Monday, June 18, 9-11 pm ET
Explore eight masterpieces and the lives of eight troubled artists in this special series hosted by Simon Schama. Up first are Van Gogh's Wheatfield With Crows and Picasso's Guernica .

Internationally acclaimed scholar and writer Simon Schama tells the dramatic stories behind eight cutting-edge masterpieces - eight artist troublemakers in deep trouble, eight stories of disaster and triumph, and eight events that ultimately changed the way the world looks at art. With Schama's trademark style of passionate storytelling, the series uses a mix of dramatic re-enactments, atmospheric location shooting and spectacular art photography to create a cause-and-effect analysis of the creative process, placing viewers in a vortex of visual imagination, individual biography and cultural history.