PBS
Images of Jesus (2005); producer, writer, narrator
While Jesus lived, no one made a picture, sketch, or painting of him. Since then every image of Jesus came from the minds and hands of those who lived after he died. This documentary, traces the evolving look of Christ from the first figuration from 320 AD of Jesus as an astonished shepherd boy, to the present day. Mr. Wolff documents the wooden icons of the Eastern Church, the stained glass windows of the great cathedrals, the fresco paintings of the poorer churches, the woodcuts on paper, the silk paintings from the east, Giotto’s Lamentation, Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, The Pieta, The Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo’s The Last Judgment, and more.
First Prize from the Religious Relations Council, nominated for an Emmy Award
Becoming Van Gogh (2002); producer, writer, narrator
A look at Vincent van Gogh’s early life and artistic influences. including his failed attempts to work in his uncle’s art business and his expulsion from divinity school. He started as a poverty stricken impressionist, but his paintings became the most valuable canvases in the history of art. The artist may have suffered from mental illness but he never lost touch with reality, which is manifested in his letters and art. He said “I am not, strictly speaking, mad. My mind is absolutely normal when I paint. But in the intervals, during the attacks, I lose consciousness of everything. When the madness passes I am impelled to work.—I must hurry to finish what I have to do.”
Nominated for an Oscar
The Rise and Fall of Impressionism (1999); producer, writer, narrator
A look at the impetus of the movement and the lives and social interactions of its inventors, most notably Monet, Edouard Manet, Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Mary Cassatt, as well as their artistic subjects and approach to their art. Mr. Wolff makes that point that impressionism was a radical departure in art. Instead of depicting royalty and elegance, ordinary people and outdoor scenes became the subject matter. Also, for the first time women became noted artists.
Writer’s Guild Award
Michelangelo Restored (1998); producer, writer, and narrator
For 13 years, camera crews followed the painstaking restoration of the Sistine Chapel and the cleaning of Michelangelo’s frescoes. Michelangelo, Restored documents this amazing rebirth, as well as the complexity of the great master’s extraordinary accomplishment.
International Monitor Award, Film Originated Television Specials – Best Achievement
Picasso Paints Picasso (1998); producer, writer, narrator
Pablo Picasso is most famous painter of the 20th Century. In his lifetime he created twenty thousand works of art. His favorite subject was himself, often disguised, and almost everything he painted was a clue to his life. The puzzle of Picasso is that he drew a diary of his emotions every day. Every canvas was an entry into his personal Spanish journal.
Writer’s Guild Award
An Essay on Matisse (1996); producer, writer, narrator
An Essay on Matisse chronicles the life and art of Henri Matisse, the revered French painter whose style forever changed the face of 20th-century art. Through Matisse’s provocative paintings, producer and writer Perry Wolff documents the evolution of the revolutionary artist, who was the first to put color at the center of art. Based in part on the recollections of Pierre Matisse, Henri’s son, this documentary traces the life of this master artist.
Writer’s Guild Award, Nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Documentary