Claim OwnershipThe Lives Of The Artists
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A podcast exploring the lives of the artists and the world of art.
39 Episodes
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Geordie Greig, is an English journalist. He has been the editor-in-chief of The Independent since January 2023, and was the editor of the Daily Mail from 2018 to 2021 and the Mail on Sunday from 2012 to 2018. He was taken to a Freud exhibition as a teenager and became fascinated by the man. As a student journalist he tried repeatedly to get the notoriously private and infamously confrontational Freud to agree to an interview, but always without response. Many years later, while editor of Tatler, he did convince Freud to write a short piece about painting for the magazine; he was also successful some years later in convincing him to revisit this manifesto' and update it. But the basis for his book 'Breakfast With Lucian' is that many years later Greig went on to become a regular breakfast companion of Freud's at the artist's favourite Local restaurant, Clarke's, just a few streets away from the eighteenth century townhouse that was Freud's home and studio in Kensington. It was here during the hour or two before Freud's long working days began, while the restaurant was closed to all but Freud and his guests, that they would meet, usually with Freud's assistant David Dawson, for food, gossip, conversation and confidences. In this podcast we discuss his time and friendship with Lucian Freud.
Nick Cox is a specialist dealer in portraiture from the 17th century to the 20th century. He became very well known through his original social media content and travels extensively to source his ever changing stock, which includes quality oil paintings, drawings and mezzotints from both British and European artists.
A conversation with the world's greatest art forger. David Henty is a former master forger. Acclaimed as 'the brushstroke alchemist,' his works are renowned for the accuracy and authenticity with which he paints perfect copies of original works by master painters. Henty copies works by Caravaggio, Pablo Picasso, Amadeo Modigliani, Vincent Van Gogh, Jean-Michel Basquiat and others. Many of Henty's forgeries have been sold by art dealers and auction houses as original works and are unknowingly included in many collections around the world.
L.S. Lowry was an English artist. His drawings and paintings mainly depict Pendlebury, Lancashire (where he lived and worked for more than 40 years as well as Salford and its vicinity. Lowry painted scenes of life in the industrial districts of North West England in the mid-20th century. He developed a distinctive style of painting and is best known for his urban landscapes peopled with human figures, often referred to as "matchstick men". He also painted mysterious unpopulated landscapes, brooding portraits and the unpublished "marionette" works, which were only found after his death. He was fascinated by the sea, and painted pure seascapes, depicting only sea and sky, from the early 1940s. His use of stylised figures which cast no shadows, and lack of weather effects in many of his landscapes led critics to label him a naive "Sunday painter". Lowry holds the record for rejecting British honours-five, including a knighthood (1968). A collection of his work is on display in The Lowry, a purpose-built art gallery on Salford Quays. On 26 June 2013, a major retrospective opened at the Tate Britain in London, his first at the gallery; in 2014 his first solo exhibition outside the UK was held in Nanjing, China.
Sandro Botticelli was born in Florence around 1445 and rose to prominence under the patronage of the powerful Medici family, especially Lorenzo de’ Medici. In their cultured circle he painted refined mythological works like Primnavera and The Birth of Venus, images that defined the elegance of the Florentine Renaissance. But after Lorenzo’s death in 1492, Florence changed. The fiery preacher Girolamo Savonarola denounced luxury and pagan art, predicting divine punishment and even an apocalyptic turning point around 1500. Botticelli fell under his influence; his later paintings grew darker, more religious, and stripped of classical sensuality. When Savonarola was executed in 1498, the spiritual fervour collapsed, and so did Botticelli’s standing. Tastes shifted, new masters like Leonardo and Michelangelo dominated, and Botticelli died in 1510 relatively poor and largely forgotten, his earlier brilliance eclipsed by the very religious zeal he had embraced.
Sandro Botticelli was born in Florence around 1445 and rose to prominence under the patronage of the powerful Medici family, especially Lorenzo de’ Medici. In their cultured circle he painted refined mythological works like Primavera and The Birth of Venus, images that defined the elegance of the Florentine Renaissance. But after Lorenzo’s death in 1492, Florence changed. The fiery preacher Girolamo Savonarola denounced luxury and pagan art, predicting divine punishment and even an apocalyptic turning point around 1500. Botticelli fell under his influence; his later paintings grew darker, more religious, and stripped of classical sensuality. When Savonarola was executed in 1498, the spiritual fervour collapsed, and so did Botticelli’s standing. Tastes shifted, new masters like Leonardo and Michelangelo dominated, and Botticelli died in 1510 relatively poor and largely forgotten, his earlier brilliance eclipsed by the very religious zeal he had embraced.
Richard Kitson is a portrait and figurative artist based in South Yorkshire. His work has been featured in prestigious exhibitions, including the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery, London, the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, the Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize, Figurative Art Now, and the Cork Street Open. Kitson has exhibited across the UK and internationally and was a participant in Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2018. His paintings are held in a variety of public and private collections, and he continues to offer portrait commissions and workshops.
From ancient Greece to Picasso ~ in this talk I present a grand overview of the history and origins of oil painting in the Low Countries, the regions in Europe that the technique really took hold, all the way through to the British landscape artists impact and ultimate influence of French Impressionism to Picasso and the birth of modern art.
Special thanks to The Chapel in Bruton for putting on such a wonderful evening with a great turn out from a hugely generous and enthusiastic audience 🙏
Armando Cabba is a Paris-based Canadian artist whose work bridges portraiture and abstraction, known especially for richly coloured, figurative paintings that explore the emotional and psychological presence of his subjects with close attention to detail and nuance. Born in Montreal, he studied fine art at Concordia University and briefly at the Florence Academy of Art before working independently in Italy and eventually settling in Paris, where he now creates and exhibits his work, which has entered private collections across Europe and North America. His practice often emphasises the intimate relationship between artist and sitter and engages contemporary themes, including body positivity and social commentary, while maintaining a strong technical grounding in realism.
