NARRATOR: CIVILIZATION IS TIED TO LANDSCAPES.

LANDSCAPES HELP DEFINE WHO WE ARE AND WHERE WE CALL HOME...

YET LANDSCAPE ART HASN'T ALWAYS DEPICTED THE WAY THE WORLD REALLY IS.

IT'S OFTEN A VISION OF WHAT WE WOULD LIKE IT TO BE, A FANTASY OF UTOPIA OR A RESPITE FROM A RAPIDLY CHANGING WORLD.

THEY CAN REPRESENT OUR SHARED VALUES, AND SOMETIMES THEY CAN EVEN ALLOW US A GLIMPSE OF SOMETHING TRANSCENDENT.

ONE OF LANDSCAPE ART'S GREATEST IMAGES WAS MADE IN CALIFORNIA IN THE SPRING OF 1927.

A YOUNG PHOTOGRAPHER AND EXPERIENCED CLIMBER HAD TREKKED DEEP INTO SNOWBOUND YOSEMITE...

BUT HIS HIKE DIDN'T GO ACCORDING TO PLAN, AND WITH THE LIGHT ABOUT TO DIE, HE WAS LEFT WITH JUST TWO GLASS PLATES.

UNDER PRESSURE, HE PRODUCED WHAT MANY CONSIDER ONE OF THE GREATEST MASTERPIECES OF AMERICAN OR ANY OTHER LANDSCAPE ART-- "MONOLITH, THE FACE OF HALF DOME.

ANSEL ADAMS HAD CAPTURED THE GREAT MOUNTAIN IN DRAMATIC LIGHT AND WOULD CHANGE HOW AMERICANS SAW THEIR COUNTRY.

MAN: WHEN ADAMS CAME ON THIS SCENE, IT WAS AN EPIPHANY.

IT WAS LIKE FALLING IN LOVE, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, HE BECAME NOT JUST YOSEMITE'S PHOTOGRAPHER, BUT ITS GREAT ARTIST, THE HIGH PRIEST OF ITS TEMPLE, OF ITS STONE, ITS LIGHT, AND ITS WATER, AND WHAT HE PRODUCED IN THOSE LANDSCAPE ALTARPIECES, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THEY SURELY WERE, WAS AN AMERICA IRRADIATED WITH LUMINOUS MAJESTY TALLER THAN THE HIGHEST SKYSCRAPER, MORE POWERFUL THAN THE MIGHTIEST BUSINESS CORPORATION, AND HE WANTED YOSEMITE TO BE FOR EVERYONE.

THIS IS OUR LAND.

[ACOUSTIC GUITAR PLAYING] WOODY GUTHRIE: ♪ THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND ♪ ♪ AND THIS LAND IS MY LAND ♪ ♪ FROM CALIFORNIA TO THE NEW YORK ISLAND ♪ ♪ FROM THE REDWOOD FOREST TO THE GULF STREAM WATERS ♪ ♪ THIS LAND WAS MADE FOR YOU AND ME ♪ NARRATOR: BY THE 1950s, ANSEL ADAMS' PHOTOGRAPHS HAD BECOME THE ICONIC IMAGES OF THE AMERICAN WEST...

BUT HIS PHOTOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPES WERE JUST THE LATEST VERSION OF AN ARTFORM BORN A THOUSAND YEARS EARLIER IN CHINA.

IN THE TENTH CENTURY, CHINA WAS DIVIDED INTO NUMEROUS FEUDING STATES, EACH BATTLING FOR DOMINANCE.

AS WARRING ARMIES BURNED TOWNS AND VILLAGES, ORDER BROKE DOWN IN THE COUNTRYSIDE...

SO IT'S, PERHAPS, NO SURPRISE THAT THIS WAR-TORN PERIOD WOULD LATER INSPIRE ARTISTS TO CREATE LANDSCAPES OF PEACE... AND WHEN THE SONG DYNASTY FINALLY RE-ESTABLISHED ORDER IN 960, THEY TURNED TO THIS NEW ARTFORM TO ASSERT THEIR VALUES.

I'M LOOKING AT A DOCUMENT THAT ATTESTS TO A PROFOUND ALTERATION IN HUMAN SENSIBILITY BECAUSE IT WAS IN SONG CHINA THAT, FOR THE FIRST TIME, LANDSCAPE PAINTING WITH INK AND BRUSH BECAME THE TRUE AND ABSOLUTE SIGN OF WHAT CIVILIZATION WAS BOTH FOR THOSE WHO PRACTICED IT AND FOR THOSE WHO OWNED THESE PRECIOUS SCROLLS.

NARRATOR: THIS PAINTING, A SOLITARY TEMPLE AMID CLEARING PEAKS, DATES FROM THIS PERIOD.

IT'S ATTRIBUTED TO ONE OF THE FIRST GREAT MASTERS OF LANDSCAPE ART--LI CHENG.

MAN: THE LANDSCAPE PAINTING IN CHINA REALLY CAME INTO ITS OWN AROUND 11th CENTURY A.D. BEFORE THAT, OF COURSE, THERE WERE LANDSCAPE ELEMENTS IN PAINTINGS, BUT THEY WERE NOT PURSUED AS SUBJECT OF SELF, SO TO SPEAK, AND I THINK THAT THE REASON HAD A LOT TO DO WITH THE PHILOSOPHICAL OUTLOOK.

NARRATOR: IN LI CHENG'S HANDS, LANDSCAPE ART BECAME NOT A DEPICTION OF THE NATURAL WORLD, BUT A KIND OF OFFICIAL IDEOLOGY PROMOTING ORDER.

SCHAMA: HE'S AN ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT PAINTER OF HUMAN ACTIVITY, FROM MAN ON A DONKEY TO PEOPLE HAVING THEIR MEAL TO, PERHAPS, DUMPLINGS BEING COOKED IN THE BACK KITCHEN THERE.

THIS IS OUR WORLD.

THIS IS THE PLACE WE INHABIT.

NARRATOR: BUT WHAT MAKES LI CHENG'S PAINTING A MASTERPIECE IS THAT IT LITERALLY RISES ABOVE ROYAL PROPAGANDA.

SCHAMA: AS OUR EYE ASCENDS THROUGH THE PAINTING, SO OUR WHOLE APPROACH TO IT ALSO ASCENDS TO A HIGHER ORDER OF QUESTION, AND LI CHENG HAS CHANGED THE WASH OF THE INK.

IT'S LIGHTER, FINER, MORE ETHEREAL.

IT SUGGESTS DEEP DISTANCE BUT DEPTHS OF OUR OWN RESPONSE AS WELL AS PHYSICAL DEPTHS.

WHAT IS NATURE?

WHAT LIES BEYOND SURFACE APPEARANCE?

WHAT TRULY MOVES THE UNIVERSE, AND HOW, ABOVE ALL, DOES THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN FLOWING WATER AND THE ADAMANT FACE OF THAT ERODED ROCK BRING US HARMONY AND BRING US WHAT EVERYBODY IN CHINA WANTED-- HAPPINESS AND PEACE?

NARRATOR: LI CHENG'S PAINTING PRESENTS THE UNIVERSE AS A HARMONIOUS WHOLE IN WHICH EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE, NO MATTER HOW HUMBLE, HAS THEIR ROLE.

