LONDON.- Marquee TV, the arts streaming platform known for bringing high-calibre cultural programming to global audiences, has announced four new original documentaries set to premiere this autumn and winter. The slate spans centuries and continents, exploring the tension between creativity, power, and transgression — from Renaissance Florence to Reagan-era New York.
The collection includes Stolen, a Scandi Noir–style true-crime series on the world’s most audacious art heists; Arcimboldo: Portrait of an Audacious Man, a lavish study of the 16th-century visionary who prefigured Surrealism; Back to Basquiat, an intimate portrait of the modern art icon seen through the eyes of his sisters; and Michelangelo: Saint or Sinner?, a reappraisal of the master sculptor through the lens of one of his most controversial works, Moses.
“These films reflect the richness and complexity of the art world — its genius and its contradictions,” said Susannah Simons, Commissioning Editor at Marquee TV. “We wanted to create stories that go beyond the canvas, revealing the passion, conflict and humanity behind great art.”
Crime, passion, and the price of beauty
The three-part series Stolen draws on the conventions of Nordic noir to delve into the shadowy world of art crime. Each episode reconstructs a real heist — from Munch’s The Scream in Oslo to a Rembrandt disappearance in Frankfurt — through interviews with detectives, curators, and those who lived the stories firsthand. With art theft valued at over £4 billion annually, the series positions these crimes as part of a global network as profitable as arms or drugs trafficking.
Meanwhile, Arcimboldo: Portrait of an Audacious Man offers a sumptuous journey into the Renaissance imagination. Known for his composite portraits made from fruit, fish, and flowers, Giuseppe Arcimboldo emerges here not as a curiosity but as a proto modernist whose wit and invention prefigured Surrealism by centuries. Featuring insights from leading art historians and modern practitioners, the film traces his rise within the Habsburg court and his rediscovery by 20th-century artists including Dalí and Magritte.
Reclaiming Basquiat, revisiting Michelangelo
One of the most anticipated titles in the lineup is Back to Basquiat, a groundbreaking film in which the artist’s sisters, Lisane and Jeanine Basquiat, speak publicly for the first time about his life and legacy. Drawing on newly unearthed home videos and unseen footage from his 1986 trip to Côte d’Ivoire, the documentary reframes Basquiat’s narrative — not as the tragic myth of the tortured genius, but as a story of cultural reclamation and enduring influence.
Art-world figures including Larry Gagosian, Mary Boone, and Bruno Bischofberger appear to unpack the forces that propelled and exploited Basquiat’s meteoric rise. The result is both homage and critique — a meditation on race, heritage, and the art market’s appetite for genius.
Rounding out the slate, Michelangelo: Saint or Sinner? turns its attention to one of the Renaissance master’s most enigmatic sculptures, Moses. Commissioned for Pope Julius II’s tomb, the work became entangled in decades of papal politics and delay. Using cutting-edge virtual reality reconstructions alongside new scholarly analysis, the documentary reconsiders how this single statue nearly derailed Michelangelo’s career — and how it reveals the restless humanity behind his divine reputation.
Together, the four films mark an ambitious expansion of Marquee TV’s art programming. Long known for streaming ballet, opera, and theatre, the platform is increasingly positioning itself as a key destination for serious art documentaries.
All four titles will premiere on Marquee TV in November 2025.
