dickens' Bleak House, the other being the idealism of Pugin where people followed him towards the happy land of the Gothic revival.
Finally Blood for sale - Gothic goes Global...
Gothic began with the desire to revive something that was dead, a style of medieval architecture that grew more sinister. By mid 19th-century, Gothic had spread in all directions. Paintings created fears and phobias whilst novels planted terror and dread. It infected music, fashion, film, TV and even technology. Gothic had gone viral. Human's were being replaced by Frankenstein like monsters in the form of robots. Bram Stoker spooked us into thinking people might live in the machines. In his Dracula novel, he wrote about the new media of the 19th-century. The book is full of references to the telephone, typewriter, phonograph and kodak camera. Cinema propelled Gothic around the globe becoming the ultimate Gothic house. The big screen was where you could watch horror films and see actors that had died appear alive in front of you as you watched them, it was like looking at their ghosts. "The film industry in Britain never established itself to the commercial and artistic degree which it did in Germany, France, Italy and America. Alfred Hitchcock was soon off to Hollywood, taking with him his love of Gothic and horror, creating Psycho". Gothic is everywhere - we're all Gothic now, not only from books we read and films we watch, but also in our minds.
Andrew Graham-Dixon has a lot of knowledge about the art of Gothic and that reflects throughout the documentary. I did feel the documentary could have been shortened as I felt it was too long to watch in one go and had to have breaks in between. However, he is very passionate about the subject and it rubs off on viewers, causing them to become more engaged in the documentary and his enthusiasm helps us understand about the origins and development of the Gothic genre. Watching this documentary has helped me gain knowledge in this genre and this should reflect throughout my work.
(All information is from the documentary)
In the second episode, Graham-Dixon talks about the 19th-Century and the many changes as England transformed from a rural society to an urban society due to the Industrial revolutions leaving the Victorians feared for their futures. Science was introduced and they frowned upon it, believing it was dark and were convinced it was destroying the human wonder by removing god from the equation. Augustus Pugin was an architect and designer, he is best known for designing the Houses of Parliament. He believed that modern architecture was bad and Gothic architecture was good, gaining many followers. Mary Shelley found solace in the graveyard, where she often visited her mothers grave who she sadly never met. Here, she was inspired to write famous novel Frankenstein. Many people actually tried to revive people using powerful electrical currents. The people feared science might run out of control and believed art was the tree of life and science was the tree of death. Unfortunately for them, science was ruining the countryside and people had to suffer the consequences of change by living through these changes, it was an industrial trauma. Dickens became the most popular writer because his novels contrasted and stated "If you're looking for Gothic horror, you don't need your imagination, you're living in it'. He focused on many other writers and artists, one that caused controversy was John Martin, who created The Great Day Of His Wrath, a painting suggesting the end of the world, his work almost looking into the future. Because of all the negativity about the Industrial revolution Augustus Pugin, an architect and designer, believed that modern architecture was bad and Gothic architecture was good, gaining many followers. He is best known for designing the Houses of Parliament. The modern Victorian world was causing many problems. By the beginning of the 20th Century there were two kinds of Gothic; one being the horror - Frankenstein and Dickens' Bleak House, the other being the idealism of Pugin where people followed him towards the happy land of the Gothic revival.
Finally Blood for sale - Gothic goes Global...
Gothic began with the desire to revive something that was dead, a style of medieval architecture that grew more sinister. By mid 19th-century, Gothic had spread in all directions. Paintings created fears and phobias whilst novels planted terror and dread. It infected music, fashion, film, TV and even technology. Gothic had gone viral. Human's were being replaced by Frankenstein like monsters in the form of robots. Bram Stoker spooked us into thinking people might live in the machines. In his Dracula novel, he wrote about the new media of the 19th-century. The book is full of references to the telephone, typewriter, phonograph and kodak camera. Cinema propelled Gothic around the globe becoming the ultimate Gothic house. The big screen was where you could watch horror films and see actors that had died appear alive in front of you as you watched them, it was like looking at their ghosts. "The film industry in Britain never established itself to the commercial and artistic degree which it did in Germany, France, Italy and America. Alfred Hitchcock was soon off to Hollywood, taking with him his love of Gothic and horror, creating Psycho". Gothic is everywhere - we're all Gothic now, not only from books we read and films we watch, but also in our minds.
Andrew Graham-Dixon has a lot of knowledge about the art of Gothic and that reflects throughout the documentary. I did feel the documentary could have been shortened as I felt it was too long to watch in one go and had to have breaks in between. However, he is very passionate about the subject and it rubs off on viewers, causing them to become more engaged in the documentary and his enthusiasm helps us understand about the origins and development of the Gothic genre. Watching this documentary has helped me gain knowledge in this genre and this should reflect throughout my work.
(All information is from the documentary)
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