XU: THE FUNDAMENTAL BELIEF THAT CHINESE HAVE IS IN THE ENERGY OF THE NATURE IN THE FORM OF WHAT WE CALL QI.

THIS INVISIBLE ENERGY CIRCULATING IN THE WORLD GIVE RISE, AND IT GIVE FORMS TO ALL SENTIENT BEINGS.

THE NATURE EXPRESS HERSELF IN THE HEAVEN THERE ABOVE US, ALSO ON THE EARTH IN THE MANIFESTATION OF THE MOUNTAINS AND THE WATERS.

THAT'S WHY THE NATURE HAD ALWAYS FIGURED EXTREMELY IMPORTANTLY IN CHINESE LIFE.

NARRATOR: BY THE LATE 11th CENTURY, LANDSCAPE PAINTING HAD PUT DOWN DEEP ROOTS IN SONG CHINA.

PAINTING ACADEMIES WERE ESTABLISHED, AND BOOKS WERE WRITTEN ABOUT THE PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE OF LANDSCAPE ART.

TO BE CHINESE MEANT TO BE CIVILIZED, AND TO BE CIVILIZED MEANT TO PAINT.

WHILE EUROPE WAS IN THE DEPTHS OF THE DARK AGES AND MAYAN CIVILIZATION WAS COLLAPSING IN CENTRAL AMERICA, THE CHINESE WERE TRADING IN PAPER MONEY, USING GUNPOWDER.

PROSPECTIVE CHINESE BUREAUCRATS WERE EVEN EXPECTED TO SHOW ARTISTIC TALENT AND PASS AN EXAM IN CALLIGRAPHY BEFORE THEY COULD SERVE IN GOVERNMENT.

FROM THAT GREW ANOTHER MORE INTIMATE TYPE OF LANDSCAPE PAINTING.

THEY WERE CALLED HANDSCROLLS.

SO, COLIN, HERE WE HAVE A HANDSCROLL.

TELL US ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR ONE AND-- WELL, THIS IS ONE OF OUR GREATEST TREASURES, AND IT ILLUSTRATES ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS POEMS IN CHINESE CULTURE, IN CHINESE HISTORY.

IT WAS COMPOSED BY THE POET SU SHI, OR SOMETIMES KNOWN AS SU DONGPO.

EXQUISITE PORTRAITURE, AND HERE'S OUR HERO.

TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT SU SHI.

HE WAS A RENAISSANCE MAN, AND ACTUALLY, HE WAS A VERY GOOD COOK.

HE WAS A CHEF.

HE INVENTED VARIOUS DISHES.

YES.

HE HAS HIS FISH AND HIS WINE, THE DINNER THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE AT THE RED CLIFF, IN HAND.

XU: HANDSCROLLS ARE MEANT TO BE VIEWED INTIMATELY IN A PRIVATE SETTING, WHICH IS, LIKE, SEVERAL FRIENDS.

YOU ONLY OPEN THE HANDSCROLL ABOUT THE DISTANCE BETWEEN YOUR TWO HANDS AND ROLL ONE SIDE, AND YOU WOULD ROLL THE OTHER SIDE.

IN DOING SO, YOU ACTUALLY TRAVEL THROUGH TIME AND SPACE, SO THIS IS WHAT I DARE TO CALL A CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE, LIKE YOU'RE GOING THROUGH A MOVIE.

THE PAINTER IS SOMEONE CALLED QIAO ZHONGCHENG.

THIS IS THE ONLY PAINTING KNOWN BY HIM.

I THINK THOSE DETAILS OF THAT TREE ARE SO BEAUTIFUL, AND THEY'RE SO DELICATELY, INTIMATELY SUGGESTED, BRISTLING, SPIKY FOLIAGE.

XU: AND THEN WE'RE CROSSING THE YANGTZE HERE, AND THE WAVES OF THE YANGTZE, THE RIPPLES, ARE DONE SO, SO DELICATELY.

LANDSCAPE PAINTING HAD MARKED THE RISE OF CHINA AS ONE OF THE WORLD'S GREAT CIVILIZATIONS...

BUT FROM THE MID-1960s, ARTISTS BEGAN TO RESPOND TO THE COUNTRY'S DESCENT INTO CHAOS.

[PEOPLE CHEERING] THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION THREW CHINA INTO TURMOIL AS MAO ZEDONG UNLEASHED HIS YOUNG RED GUARDS, THEIR MISSION-- TO REINVENT CHINA.

MORE THAN HALF A MILLION DIED, AND MILLIONS MORE WERE IMPRISONED FOR BEING INTELLECTUALS.

ONE OF THEM WAS THE ARTIST MU XIN.

HE WAS AN OBVIOUS TARGET-- SON OF AN OLD SCHOLAR ARTIST FAMILY, A STUDENT OF DECADENT, WESTERN PAINTING AT THE SHANGHAI INSTITUTE OF FINE ART.

MU XIN WAS SUBJECTED TO SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, FORCED LABOR, AND THEN HOUSE ARREST...

BUT THE PAPER SUPPLIED FOR WEEKLY CONFESSIONS BECAME THE MEDIUM OF HIS LIBERATION.

SCHAMA: PUT UNDER HOUSE ARREST FOR THE USUAL INDETERMINATE CRIMES AGAINST THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION, MU XIN BROKE OUT OF HIS CONFINEMENT BY MAKING VISIBLE, ALBEIT IN DEADLY SECRECY, THE LANDSCAPES WHICH UNFOLDED IN HIS MIND...

THE ART MEMORY OF CHINA-- ITS PEAKS AND ITS VALLEYS, THE CULTURE THAT HAD GIVEN THE WORLD TRUE LANDSCAPE ART A THOUSAND YEARS BEFORE.

WHILE EVERYTHING WAS BEING SMASHED UP, HE WAS DETERMINED THAT ART, NOW JUDGED A REACTIONARY CRIME, SHOULD SURVIVE.

THAT WAS ALL THAT MATTERED, AND HE HIMSELF WAS A SURVIVOR.

NARRATOR: EVENTUALLY, HE WAS RELEASED AND SETTLED IN NEW YORK BEFORE RETURNING TO HIS HOMELAND LATE IN LIFE.

TODAY MU XIN IS REMEMBERED IN CHINA AS A HERO, WITH A MUSEUM BUILT IN HIS HONOR.

IT DISPLAYS HIS WORK TO PRESERVE A TREASURED ARTFORM IN A TIME OF MADNESS.

FURTHER WEST IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD, LANDSCAPES WERE ALSO PORTRAYED IN AN IDEALIZED WAY, BUT HERE, THE VALUE THEY REFLECTED WAS MASTERY OVER THE NATURAL WORLD.

PROVIDING A SHADY RETREAT FROM THE HEAT AND DUST OF THE DAY, THE FAITHFUL WOULD PLAN AND BUILD HEAVENLY PARADISES ON EARTH.

MAN: THE NOTION OF HEAVEN AS A GARDEN IS EXTREMELY STRONG IN ISLAM, SO THE QURAN ACTUALLY SPECIFICALLY TALKS ABOUT HEAVEN AS A GARDEN ON A HILLSIDE WITH PAVILIONS THAT PEOPLE CAN ACTUALLY SIT IN FULL OF FRUIT TREES AND FLOWERS, ONLY THE QURAN ACTUALLY TALKS ABOUT HEAVEN WITH WATER FLOWING BELOW IT.