John Singer Sargent was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Belle Époque and Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolours, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings. In this episode of 'The Lives Of The Artists' podcast I go live with eminent art historian Paola Vojnovic and we discuss his life and work.
Dr Ben Street is an art historian and educator based in London. He received his PhD in 2024 from the University of East Anglia. His research is on Philip Guston’s late paintings and their engagement with historical Italian art. Ben is also the author of numerous books including How to Enjoy Art: A Guide for Everyone (Yale, 2021), the award-winning children’s book How to Be an Art Rebel (Thames & Hudson, 2021), which has been translated into five languages, and 200 Words to Help You Talk about Art (Lawrence King, 2020). He writes for Gagosian Quarterly, Apollo, the Times Literary Supplement and Art Review and is a contributing writer to many museums and gallery publications. He is a lecturer and tutor for several museums and universities. These include the University of Oxford, the University of East Anglia, the University of East London, the National Gallery, Tate, the Royal Academy, Dulwich Picture Gallery and the Wallace Collection.
The Tate Britain exhibition 'Turner & Constable: Rivals and Originals' offers a landmark overview of Britain's two greatest landscape painters, exploring their parallel careers, contrasting personalities, and intense rivalry through over 170 works, marking their 250th birth anniversaries (Turner in 2025, Constable in 2026). The exhibition showcases masterpieces and rarely seen personal items, revealing how their different approaches to landscape. Turner's "poetry" versus Constable's "truth" which challenged art conventions and left a lasting legacy, with works often displayed side-by-side as they were in their own time.
In this episode of 'The Lives Of The Artists' podcast, Director of The Florence Academy, Artist and Art Historian and I discuss these two titans of British art. Their lives, careers, work, how they fit into the greater story of art history and defined British landscape painting still to this day.
James Hayes is an acclaimed portrait painter who lives and works in St Paul’s Studios on Talgarth Road in London which are a distinctive row of late-Victorian Arts & Crafts-style live-work houses built in 1891 by architect Frederick Wheeler with huge north-facing windows to give painters and other artists superb natural light, and they quickly became a celebrated enclave for creative figures in west London. Painting exclusively from life, Hayes's approach relies heavily upon the mastery of natural light, an adept eye for composition and the preparation of his own pigments and canvases.
John Hall is a passionate arts educator, lecturer and guide, based in London and Italy. Director of the John Hall Venice Course, tour leader for Kirker Holidays and of independent tours in Italy. Designer and host of a series of art talks and events for the Soho House group of private member's clubs.
Ralph Steadman is a legendary and wildly inventive British illustrator best known for his explosive, ink-splattered drawings that helped define the visual identity of Hunter S. Thompson's Gonzo journalism. Born in 1936, Steadman's work spans everything from satirical takes on American politics to illustrated editions of Alice in Wonderland, always carrying that unmistakable mix of humour, darkness, and rebellious energy. His art doesn't just depict a scene; it punches through it, demanding the viewer feel the absurdity of the world as fiercely as he does.
Andrew Graham-Dixon is a British art critic, art historian, and broadcaster known for his passionate, eloquent storytelling about art and artists. Educated at Oxford and the Courtauld Institute, he has presented acclaimed BBC documentaries, blending deep scholarship with vivid narrative flair. His writing, insightful, witty, and often poetic, bridges the gap between academic analysis and emotional engagement, making the history of art feel alive, dramatic, and profoundly human. In this episode of ‘The Lives Of The Artists’ podcast we discuss Johannes Vermeer’s life and Andrew’s new book about him ‘Vermeer, A Life Lost And Found’.
Morag Caister, is a figurative artist who gained widespread acclaim as the winner of Sky Art's Portrait Artist of the Year TV series, and has been honoured with nominations for Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe: Art & Culture and inclusion in the Evening Standard's Art Power List 2023.
Eldin Smajlovic is a Bosnian artist, art historian and writer from Srebrenica, raised in Sarajevo. Trained in classical art, in the tradition of the old masters (printmaking, painting, design and drawing) he was expelled from the Sarajevo Academy for his outspoken advocacy, particularly in defense of LGBTQ+ rights. He later relocated to Sweden, continuing his artistic education at Valand Academy. As the creator of The Immortal Art Podcast and the The Immortal Art YouTube channel, Eldin Smajlovic is presenting chronological art history, from 78,000 years ago to now. He is currently finishing European Upper Palaeolithic. He speaks with artists, historians, art historians and reaserchers about art.
Erin is MyArtBroker's “Excuse Me” Girl, who asks the public what work of art they'd love to own and why. When she's not interviewing people with her paintbrush mic, she's the Commissioning Editor of Edition Magazine, devising content for art lovers and collectors. Erin joined MyArtBroker after completing her MA in Fashion History at the Courtauld Institute of Art in 2022, and graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2021 with a BA in History of Art.
Tim Benson (b. 1978, London) is a contemporary British oil painter renowned for his expressive figurative works, especially portraits, that go beyond mere likeness to evoke character and mood. Educated at Glasgow School of Art and Byam Shaw School of Art (1998–2001), he honed his craft through intense studio practice and self‑directed learning. Elected President of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters in 2018 and a member of the New English Art Club the same year, Benson exhibits widely across the UK and often works with NGOs to create portraits that amplify marginalized voices.
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