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The Â鶹Éç's four-part modern art series looks at some of the most notable and influential artists of our time, making the claim that Warhol, Matisse, Picasso, and Dali are Modern Masters.

Artists with intriguing life stories, millionaires in their own lifetimes, it's small wonder that they have been embraced by the mainstream, spanning high and low culture in an almost unique manner. The series will look in depth at each artist and explore why these modern masters deserve their fame and how their legacy continues to pervade our culture and everyday lives.

Jay Hunt, Controller of Â鶹Éç One and commissioner of Modern Masters, commented: "This bold new series looks at how the work of four iconic artists has influenced our lives. It tackles why modern art matters and I am thrilled to have such an ambitious piece on Â鶹Éç One."

Mark Bell, Commissioning Editor for Arts, added: "Modern Masters underlies the Â鶹Éç's commitment to bring world-class arts programmes to mainstream audiences."

Modern Masters launches by examining the inimitable Andy Warhol and his visual language for consumerism. Moving through Warhol's most memorable images, their current appeal and his impact on the world of advertising and media, no American artist of this century has done more to change our very conception of what art is and how it can operate in the world.

The second episode explores Henri Matisse whose bold experiments with colour continue to inspire designers working across graphics, fashion and interiors.

The next stop follows Pablo Picasso from his early career in Spain and Paris to the Cote d'Azur and from his first figurative works through to the birth of cubism and beyond. From his influence on architecture to fashion, and even asking how his name came to be associated with a type of car, the programme explores the artist's continuing impact on our world.

Melting clocks to lobster phones; the final film explores the work of the prolific and eccentric Salvador Dali and the birth of surrealism encompassing the performance elements of his life and his lasting legacy across performance, film, radio and TV.

Modern Masters is a 4 x 60-minute IWC Media production for the Â鶹Éç; commissioned by Jay Hunt, Executive Produced by Mark Bell in conjunction with Franny Moyle of IWC Media, part of the RDF Media Group.

Notes to Editors

Titles are subject to change

The Modern Masters series is part of a deeper commitment to arts and music on the Â鶹Éç throughout 2010, with a wide range of initiatives aimed at supporting cultural Britain and better serving the public.

These include: big, bold content ideas like the recent pan-Â鶹Éç Poetry season and Â鶹Éç Radio 3's year-long celebration of Purcell, Handel, Haydn and Mendelssohn; the creation of a new Arts Editor role for Â鶹Éç News; and a new commitment to partnerships, including a project in development with the Public Catalogue Foundation which could enable the public to view every one of the UK's 200,000 publicly-owned oil paintings online.

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Information for viewers

More content about Modern Masters will be published, as transmission approaches, on this page: