The Culture Show - 2009/2010 - Episode 12

Lauren Laverne presents a packed edition, with a special focus on the visual arts, from the Glasgow School of Art. As the Glasgow School of Art celebrates the centenary of the opening of its remarkable home, the Culture Show tells the story behind Charles Rennie Mackintosh's acclaimed building, and looks at of the influence the school has had on British culture. With contributions from some of the school's best-known graduates including Muriel Gray, Peter Howson and David Shrigley. Art critic Matt Collings is in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which is showcasing 120 letters and over 300 paintings, drawings and sketches by Van Gogh and other artists. This extraordinary exhibition is one of the biggest surveys of the life and work of Van Gogh. A selection of the letters and other Van Gogh pieces will be on display at the Royal Academy in London in January. Andrew Graham-Dixon reviews The Sacred Made Real, a landmark exhibition at the National Gallery of religious art from the Spanish Golden Age. Created to shock the senses and stir the soul, it includes masterpieces by Velazquez and Francisco de Zurbaran, alongside lifelike and shocking sculptures of Christ and the saints. There's an extended interview with Harold Evans, whose new autobiography My Paper Chase: True Stories of Vanished Times is just out. Evans is renowned above all for running the crusading Sunday Times from 1967 to 1981. He talks about his career in print, and his hopes and fears for the future of the press in Britain. With Halloween coming up, Mark Kermode, Simon Mayo and an audience of movie addicts debate the pros and cons of creepy movies with a Halloween theme. Plus there's a special music performance with some famous ex-students from the Glasgow School of Art.