NARRATOR: SUCH ISLAMIC GARDENS WERE CALLED IN PERSIAN "PARIDAIZA," MEANING "ENCLOSED GARDEN," THE ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH WORD "PARADISE"... AND AS WELL AS BUILDING GARDENS THEMSELVES, MUSLIM RULERS, LIKE THE MUGHALS, BUILT PALACES AND PAVILIONS DECORATED WITH IMAGES OF TREES, HILLS, AND LUSH VEGETATION...

BUT THE LANDSCAPE FOUND ITS RICHEST AND MOST ELEGANT EXPRESSION IN AN ART THAT WAS EVEN OLDER.

WOMAN: GARDEN DESIGN WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS HIGHLY PRACTICED AND EVOLVED BY THE PERSIANS, BY THE MUGHALS IN NORTH INDIA AMONG OTHERS, AND THEN YOU WILL SEE THE GARDEN BROUGHT ONTO CARPETS, FOR EXAMPLE, AS A WAY OF BRINGING THAT KIND OF NATURAL IMAGERY INTO THE DECORATIVE ARTS.

NARRATOR: CARPET WEAVING IS THOUGHT TO HAVE ORIGINATED IN CENTRAL ASIA MORE THAN 2,000 YEARS AGO...

BUT IT WAS ISLAMIC CULTURE THAT TURNED IT INTO AN ARTFORM.

MAN: ALL THE CARPET WORLD BELONGED TO THE ISLAMIC WORLD, AND IN THOSE CARPETS, MOSTLY THERE WAS THE GARDENS WERE SHOWING AND FLOWERS WERE SHOWING.

YOU CAN'T SAY THAT THIS IS A FLOOR COVERING.

THIS IS ART ON THE FLOOR AND ART THAT YOU CAN USE IN YOUR LIFE.

YOU CAN SLEEP ON IT, WALK ON IT, SIT ON IT, SO YOU CAN SAY THE ARTISTIC AND CRAFTSMANSHIP TOGETHER.

NARRATOR: CARPETS WERE FOUND AND MADE EVERYWHERE... FROM THE TENTS OF BEDOUIN NOMADS TO THE COURT OF THE PERSIAN SHAH.

THEY PROVIDED BOTH LUXURIOUS DECORATION AND PROTECTION AGAINST THE CHILL OF THE DESERT NIGHT.

IN ISLAMIC CULTURE, CARPETS DID NOT JUST MAKE LIFE MORE COMFORTABLE.

THEY BECAME A SYMBOL OF CIVILIZATION.

SHEIK: CARPET WEAVERS ARE CARPET DESIGNERS, SO THEY MAKE THEIR OWN DESIGNS.

THEY HAVE THEIR WAY OF EXPRESSION.

IT CAN BE TWO MONTHS.

IT CAN BE TWO YEARS.

ONE CAN IMAGINE VERY EASILY THAT--HOW MUCH SWEAT AND HOW MUCH FEELING AND HOW MUCH CONNECTION IS WITH EACH CARPET.

SO EACH CARPET IS-- IT HAS ITS OWN STORY.

OUR DUTY, WHAT WE FEEL IS THAT WE WANT THIS ARTISTIC HERITAGE CONTINUE TO NEXT GENERATION.

NARRATOR: MANY ISLAMIC TRADITIONS HAVE LONG FROWNED ON THE DEPICTION OF SENTIENT BEINGS IN ART.

CARPET MAKERS CREATED LANDSCAPES OF BRIGHT COLORS AND COMPLEX PATTERNS.

EVEN TODAY, THE MARK OF DIFFERENT TRIBES AND ETHNIC GROUPS CAN BE SEEN IN THEIR USE OF DIFFERENT DYES AND PATTERN-MAKING STYLES.

MAN: PATTERN IS IMPORTANT, OF COURSE, IN ISLAMIC CULTURE BECAUSE IT'S A WAY OF EXPRESSING YOURSELF BECAUSE WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DO CERTAIN THINGS.

WE'RE NOT ALLOWED TO DRAW A HUMAN.

YOU SEE THE PATTERN OF THE WATER, SKY, FLOWERS, PLANTS, SHAPES, AND FORMS.

BUT YOU CAN FEEL IT'S LIKE A MESSAGE IN IT.

IT'S ALWAYS A LITTLE EYE SOMEWHERE FOR PROTECTION OR THE SCRIPT TO SAY THANK YOU.

AND YOU KNOW, SOME TIME IN THE EMBROIDERY, I FOUND HEAD OF A BIRD BUT ONLY THE LITTLE HEAD, NOT THE REST OF THE BIRD.

SO THIS WAY, YOU CAN SEE THAT THE PATTERN HAS A MEANING.

IT IS LIKE A PAINTING.

SO PEOPLE, WHEN THEY MAKE ONE, THEY DON'T MAKE ANOTHER ONE.

IT'S THE INSPIRATION OF THAT MOMENT, HOW THEY FEEL.

BUT LIFE IS A PATTERN.

OH, WE JUST SOMETIMES FORGET, BUT IT IS THERE.

NARRATOR: THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE ISLAMIC CARPET CAME IN THE 17th CENTURY, WHEN CARPETS ADORNED WITH A RICH MIX OF PATTERNS AND MOTIFS, EVEN ANIMALS, BECAME PORTABLE GARDEN PARADISES... AND LIKE THE MOUNTAINS OF CHINESE LANDSCAPE PAINTING, THESE IMAGES WERE NOT INTENDED TO HOLD A MIRROR UP TO NATURE, BUT TO REFLECT WHAT WE VALUE MOST IN IT.

ELIAS: OF COURSE, THE CARPET ISN'T A PHOTOGRAPH IN WHICH IT ACCURATELY REPRESENTS WHAT'S OUT THERE IN THE NATURAL WORLD.

IT'S SYMBOLIC OF WHAT WE THINK IS BEST ABOUT NATURE, SO, IN A SIMILAR SENSE, ONE COULD ALSO THINK THAT IT MIGHT NOT BE SEEN AS A MAP OF HEAVEN OR THE AFTERLIFE OR ANOTHER WORLD, BUT A SYMBOLIC IDEA OF WHAT WE WOULD APPRECIATE AS BEING BEST IN HEAVEN.

NARRATOR: ALTHOUGH BOTH ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY BELIEVE IN ADAM AND EVE AND THE GARDEN OF EDEN, MANY CHRISTIANS STILL REGARDED GARDENS WITH SUSPICION.

AFTER ALL, IT WAS IN EDEN THAT ADAM AND EVE BIT FROM THE APPLE AND COMMITTED THE FIRST SIN...

BUT RENAISSANCE HUMANISM TOOK A DIFFERENT ATTITUDE TO THE SERPENT OF TEMPTATION.

THIS IS THE VILLA BARBARO.

IT WAS BUILT TO BE THE PERFECT COMBINATION OF FARMHOUSE, LIBRARY, ART GALLERY, AND SALON... A PLACE WHERE RENAISSANCE IDEALS OF CULTURE AND SOPHISTICATION COULD MEET THE EARTHY PLEASURES OF THE COUNTRY... A BUILDING OF HARMONY, GRACE, AND PLEASURE WHERE IT WOULD BE FOREVER SUMMER.

