[1][2] It consists of six short films, each inspired by a different iconic painting, matched with a story by a renowned author, and directed by a prominent filmmaker such as Norman Jewison, Peter Bogdanovich, Jonathan Kaplan, Joe Dante, John Boorman, and Bob Rafelson, respectively.
With a different cast in each installment, these films included performances by a number of notable actors, including Alan Arkin, George Segal, Sally Kirkland, Robert Loggia, Steve Zahn, Brooke Adams, Dan Hedaya, Michael Lerner, Ron Perlman, and John Hurt.
Co-creator David Wesley Wachs also wrote and directed a 20-minute pilot titled The Life of Art based on the painting Hitchhiker by Robert Gwathmey.
[3] John Boorman's episode, Two Nudes Bathing, was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.
[4] The series was also acknowledged for the exceptional cinematography of Seamus Deasy and Paul Sarossy.