What would the Old Masters make of the exhibitions that get some elected officials so worked up? They might have liked them! In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, new art and old masters. Simon Schama paints Rembrandt as a prankster. We'll uncover the political unrest in Breugel's country scenes. Also, woven harmony, and the case against censorship.

Historian Simon Schama has written a huge new biography of Rembrandt called "Rembrandt's Eyes." Schama tells Steve Paulson that Rembrandt thought art should tell the truth and that he was an enormously innovative painter. Also, Linda Kauffman talks with Jim Fleming about artists who make deliberately provocative and sensational art. She feels it's a good thing to challenge our beliefs about what can be seen. Her book is "Bad Girls and Sick Boys: Fantasies in Contemporary Art and Culture."

Rebecca Bluestone is a tapestry weaver, married to classical guitarist Robert Bluestone. They tell Judith Strasser what their art forms have in common and how they both use color and a sense of place in their work. And Robert illustrates his points with examples on the guitar. Also, John Stilgoe teaches Landscape History at Harvard and is the author of "Outside Lies Magic: Regaining History and Awareness in Everyday Places." He tells Jim Fleming that people would discover all sorts of new things if they would walk or ride a bicycle and leave the car at home.

British writer and playwright Michael Frayn talks with Steve Paulson about "Headlong," his new novel, shortlisted for the Booker Prize. The book is about the painter Brueghel and the mania afflicting art collectors. Frayn says farce seems like ordinary life to him, and remembers a dinner party that foreshadowed the action of the novel.

Distribution dates:

• week of 10/07/2001 - hour 1
• week of 01/23/2000 - hour 2