MAN: LEONARDO DA VINCI WROTE SOMETHING FASCINATING.

HE SAYS ONE OF THE VALUES OF PAINTING IS, IT CAN SHOW YOU THE BEAUTY OF NATURE AND, PERHAPS, YOUR LOVER IN NATURE IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER WHEN, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE STUCK INSIDE.

YOU'RE STUCK INDOORS, BUT YOU CAN REMEMBER WHAT THE MEADOWS AND WHAT THE LOVELY PICNICS WERE LIKE LAST SUMMER BY LOOKING AT A PAINTING OF IT.

NOW, IF YOU EXTEND THAT INTO A KIND OF A THEORY OF LANDSCAPE ART, YOU MIGHT SAY THAT THE FIRST WAY THAT PEOPLE EXPRESSED THE DESIRE TO ESCAPE INTO LANDSCAPE IS BY ACTUALLY CREATING ESCAPIST WORLDS.

NARRATOR: THE MAN WHO MADE THIS PLEASURE PALACE IN THE COUNTRY WAS DANIELE BARBARO, A VENETIAN STATESMAN.

EDUCATED IN ASTRONOMY, OPTICS, MUSIC, AND MATHEMATICS, TOGETHER WITH HIS FRIEND, THE ARCHITECT ANDREA PALLADIO, DANIELE SPENT TIME IN ROME STUDYING THE ARCHITECTURE AND ART OF CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY.

IN 1549, HE INHERITED A COUNTRY VILLA, AND THE TWO OF THEM BEGAN A 12-YEAR PROJECT TO TRANSFORM IT INTO A RENAISSANCE DREAM HOUSE... AND TO PAINT IT, THEY CALLED ON ONE OF ITALY'S GREATEST ARTISTS-- PAOLO VERONESE.

SCHAMA: WHAT MAKES THIS VILLA SPECIAL IS ITS SENSE OF PLAYFULNESS.

NOW, DANIELE BARBARO IS A HEAVYWEIGHT INTELLECTUAL, AND SO--IN HIS WAY, OF COURSE-- IS ANDREA PALLADIO.

THEY READ ALL THE TEXTBOOKS ON OPTICS, ON PERSPECTIVES, AND ACTUALLY WRITTEN SOME OF THEM, AND DANIELE'S TRANSLATED THE GREAT, CLASSICAL WORK ON ARCHITECTURE, AND WHAT YOU EXPECT FROM ALL THIS OBSESSION WITH MUSICAL INTERVALS AND HARMONY AND MATHEMATICS, ALMOST A KIND OF ALGORITHMIC APPROACH TO THE PERFECT HOUSE, IS TO HAVE THAT TRANSLATED IN PAINTING BY VERONESE INTO ALLEGORY, THE PLANETS AND THE GODS CAVORTING ON THE CEILING, AND, YES, THAT'S WHAT WE HAVE.

WE HAVE A MYSTERIOUS WHITE WOMAN IN THE MIDDLE.

WE HAVE THE GODS OF ABUNDANCE AND FAMILY LIFE, AND IT'S ALL DONE WITH A BRILLIANT KIND OF LE JOUR DEMAIN.

THERE'S FAKE ARCHITECTURE, AND THERE'S REAL ARCHITECTURE, AND YOU THINK, "YES, THIS IS A THESIS," AND THEN SUDDENLY, YOU CATCH SIGHT OF A PARROT... AND THEN YOU NOTICE THERE'S A WOMAN IN 16th-CENTURY, GORGEOUS, HAUTE COUTURE, KIND OF "WEEKEND IN THE COUNTRY" DRESS, AND NEXT TO HER, A NURSE WITH A KIND OF SQUASHED-IN, WORKING-CLASS FACE, FANTASTICALLY TOUGH AND LEATHERY, AND YOU THINK, "HOLD ON A MINUTE.

THEY DON'T BELONG WITH THE GODS."

SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY IS GOING ON HERE.

WE HAVE HAVE A MIX OF THE IMMORTALS AND THE MORTALS, OR REALITY AND ILLUSION, AND THAT GOES RIGHT THROUGH EVERYTHING WE SEE IN THE VILLA, REAL WINDOWS AND FAKE WINDOWS, AND THE VILLA TURNS INTO A SPECTACULARLY TEASING KIND OF FUNHOUSE.

NARRATOR: VILLA BARBARO TOOK THE MEDIEVAL IDEA OF THE GARDEN AS A PLACE OF SIN AND TURNED IT UPSIDE DOWN...

TRANSFORMING THE LANDSCAPE INTO A PLACE OF INTELLECTUAL WIT AND WISDOM... AND WHAT MAKES VILLA BARBARO SO UNIQUE FOR THE TIME ISN'T THE GANG OF GODS ON THE CEILINGS.

IT'S THE MORTALS, BARBARO'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS THAT HAVE BEEN SMUGGLED INTO THE MYTHOLOGIZED LANDSCAPE.

BEYOND THE IMMACULATE LAWNS OF THE VILLA, THE MID-1500s WAS A TIME OF PLAGUE AND RIOTS, HARVEST FAILURES AND VIOLENT PEASANT REVOLTS.

IN REALITY, THE DREAMY LANDSCAPES AND VISUAL JOKES OF VILLA BARBARO WERE AN ESCAPIST FANTASY.

FOR LANDSCAPE ART TO REALLY REFLECT THE LIVES OF ORDINARY PEOPLE, IT WOULD NEED TO TURN ITS BACK ON THE ARCADIAN FANTASIES OF SELF-INDULGENT ARISTOCRATS.

TO THE NORTH, A DIFFERENT KIND OF WORLD-BUILDING WAS UNDER WAY, AND IN THE DARK, ENDLESS FORESTS OF GERMANY, IT WOULD HELP SOW THE SEEDS OF A NATION.

JONES: I THINK LANDSCAPE ART IS CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH THE BIRTH OF NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS SIMPLY BECAUSE COUNTRIES, BY THEIR NATURE, ARE IN DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHICAL PLACES.

THEY HAVE DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHIES.

THEY LOOK DIFFERENT, SO ART, IT GIVES PHYSICAL EMBODIMENT TO THE SENSE OF-- YOU KNOW, THE SENSE OF PLACE.

WHEN GERMAN ARTISTS DISCOVER THE RENAISSANCE AND THOSE TECHNIQUES, THEY START TO PORTRAY A TOTALLY DIFFERENT WORLD.

NARRATOR: ALBRECHT ALTDORFER HAD SPENT MOST OF HIS CAREER PAINTING RELIGIOUS SCENES...

BUT GRADUALLY, THE UNDERGROWTH BEGAN TO TAKE OVER UNTIL ALTDORFER MADE NATURE ITSELF THE WHOLE STORY.

IT MAY SEEM A BIT OVER THE TOP TO DESCRIBE THIS SCRAPPY, TINY, SKETCHY, LITTLE THING AS CONSTITUTING A REVOLUTION IN ART, BUT, YOU KNOW, THAT'S PRETTY MUCH WHAT IT IS BECAUSE THIS IS REALLY ONE OF THE FIRST PROPER LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS, BY WHICH I MEAN NATURE IS THE STORY HERE.

