Waldemar Januszczak

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."

Works

Art's Wildest Movement: Mannerism

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.

Release Date:2024-01-30

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Character:Self

Episode Count:3

Vote Count:1

The Mystery of the Nativity

Join Waldemar Januszczak as he delves into the mysteries of a renowned old tale, as artists throughout the ages developed incredible ideas to fill in the gaps.

Release Date:2022-12-20

Boy Bitten by a Lizard by Caravaggio

Caravaggio documentary about Waldemar Januszczak

Release Date:2022-07-12

Character:Self - Presenter

Waldemar Januszcak: My Ukrainian Journey

Art critic Waldemar Januszczak goes to Ukraine to see how Ukrainian art is being preserved in times of war.

Release Date:2022-05-09

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Character:Self

Borromini: The Dark Side of Baroque

Francesco Borromini, a true great of Baroque Rome, is known for his unparalleled genius, serving to revolutionise architecture forever. This documentary tells his story.

Release Date:2022-05-03

Character:Himself

Vote Count:1

The Art Mysteries with Waldemar Januszczak

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

Release Date:2020-03-17

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Character:Host, Narrator

Episode Count:4

Vote Count:2

Handmade in Bolton

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

Release Date:2019-10-07

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Character:Narrator

Episode Count:4

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

A history of American art with Waldemar Januszczak

Release Date:2018-05-23

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Character:Host, Narrator

Episode Count:1

Mary Magdalene: Art's Scarlet Woman

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.

Release Date:2017-04-06

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Character:Presenter

Vote Count:2

The Renaissance Unchained

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

Release Date:2016-02-15

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Character:Self - Presenter

Episode Count:4

Holbein: Eye of the Tudors

A survey of Hans Holbein's career from his beginnings as a religious painter to his work for Henry VIII and beyond. The program also includes a close analysis of "The Ambassadors".

Release Date:2015-01-24

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Character:Himself

Vote Count:1

Rubens: An Extra Large Story

These days, nobody takes Rubens seriously. His vast and grandiose canvases, stuffed with wobbly mounds of female flesh, have little appeal for the modern gym-subscriber. And it's not just the bulging nudity we don't like. The entire tone of Rubens's art offends us. Everything in it is too big - the epic dramas full of tragedy, the fantastical celestial scenery, the immense canvases and murals adorning the walls and ceilings of Europe's grandest palaces. All of it seems too much for modern sensibilities. But Waldemar Januszczak begs to differ. In Waldemar's eyes, Rubens has been traduced by modern tastes, and a huge misunderstanding of him has taken place. By looking in detail at Rubens's fascinating life, by understanding his art in more enlightened ways, Waldemar sets out to correct the extra-large misconceptions that have arisen about Rubens.

Release Date:2015-01-03

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Character:Presenter

Rococo: Travel, Pleasure, Madness

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.

Release Date:2014-01-21

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Character:Host, Narrator

Episode Count:3

The Dark Ages: An Age of Light

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.

Release Date:2012-11-27

Department:Creator

Job:Creator

Character:Self - Presenter

Episode Count:[ 4 ]

Vote Count:4

Here Comes the Summer: The Undertones Story

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.

Release Date:2012-09-07

Character:Himself

The Impressionists: Painting and Revolution

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

Release Date:2011-11-08

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Character:Himself

Episode Count:4

Celebrity Antiques Road Trip

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

Release Date:2011-10-24

Character:Self - Participant

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:4

William Dobson: The Lost Genius of Baroque

Acclaimed British art critic, Waldemar Januszczak, investigates the few known facts about William Dobson and seeks out personal stories he left behind as it follows him through his tragically short career. Among the Dobson fans interviewed in the wonderful film is Earl Spencer, brother of the late Princess Diana, who agrees wholeheartedly that William Dobson was the first great British painter.

Release Date:2011-09-22

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Character:Presenter

The Lost Genius of British Art: William Dobson

Has one of Britain's greatest artists been unfairly forgotten? Waldemar Januszczak thinks so. In this documentary, Januszczak argues that the little known 17th-century portrait painter William Dobson was the first English painter of genius. Dobson's life and times are embedded in one of the most turbulent and significant epochs of British history - the English Civil War.

Release Date:2011-09-22

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Character:

Vote Count:1

Understanding Art: Impressionism

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.

Release Date:2011-07-01

Character:Self - Host

Episode Count:4

Ugly Beauty

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.

Release Date:2010-01-09

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Character:

B movie

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.

Release Date:2009-07-09

Character:Himself

Vote Count:3

Manet: The Man Who Invented Modern Art

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.

Release Date:2009-06-13

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Character:Narrator

Vote Count:3

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

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.

Release Date:2009-03-11

Character:Host

Episode Count:3

Vote Count:3

Sickert vs Sargent

Sickert vs. Sargent brings to life two of the biggest characters in modern British art; Walter Sickert - the gruff, aggressive man-of-the-people; and John Singer Sargent - the urbane and charming dandy. The film focuses on some of the most beautiful and alarming paintings ever made in this country; pictures of aristocrats and prostitutes, coronations and killings, opera houses and music halls, and will evoke the long-lost atmosphere of Edwardian London. But above all it will show that from their two outposts in Chelsea and Camden, Sickert and Sargent were waging a war whose legacy still haunts us today.

Release Date:2007-05-21

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Character:Self

Travels with My Camera: The Happy Dictator

A film crew goes into Turkmenistan pretending it's for a stag party, but they are really recording a documentary about the secretive country.

Release Date:2007-04-18

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Toulouse-Lautrec: The Full Story

Art Critic Waldemar Januzczak presents this documentary which details french artist Toulouse-Lautrec's life.

Release Date:2006-12-16

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Character:Presenter

Paradise Found

We imagine many things when we think of this word. However, we do not think about Islamic Architecture, which influenced the art of Europe so profoundly. This documentary tours through the Muslim world, in search of that "atmosphere of Paradise," hidden away in mosques and palaces.

Release Date:2005-10-29

Character:Himself

The Michelangelo Code: Lost Secrets of the Sistine Chapel

Art critic Waldemar Januszczak is on the quest to explain exactly what the Sistine Chapel's ceiling is actually trying to tell us.

Release Date:2005-05-21

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Character:Self

Beijing Swings

Art critic Waldemar Januzczak explores Beijing's controversial and challenging modern art scene.

Release Date:2003-01-02

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Character:Self - presenter

Vote Count:1

Gauguin: The Full Story

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.

Release Date:2003-01-01

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Character:Presenter

Picasso: Magic, Sex & Death

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.

Release Date:2001-06-10

Department:Production

Job:Producer

Episode Count:3

Puppy Love

A curious title given that for 50 minutes, Januszczak snarls his way through a canine critique and it’s not clear which he despises more, dogs or their owners. He visits a dog show which he regards as incorrigibly eccentric and he considers breeding practices to be the canine equivalent of eugenics practised by the Nazis. “We breed them until their heads look like misshapen Halloween pumpkins (often to the detriment of their health), we cut their bollocks off, we send them to a doggy psychiatrist and still most of them won’t do what we want them to do. The message appears to be that we love dogs, but not for themselves, it’s for the prestige they can bestow upon their owners.

Release Date:1999-01-01

Department:Crew

Job:Presenter

The Lost Supper

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.

Release Date:1998-12-27

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Character:Self - Narrator

Arthouse

Channel 4 documentary series covering all branches of the arts.

Release Date:1997-10-26

Department:Production

Job:Producer

Character:Self - Presenter

Episode Count:1