AllMovie

Documentary film maven David L. Wolper returns to the scene with a ten-part series profiling 50 international icons of the 20th century. In part seven, he presents five "masters of the arts." One of the most influential artists of the 20th century was Pablo Picasso, the Spanish painter and sculptor who helped introduce the collage technique and the Cubist movement, forever transforming the art world. Irish author James Joyce used the concepts of realism, naturalism, and symbolism to create some of the 20th century's most monumental works of fiction, including Dubliners, Ulysses, and Finnegan's Wake. George Bernard Shaw was a self-educated, Irish-born playwright and arts critic who founded the Fabian Society and won the 1925 Nobel Peace Prize for literature. George Gershwin was the American composer who combined jazz with classical music forms to create a unique style used to orchestrate many musical comedies (Porgy and Bess) and songs ("Fascinatin' Rhythm". George Balanchine was a Russian-born ballet director and choreographer who revolutionized the New York City Ballet and choreographed more than 100 ballets in his lifetime.