IT'S PAINTED WITH A KIND OF SENSE OF IMMEDIACY, OF SOMEONE DOING THIS QUICKLY AND DASHINGLY.

IT'S RIGHT FROM THE FRONT OF THE ARTIST'S BRAIN TO HIS HAND.

NARRATOR: ALTDORFER WAS PAINTING AT A TIME WHEN GERMANY WAS SPLIT INTO DOZENS OF PRINCIPALITIES...

MANY OF THEM AT WAR WITH EACH OTHER AS CONFLICT BETWEEN CATHOLICS AND PROTESTANTS WAS GROWING MORE AND MORE INTENSE...

BUT AT THE SAME TIME, THERE WAS A GROWING SENSE AMONG MANY GERMAN-SPEAKING PEOPLE THAT THEY HAD A SHARED HISTORY AND IDENTITY.

SCHAMA: ALTDORFER IS ACTUALLY IN A STICKY POSITION.

HE WAS LIVING IN A CATHOLIC TOWN AT THE BEGINNINGS OF THE ERUPTION THAT WAS THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION.

NOT ONLY IS THE REFORMATION STARTING-- AND ALTDORFER IS VERY MUCH A CATHOLIC AND ORGANIZER OF CATHOLIC CEREMONIES-- BUT THE REFORMATION IS AN ATTACK ON PAINTINGS, ON IDOLATRY.

WITH THIS PAINTING, HE NEATLY SIDESTEPS THE WHOLE ISSUE OF BRUTAL AND BITTER PARTISAN RELIGIOUS CONFLICT BY GIVING US THE IMPLICATION OF SOMETHING RELIGIOUS.

DOES THAT NOT REMIND YOU OF THE TWISTED BODY OF CHRIST ON THE CROSS WITH HIS ARMS OUTSTRETCHED, NAILED TO THE WOOD?

SO THIS IS ACTUALLY A DISGUISED RELIGIOUS PAINTING.

SCENERY IT'S BECOME, BUT IT'S SCENERY WITH INSPIRATION, AND ALTDORFER HAS THE SENSE, THE INSTINCT THAT THERE'S GOING TO BE A DEMAND FOR THIS.

THIS IS A PORTABLE THING.

IT'S NOT STUCK IN A CHURCH LIKE AN ALTARPIECE.

IT'S NOT STUCK ON A WALL LIKE A FRESCO.

YOU CAN OWN THIS.

YOU CAN CARRY IT AROUND.

A NEW KIND OF ART IS BORN HERE, AND ALTDORFER KNOWS THAT VERY WELL.

NARRATOR: THE EARLY 1500s SAW REVOLUTION IN PRINT TECHNOLOGY, AND ALTDORFER WAS AN EARLY ADOPTER.

MASS-PRODUCED ETCHINGS AND WOODCUTS WERE ABOUT TO DRAMATICALLY EXPAND THE AUDIENCE FOR ART, AND IT WOULD BE BOUGHT BY CATHOLICS AS WELL AS PROTESTANTS.

ALTDORFER'S ART WAS ATTEMPTING TO UNITE A DIVIDED COUNTRY THROUGH THE POWER OF LANDSCAPE.

AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR, GERMANY WAS AGAIN DIVIDED, A DIVISION SYMBOLIZED BY THE BERLIN WALL.

JASANOFF: YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE PIECES OF ART THAT I THINK IS MOST RESONANT OF THE LATE 20th CENTURY IS THE BERLIN WALL.

THINK ABOUT IT.

IT WAS A WALL THAT WAS BUILT ACROSS WHAT WAS ONCE A UNIFIED CITY THAT WAS TRYING TO DIVIDE IT, AND WHAT DID PEOPLE DO TO THE WALL?

THEY TURNED IT INTO A PIECE OF PUBLIC ART.

THEY WENT WITH THEIR SPRAY PAINT CANS, AND THEY COVERED IT WITH ALL KINDS OF IMAGERY AND SLOGANS, AND IT WAS A CONSTANTLY EVOLVING, LIVING CANVAS FOR POLITICAL AND AESTHETIC EXPRESSION.

IT WAS BUILT TO DIVIDE PEOPLE, AND INSTEAD, IT BECOMES A SITE OF DIALOGUE AND A SITE OF ARTISTIC EXPRESSION.

NARRATOR: ANOTHER ARTIST WORKING IN THE SHADOW OF HIS INCREASINGLY DIVIDED HOMELAND WAS THE FLEMISH MASTER PIETER BRUEGEL.

YET RATHER THAN DIVIDE THE PEOPLE OF THE LOW COUNTRIES INTO PROTESTANTS AND CATHOLICS, BRUEGEL'S LANDSCAPES LOOK FOR UNITY IN THE HUMAN CONDITION.

A WELL-TRAVELED MAN, HE'D TAKEN A LONG TRIP OVER THE ALPS TO ITALY, SKETCHING AS HE WENT.

IN THIS PAINTING, "THE HUNTERS IN THE SNOW," BRUEGEL COMBINES AN IMAGE OF THE ALPS WITH A FLEMISH VILLAGE TO CREATE A COMPOSITE LANDSCAPE.

IT'S AN IMAGE RECOGNIZABLE FROM COUNTLESS CHRISTMAS CARDS, BUT ON CLOSER INSPECTION, IT'S NOT AT ALL A PICTURE OF YULETIDE CHEER.

THESE HUNTERS HAVE LITTLE TO SHOW FOR THEIR TROUBLE... A SKINNY FOX SUSPENDED FROM THEIR POLES... AND THEIR DOGS, STRUGGLING TO LIFT THEIR LEGS OUT OF THE HEAVY SNOW, FEEL THE EXHAUSTION AS MUCH AS THEIR MASTERS.

SCHAMA: BRUEGEL PAINTED THESE COMPENDIOUS, VISUALLY INEXHAUSTIBLE MASTERPIECES AFTER THE LONGEST, BLEAKEST, COLDEST FLEMISH WINTER ANYONE COULD REMEMBER.

NOW LET'S JUST THINK FOR A MINUTE ABOUT THE WAY IN WHICH BRUEGEL MAKES US LOOK AT THESE PICTURES.

ON THE ONE HAND, OF COURSE, THEY ARE AN INVITATION INTO A WEALTH OF DETAIL.

WHEREVER OUR EYE TRAVELS, IT PICKS UP THESE LOVELY MINUTIAE OF WORK AND PLAY-- THE SKATERS GLIDING ACROSS THE ICE.

OUR EYE TRAVELS FROM ONE KIND OF LANDSCAPE, A VILLAGE HUDDLED ON THE HILL, TO A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ONE-- A FROZEN MOUNTAIN OR A STORM-TOSSED ESTUARY OUT TO THE BROAD, OPEN SEA...

BUT THERE ARE MOMENTS, AS WELL, WHEN THE PURE COMPOSITIONAL MUSCLE THAT BRUEGEL CAN COMMAND MAKES EVERYTHING COME TOGETHER IN ONE GREAT, UNIVERSAL VISION.

IT MAKES US STOP.

