[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:06.22,0:00:10.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This piece is called "Anguish"\Nby August Friedrich Schenck.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:10.60,0:00:13.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Our eyes are immediately drawn\Nto a female sheep
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.86,0:00:15.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the center of the painting.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.70,0:00:17.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Her head tilts up to the sky
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.95,0:00:22.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we can see her breath\Nreminding us of the cold winter air.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.44,0:00:24.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's almost like we can hear her cry.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.16,0:00:30.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If we scan down we see the lifeless body\Nof a lamb lying beneath her,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.16,0:00:33.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,blood trickling from its mouth \Nonto the white snow
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.71,0:00:35.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that blankets the ground.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.43,0:00:39.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We can see the raking of the lamb's leg\Nimprinted in the snow
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.58,0:00:41.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,providing us with a clue
Dialogue: 0,0:00:41.43,0:00:43.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that, if the lamb is indeed dead,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.85,0:00:46.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it hasn't been for very long-
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.48,0:00:49.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Encircling them is a group of crows
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.35,0:00:52.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which, I just learned,\Nis actually called a murder.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.61,0:00:55.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you ever need to know that\Nfor trivia or something.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.48,0:00:58.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are footprints\Nthat surround the sheep
Dialogue: 0,0:00:58.31,0:01:01.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,leaving us to wonder whether they're\Nfrom from the mother sheep
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.32,0:01:04.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,encircling her lamb or the crows.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.42,0:01:07.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's almost no color in this world
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.23,0:01:10.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which makes it feel more\Nlike Mars or Hell.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.42,0:01:15.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The sheep is almost the same\Nmuddy brownish gray color as the sky,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.27,0:01:17.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The black forms of the crows
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.51,0:01:20.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,stand out against\Nthe white snow on the ground.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:20.68,0:01:24.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These little details are so powerful
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.14,0:01:27.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but you only need to take \Na quick glance at this painting
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.66,0:01:30.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to know immediately what's going on.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.35,0:01:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A mother sheep cries out in despair\Nover the death of her lamb,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:34.08,0:01:38.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as a group of crows \Nwait patiently to feast on it.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.66,0:01:41.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This painting is gut-wrenching
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.60,0:01:46.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I think the most interesting\Nand potentially disturbing part about it
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.50,0:01:47.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is the crows.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.83,0:01:50.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They could pester and peck\Nbut they don't.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.19,0:01:54.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They simply wait because\Nwhen you think about it
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.08,0:01:56.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's all they really need to do.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.33,0:01:58.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The worst case scenario for them?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.19,0:02:00.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The mother sheep eventually moves on.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.17,0:02:01.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The best case scenario?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.94,0:02:04.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She becomes weak and falls from exhaustion
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.66,0:02:08.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the birds get to feast \Non both of them.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.23,0:02:09.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Looking at it this way,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.69,0:02:14.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the crows seem to embody the cruelty\Nand selfishness that exists in our world.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.17,0:02:17.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think we should pause for a second.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.10,0:02:18.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is all very harsh-
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.96,0:02:23.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let's dim the lights and I invite you\Nto envision something with me now.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.44,0:02:25.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Someone has died.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.18,0:02:27.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,OK, that was still pretty harsh,\Nbut follow me here.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.87,0:02:32.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,An attentive group gathers around them \Nall dressed in black.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.34,0:02:34.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What does this sound like to you?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:34.69,0:02:36.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like a funeral, right?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.79,0:02:39.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Does this painting look \Nany different to you now?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.88,0:02:42.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What if, instead of representing brutality,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.72,0:02:46.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the crows are supposed to be mourning\Nalongside the mother sheep?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.67,0:02:51.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, in the wild crows are known\Nto hold funerals for their fellow crows
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.65,0:02:53.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who have died .
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.07,0:02:55.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maybe Schenck depicts them\Ndoing the same here.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.69,0:02:58.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Not much is known about \NAugust Friedrich Schenck.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.99,0:03:03.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let's just say he'd know Jan van Eik\Nor Leonardo da Vinci
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.10,0:03:05.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in terms of his acclaim.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.43,0:03:08.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We know he was a Danish artist\Nborn in 1828.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:08.88,0:03:11.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we know he later moved to France\Nto study art
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.95,0:03:16.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When "Anguish" was first exhibited\Nin the Paris Salon of 1878
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.33,0:03:18.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it really resonated with people.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:18.52,0:03:20.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are a couple of reasons for this.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.95,0:03:23.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,First of all, in the 19th century,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:23.70,0:03:26.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,death was at the forefront \Nof everyone's minds.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.83,0:03:29.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Diseases like tuberculosis were rampant
Dialogue: 0,0:03:29.94,0:03:32.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and took many people\N.when they were young
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.63,0:03:34.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and also because Queen Victoria
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.78,0:03:38.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was mourning her late husband,\NPrince Albert, at the time,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.98,0:03:42.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which made death weirdly \Nfashionable, I guess,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.19,0:03:46.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but also because a few years,\Nbefore this painting was created,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.41,0:03:48.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Charles Darwin released is book
Dialogue: 0,0:03:48.64,0:03:52.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"The expression of the emotions\Nin man and animals".