IT MAKES US HAVE A MOMENT OF CONTEMPLATION, AND THEN--IF WE'RE VERY, VERY LUCKY-- LIKE THESE WONDERFUL PAINTINGS-- IT ALL SEEMS TO ADD UP, THE WHOLE OF THE HUMAN CONDITION AND OUR SPECIAL LITTLE PLACE WITHIN IT.

NARRATOR: BUT BRUEGEL'S EFFORTS TO HIGHLIGHT THE TIES THAT BIND COULDN'T STEM THE TIDES OF WAR.

IN 1569, HIS HOME CITY OF ANTWERP FELL TO A CONQUERING SPANISH CATHOLIC ARMY.

THE INQUISITION MOVED IN.

THE LOW COUNTRIES SPLIT INTO TWO AS THE PROTESTANT NORTH TOOK UP ARMS, AND, AFTER A WAR THAT LASTED GENERATIONS, THE DUTCH REPUBLIC WAS BORN.

[BIRDS SQUAWKING] IN 17th-CENTURY HOLLAND, LANDSCAPE ART CONTINUED TO FOCUS ON BUILDING A NATIONAL IDENTITY.

HERE, THE LANDSCAPE WASN'T SO MUCH CLAIMED, BUT RECLAIMED FROM THE SEA.

NOW, THE REASON WHY THE DUTCH FELT SO EMOTIONALLY INVESTED IN THIS LANDSCAPE WAS BECAUSE THEY HAD BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR PHYSICALLY MAKING SO MUCH OF IT.

THERE'S THIS OLD SAYING THAT GOD MADE THE WORLD, BUT THE DUTCH MADE HOLLAND, AND EXACTLY AT THE TIME WHERE THEY REINVENT LANDSCAPE PAINTING.

THIS WAS LITERALLY TRUE.

THIS WAS AN AREA CALLED THE BEEMSTER.

200,000 ACRES OF WHAT HAD BEEN THE INLAND SEA OF THE ZUIDERZEE WERE TURNED INTO THIS GLORIOUS PASTURE BETWEEN 1607 AND 1612, WHILE THE DUTCH WERE AT WAR.

IT WAS RECLAIMED WITH THE AID OF 43 WINDMILLS PUMPING THE WATER OUT.

IT WAS AN EXTRAORDINARY ENTERPRISE.

200,000 ACRES WERE TURNED INTO GLORIOUS PASTURE, WHICH, IN TURN, COULD FEED THE SWELLING CITIES.

THIS WASN'T JUST TOPOGRAPHY, WASN'T JUST LAND.

IT WAS THEIR HOMELAND.

IT WAS THEIR FATHERLAND.

IT WAS THE LOW COUNTRY, WHICH IN DUTCH, OF COURSE, IS NEDERLAND.

NARRATOR: AS THE DUTCH REPUBLIC PROSPERED, SO DID ITS PAINTINGS, AND IN THIS FAMOUS PAINTING, JACOB VAN RUISDAEL TRANSFORMS THE GREAT EMBLEM OF HOLLAND INTO A HERO IN ITS OWN RIGHT.

RUISDAEL'S GREAT GIFT WAS TO TAKE SOMETHING HOMELY AND FAMILIAR--AND IT DOESN'T GET MORE HOMELY, DOES IT, THAN A WINDMILL?-- AND BIG IT UP TO THE MAX UNTIL IT IS SOMETHING EPIC, HEROIC, ALMOST SPIRITUALLY MEANINGFUL TO EVERYBODY WHO'S GONNA LOOK AT IT.

RUISDAEL WAS ESSENTIALLY A DRAMATIST OF THE LANDSCAPE, AND THIS IS HIGH THEATER.

THERE ARE DEEP SHADOWS HANGING OVER THE LANDSCAPE.

THESE WOMEN, WITH THEIR BONNETS COVERING THEIR FACES, ARE HURRYING HOME, AND THEN I THINK OF THE DATE.

THIS PAINTING WAS DONE IN 1670, AND THAT WAS A MOMENT OF TENSION AND NERVOUSNESS THAT THE DUTCH HAD ABOUT GOING IT ALONE IN EUROPE.

YOU THINK, CORRECTLY, THAT THE GREAT POWERS OUT THERE, JEALOUS OF YOUR PROSPERITY IN THE WORLD, ARE PLOTTING AGAINST YOU, ENGLAND AND FRANCE, AS, INDEED, THEY WERE, AND TWO YEARS AFTER THIS PAINTING WAS DONE, THE DUTCH REPUBLIC WAS ALMOST ENGULFED BY A PINCER MOVEMENT BETWEEN THOSE TWO HOSTILE STATES.

THE SAILS OF THE MILL, NOT ACCIDENTALLY, FORM THE CROSS OF THE REDEEMER-- REMEMBER, DUTCH ART DISGUISED RELIGIOUS DEVOTION-- AND LOOK AT THE SKY.

THERE IS AN OPENING IN THE SKY, WHICH IS A VISUAL ECHO OF THAT CROSS, AND THE LIGHT OF PROVIDENCE IS SHINING DOWN TO SAVE THE DUTCH IN THEIR HOUR OF DANGER, AND IF YOU'RE DUTCH, YOU REMEMBER AN OLD SAYING WHICH SAYS, "JUST AS A WINDMILL NEEDS THE WIND TO MOVE ITS SAILS, SO MAN NEEDS THE BREATH OF GOD TO ACT."

THE MORAL IS, NEVER FORGET THE WORD OF GOD.

YOU HAVE A COVENANT WITH GOD.

YOU ARE HIS MODERN CHOSEN PEOPLE.

JUST REMEMBER THAT WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE MILL.

NARRATOR: LIKE THE CHINESE LONG BEFORE THEM, EUROPEAN ARTISTS LIKE ALTDORFER AND VAN RUISDAEL HAD DONE SOMETHING IRREVERSIBLE.

THIS IMPULSE WAS TAKEN UP BY BRITONS LIKE JOHN CONSTABLE.

THEY COMBINED SCIENTIFIC CURIOSITY WITH AN INCREASINGLY CRITICAL VIEW OF THEIR RAPIDLY URBANIZING INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY, A MOVEMENT THAT CAME TO BE KNOWN AS ROMANTICISM.

JASANOFF: LANDSCAPE PAINTING CAME INTO ITS OWN, PARTICULARLY IN BRITAIN, AT A TIME WHEN THE LAND ITSELF WAS CHANGING A GREAT DEAL BECAUSE OF INDUSTRIALIZATION, AND SO, WHEN PEOPLE ARE PAINTING LANDSCAPES IN AN ERA OF INDUSTRIALIZATION, THEY'RE ALSO MAKING A STATEMENT ABOUT THE BUCOLIC AND THE PASTORAL AND THE UNTOUCHED IN RELATION TO NEW KINDS OF SPACES THAT ARE BEING BUILT UP WHICH ARE URBAN AND BUSY AND DIRTY AND INDUSTRIAL.

NARRATOR: CONSTABLE'S CONTEMPORARY, J.M.W.

TURNER, TOOK THESE DETAILED, NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS AND USED THEM TO STAGE EPIC, ALLEGORICAL STRUGGLES.

FOR HIM, THE LANDSCAPE BECOMES A METAPHOR TO SHOW EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION RAVAGED BY NAPOLEON'S CONQUESTS, A PLACE WHERE INDIVIDUALS ARE SHOWN AT THE MERCY OF VAST, OVERWHELMING FORCES.

SUCH IMAGES, WHICH INSTILLED A SENSE OF AWE AND TERROR, WERE SAID TO EVOKE A QUALITY CALLED THE SUBLIME.

MAN: THE SUBLIME ATTRIBUTES IS ANYTHING IN EXPERIENCE, BUT, OF COURSE, IN LANDSCAPING, IT'S THINGS IN NATURE THAT INDUCE, ESSENTIALLY, FEAR, APPREHENSION, EXCITEMENT, BUT BY THIS TIME, OF COURSE, AN INCREASINGLY URBAN SOCIETY LIKES THAT KIND OF EXCITEMENT, YOU KNOW, IN AS MUCH AS, LIKE, WE LIKE HORROR FILMS.

NARRATOR: TURNER'S SUBLIME SENSE OF TITANIC FORCES SHAPING HUMAN DESTINY EVENTUALLY CROSSED THE ATLANTIC WITH OTHER BRITISH-BORN PAINTERS, AMONG THEM THOMAS COLE.

AVERY: IN AMERICAN LANDSCAPE PAINTING UP TO THAT POINT, NO ONE HAD REALLY PAINTED AMERICA WILD, AND COLE HAD THE... OH, THE PICTORIAL LANGUAGE TO PAINT AMERICA WILD.

HE WASN'T THE MOST SOPHISTICATED TECHNICIAN IN THE WORLD, BUT THERE WAS A KIND OF EFFECTIVE COARSENESS, YOU MIGHT SAY, ABOUT HIS STYLE WHICH DOVETAILED WITH THE SUBLIME ATTRIBUTES THAT HE WAS IMPOSING ON SOME OF THESE PICTURES.

THE BLASTED TREE TRUNKS IN THE FOREGROUND, THESE WERE CONTRIVANCES, BUT THEY DID, YOU KNOW, PUMP UP THE SENSE OF WILDERNESS.

NARRATOR: THE RUNAWAY SUCCESS OF COLE'S WORK INSPIRED A SCHOOL OF ARTISTS KNOWN AS THE HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL.

HIS PROTÉGÉ EDWIN CHURCH SOUGHT THE AMERICAN SUBLIME IN EPIC DEPICTIONS OF THE CONTINENT'S GREAT, NATURAL WONDERS.

JASANOFF: THERE WERE A FEW KIND OF PARTICULAR CHARACTERISTICS THAT MARKED OUT THE AMERICAN APPROACH TO THE LANDSCAPE.

ONE OF THOSE WAS A SENSE OF INFERIORITY AND COMPETITION WITH EUROPE THAT AMERICANS IN THE 18th CENTURY AND THE EARLY 19th CENTURY WERE THE POOR, COUNTRY COUSINS, AND THEY WERE ON THE OUTERMOST FRINGE OF A EUROPEAN WORLD IN WHICH THEY HAD BEEN TAUGHT THAT ROME IS THE CENTER OF ALL ART, THAT THE BEST LANDSCAPES, THE TALLEST MOUNTAINS, ET CETERA, ARE TO BE FOUND IN SWITZERLAND, AND HERE ARE AMERICANS ON THE THRESHOLD, REALLY, OF THEIR OWN GREAT CONTINENT, WHICH THEY'RE BEGINNING INCREASINGLY TO MOVE WEST ACROSS TRYING TO SAY, "WAIT.

YOU KNOW WHAT?

"WE HAVE REALLY HIGH MOUNTAINS, ALSO, "AND WE HAVE REALLY BIG ANIMALS THAT WE CAN CELEBRATE "IN THE SAME TERMS YOU GUYS ARE USING, BUT WITH OUR CHARACTERS INSTEAD."

AND I THINK THAT WAS OUT OF INFERIORITY IN A FUNNY SENSE THAT A KIND OF AMERICAN PRIDE IN THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE WAS BORN.

NARRATOR: THE HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL, AS WELL AS OTHER ARTISTS WHO PUSHED FURTHER WEST, PIONEERED A TECHNIQUE CALLED LUMINISM.

IT USED LIGHT EFFECTS AND CONCEALED BRUSH STROKES TO CREATE PAINTINGS THAT WERE CONSIDERED SO OVERWHELMINGLY DETAILED THAT SOME PEOPLE USED OPERA GLASSES TO ADMIRE THEIR WORK.

THOUGH FEW ARTISTS WOULD OPENLY ADMIT IT AT THE TIME, THIS DETAIL OWED MUCH TO EARLY PHOTOGRAPHY... AND IT WAS TO PHOTOGRAPHY THAT THIS DESIRE TO CAPTURE THE SCALE AND MAJESTY OF THE NATURAL WORLD WOULD MOVE NEXT... AND A PLACE THAT TAKES US BACK TO WHERE OUR STORY BEGAN-- YOSEMITE.

STARTING IN THE 1920s, ANSEL ADAMS PIONEERED AN APPROACH THAT INSISTED PHOTOGRAPHY WAS NOT SIMPLY A MECHANICAL PROCESS, BUT TRUE ART.

HIS METHOD WAS TO WORK BACKWARDS FROM THE IMAGE HE HAD VISUALIZED AND THEN ANTICIPATE THE MOMENT WHEN THE LIGHT AND SUBJECT COULD BE SEEN AT THEIR MOST ILLUMINATING AND THEN, WITH THE PRESS OF THE BUTTON, REALIZE THAT VISION.

IN 1960, THE YEAR JOHN F. KENNEDY BECAME PRESIDENT CALLING FOR A NEW FRONTIER, ADAMS PUBLISHED A BOOK-- "THIS IS THE AMERICAN EARTH."

IT BECAME AN INSTANT BESTSELLER.

MORE AND MORE, ADAMS' PHOTOGRAPHS BECAME PREACHY, BUT THOSE VISUAL SERMONS WERE RADIANT, MYSTICAL, ECSTATIC.

THEY WERE PASSIONATE STATEMENTS ABOUT HOW HUMANITY COULD BE REDEEMED THROUGH THE ENCOUNTER WITH NATURE.

HE BECAME A KIND OF PATRIARCH OF ENVIRONMENTALISM, AND EVERY SO OFTEN, HE'D PUT THE CAMERA DOWN AND EVEN GO AWAY FROM HIS BELOVED YOSEMITE TO TRY AND PERSUADE THIS OR THAT PRESIDENT TO HIS POINT OF VIEW, BUT THROUGHOUT, HE REMAINED STEADFAST TO HIS BELIEF THAT HIS JOB IN LIFE WAS TO GIVE VISUAL FORM TO THAT SILKEN CORD TYING TOGETHER THE FATE OF MAN WITH THE FATE OF THE EARTH.

NARRATOR: FOR SOME, IT WAS THE MOMENT THE PHOTOGRAPHER BECAME A PROPHET.

[RADIO STATIC] IN 1977, WHEN THE VOYAGER SPACECRAFTS WERE LAUNCHED WITH A GOLDEN RECORD CONTAINING IMAGES AND SOUNDS OF EARTH AND ITS INHABITANTS, ADAMS' IMAGES WERE AMONG THEM.

MAN: ANSEL ADAMS WAS A REALLY IMPORTANT FIGURE FOR ME.