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.90,0:03:57.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This book introduced the idea that animals\Nshare some of the same emotions
Dialogue: 0,0:03:57.85,0:04:00.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like joy, sadness and pain,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:00.90,0:04:02.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that humans do.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.37,0:04:04.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These were groundbreaking ideas
Dialogue: 0,0:04:04.72,0:04:07.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and shifted people's mindsets \Nfrom thinking about animals
Dialogue: 0,0:04:07.74,0:04:11.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as purely existing for our consumption\Nand pleasure
Dialogue: 0,0:04:11.81,0:04:14.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to thinking of them\Nas more like us.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:14.65,0:04:17.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dr Ted Gott, Senior Curator, \Nin International Art,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.05,0:04:21.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at the National Gallery of Victoria
Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.32,0:04:22.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,suggested that this painting
Dialogue: 0,0:04:23.05,0:04:26.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,may have been inspired \Nby Darwin's groundbreaking ideas.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.46,0:04:32.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A critic described the artist in 1878\Nas one of our finest animal painters.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:33.34,0:04:37.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He is one of those originals \Nof the species not yet extinct
Dialogue: 0,0:04:37.61,0:04:39.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who prefer dogs to men
Dialogue: 0,0:04:39.96,0:04:43.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and find more sweetness\Nin sheep than women.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:43.29,0:04:46.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This was meant to be\Na compliment, I think.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:46.38,0:04:49.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Indeed, Schenck clearly admired animals
Dialogue: 0,0:04:49.62,0:04:51.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and had a gift for portraying them
Dialogue: 0,0:04:51.84,0:04:54.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in a way that touches our hearts
Dialogue: 0,0:04:54.24,0:04:56.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,better than many paintings\Nof actual people.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:56.43,0:05:00.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this piece was so popular\Nthat the artist decided
Dialogue: 0,0:05:00.01,0:05:03.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to make another similar painting \Ntitled "Orphan",
Dialogue: 0,0:05:03.68,0:05:07.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where the roles of the lamb and sheep\Nare reversed.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:07.71,0:05:11.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Schenck was a very successful\Nartist in his life,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:11.67,0:05:15.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so much so that he was made \Na Chevalier of the Legion.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:15.77,0:05:18.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But times and tastes changed
Dialogue: 0,0:05:18.39,0:05:20.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and by the mid 1900s,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:20.36,0:05:23.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,people thought his art was cheesy, corny
Dialogue: 0,0:05:24.01,0:05:26.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and, over the top, emotional.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:26.34,0:05:30.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Needless to say Schenck became\Nsomewhat of a forgotten artist
Dialogue: 0,0:05:30.60,0:05:33.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,although this piece sits among paintings
Dialogue: 0,0:05:33.66,0:05:36.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from much more popular artists\Nsuch as Rembrand
Dialogue: 0,0:05:36.63,0:05:37.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Monet.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:38.00,0:05:40.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's consistently ranked \Nas a crowd favorite.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:41.01,0:05:43.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This piece is currently hanging
Dialogue: 0,0:05:43.20,0:05:45.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the National Gallery\Nof Victoria in Melbourne.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:45.86,0:05:50.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The gallery has around 75,000 works\Nin its permanent collection
Dialogue: 0,0:05:50.82,0:05:55.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but "Anguish" has been voted twice \Nas one of the Museum's most popular works,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:56.06,0:06:00.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,once in 1906 and once in 2011.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:00.31,0:06:03.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think the success of this painting \Nspeaks to the fact
Dialogue: 0,0:06:03.76,0:06:07.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that whether it's 1878 or 2023,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:07.43,0:06:11.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the feeling of pain and loss\Nresonates with almost everyone
Dialogue: 0,0:06:11.77,0:06:14.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because we're all human.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:14.06,0:06:16.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Unless you're a sheep then you're a sheep.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:16.24,0:06:19.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But let's go back to the first\Ninterpretation of this painting,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:19.50,0:06:22.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the one where the crows \Nare cruel and selfish
Dialogue: 0,0:06:22.30,0:06:25.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and patiently waiting for their next meal.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:25.23,0:06:27.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When we look at the crows like these,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:27.60,0:06:30.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they can almost look like pure evil to us.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:30.08,0:06:32.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But let's think about this\Na little deeper.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:32.70,0:06:35.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let's drink in the scene for a sec.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:35.50,0:06:37.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's the dead of winter.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:37.87,0:06:40.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These crows are probably starving,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:40.75,0:06:44.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,huddled together, waiting\Nfor the only sustenance they can find
Dialogue: 0,0:06:44.98,0:06:49.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I think, if we were in their shoes,\Nor talons, I should say,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:49.92,0:06:51.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how would we feel?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:51.46,0:06:55.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Probably cold, hungry, \Nmaybe anxious about the future.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:55.32,0:06:57.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Would we be mourning the little lamb
Dialogue: 0,0:06:57.51,0:06:59.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or would we be waiting\Nfor our next meal?
Dialogue: 0,0:07:00.00,0:07:03.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I wonder if Schenck is encouraging us\Nto ask the tough question
Dialogue: 0,0:07:03.69,0:07:06.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of what we would do in this situation.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:06.38,0:07:11.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because maybe the only cruel thing \Nin this painting is the winter.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:12.12,0:07:19.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This painting is painful, sad,\Nbeautiful and very, very special.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:19.50,0:07:21.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I had to show it to you guys
Dialogue: 0,0:07:21.40,0:07:23.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but because I know it's super heavy
Dialogue: 0,0:07:23.82,0:07:28.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I wanted to end with some\Nof my favorite cute animal paintings.