HE ACTUALLY BROUGHT THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT TO EVERYBODY'S CONSCIOUSNESS.

HE DID VIA MAKING ABSOLUTELY ICONIC, BEAUTIFUL, ROMANTIC IMAGES OF THE AMERICAN WEST, AND I THINK IN THAT HISTORICAL MOMENT FOR THAT TIME, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WE NEEDED, AND I THINK TO THIS DAY, IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT HE DID THAT.

NARRATOR: RICHARD MISRACH IS CONSIDERED ONE OF AMERICA'S LEADING CONTEMPORARY LANDSCAPE ARTISTS.

MY GENERATION, THOUGH, WANTED TO TAKE THE DIALOGUE A LITTLE FURTHER AND SAY, "OK, SO WE KNOW "WHAT PRISTINE WILDERNESS LOOKS LIKE--IT'S FANTASTIC-- BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT WE HAVE ANYMORE."

YOU KNOW, WE ARE LOVING OUR NATIONAL PARKS TO DEATH.

WE'RE FILLING THEM WITH TOURISTS AND PARKING LOTS AND CAMPGROUNDS, AND THIS NOTION OF THE UNSULLIED WILDERNESS JUST DOESN'T EXIST, SO IT WAS KIND OF MY GENERATION'S TURN TO TAKE A LOOK AT THAT AND SAY, "OK, HERE'S WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON," AND WE NEEDED TO LOOK AT THAT.

NARRATOR: MISRACH CHOOSES AS SUBJECTS THE LANDSCAPES THAT HUMANITY HAS OVERLOOKED, ABANDONED, OR ABUSED...

PARKING LOTS RATHER THAN POSTCARDS, KATRINA RATHER THAN THE CATSKILLS.

MISRACH: OVER THE YEARS, I'VE DONE A SERIES OF WHAT I CALL CANTOS.

THEY'RE CHAPTERS, IF YOU WILL, ABOUT THINGS LIKE SPACE SHUTTLE LANDINGS, NUCLEAR TEST SITES, BOMBING RANGES, MANMADE FIRES, MANMADE FLOODS.

THEY'RE--ALL MY PHOTOGRAPHS ARE ABOUT THIS COLLISION BETWEEN THE NATURAL WORLD AND THE CIVILIZED WORLD.

NARRATOR: THOUGH HE RETAINS A FORMALITY OF STYLE, MISRACH EMBRACES TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AND, ABOVE ALL, COLOR.

MISRACH: BACK IN ANSEL'S DAY, COLOR WAS CONSIDERED CRASS.

COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY BACK THEN DIDN'T HAVE NUANCE AND SUBTLETY THAT REALLY MATCHED THE REAL WORLD, SO IN A WAY, BY GOING TO BLACK-AND-WHITE, YOU COULD CREATE THIS BEAUTIFUL RANGE OF TONALITIES THAT WAS ABSTRACTED, BUT CONSIDERED-- IT WAS CONSIDERED REALISM BACK THERE.

NOW, WITH MUCH MORE SOPHISTICATED COLOR MATERIALS, WE CAN ACTUALLY PHOTOGRAPH THE WORLD, VERY NUANCED WAYS, AND BLACK-AND-WHITE LOOKS VERY ABSTRACT AND NOT VERY REALISTIC ANYMORE.

NARRATOR: LIKE THE HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL AND ANSEL ADAMS BEFORE HIM, MISRACH'S USE OF REALISM AND SCALE IS PART OF HIS PURSUIT OF WHAT HAS BEEN CALLED THE BIGGER SUBLIME OF THINGS.

MISRACH: ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S BEEN REALLY INTERESTING TO ME IS WORKING IN THE AMERICAN DESERT, IS-- THERE'S THIS KIND OF EXISTENTIAL EXPERIENCE THAT I HAVE WHERE I'M VERY AWARE OF MY OWN PRESENCE ON THE EARTH.

IT'S ALMOST LIKE I'M HOVERING ABOVE THE PLANET LOOKING DOWN, SEEING THIS LITTLE FIGURE, AND THAT'S ME.

I THINK, ESPECIALLY IN THE DESERT WITH THIS BIG SPACE AND HEAT AND LIGHT, THAT, FOR ME, IS INCREDIBLY SATISFYING, AND I THINK THAT'S KIND OF INHERENT IN ALL MY WORK.

NARRATOR: SOMETIMES CALLED THE COSMIC SUBLIME, ONE OF THE FIRST EXAMPLES OF THE PLANET BECOMING LANDSCAPE WAS PHOTOGRAPHED IN DECEMBER 1972 BY THE APOLLO SPACECRAFT.

IT'S CALLED THE "BLUE MARBLE."

13 YEARS AND 4 BILLION MILES AFTER THE VOYAGER CARRIED ANSEL ADAMS' PHOTOGRAPHS INTO THE UNKNOWN, IT CAPTURED ANOTHER SUBLIME IMAGE OF OUR EARTH.

AT THE VERY EDGE OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM, IT TOOK THIS IMAGE AT THE REQUEST OF THE ASTRONOMER CARL SAGAN.

SAGAN: LOOKS LIKE MORE-- MORE THAN A DOT, BUT IT IS, IN FACT, LESS THAN A PIXEL, A SINGLE PICTURE ELEMENT, IN SIZE.

IN THIS COLOR PICTURE, YOU CAN SEE THAT IT'S SLIGHTLY BLUE, AND THIS IS WHERE WE LIVE, ON A BLUE DOT.

NARRATOR: IT BECAME KNOWN AS THE "PALE BLUE DOT."

TODAY WE HAVE A COMPLETELY NEW VISION OF WHAT LANDSCAPE ART MIGHT BECOME.

JONES: SOME OF THE MOST AMAZING LANDSCAPE ART OF THE 21st CENTURY IS TAKEN IN SPACE, AND IT'S A VISION OF THE COSMOS WHICH TURNER OR THE HUDSON RIVER LANDSCAPE PAINTERS WOULD HAVE RECOGNIZED... AND, IN FACT, NASA SCIENTISTS, THEY HAVE TO PUT TOGETHER LOTS OF DIGITAL INFORMATION TO CREATE BEAUTIFUL COLOR IMAGES.

NOW, WHAT HAPPENS IS, WHEN THEY CREATE THOSE IMAGES, THEY ARE INFLUENCED BY ART, AND IT CAN BE ARGUED, AND HAS BEEN ARGUED, THAT THE SCIENTISTS AT NASA-- WHEN THEY CREATE THESE WONDERFUL PICTURES OF NEBULAE, DAZZLING CLOUDS OF GLOWING SMOKE IN THE DEPTHS OF SPACE-- THEY ARE INFLUENCED BY ROMANTIC ART.

THEY ARE INFLUENCED BY THE HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL, AND SO THE COSMIC SUBLIME IS REALLY SOMETHING THAT IS REALLY ALIVE IN THE ART OF TODAY.

NARRATOR: IT COULD BE AN ECHO OF WHAT ANSEL ADAMS MEANT WHEN HE WROTE, "WE ALL MOVE ON THE FRINGES OF ETERNITY "AND ARE SOMETIMES GRANTED VISTAS THROUGH THE FABRIC OF ILLUSION."

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