The Lives Of The Artists

Meet Johno Verity, who calls himself a practical insomniac with a pink hat that delves into London history on his bike. Riding around at the break of dawn discussing everything from Boudicca to the Gin craze and how to be more present in your own life. In this podcast we also discuss his own creative life, his journey in social media, as well as his father's artistic life. Simon Verity who was a highly respected sculptor and master stone carver whose career was rooted in classical craftsmanship, working on major ecclesiastical and restoration projects, including carvings for historic cathedrals.

Susie Hodge is a bestselling author who has written over 160 books on art, art history, history and artistic techniques. Susie's other activities include lectures, talks and practical workshops, plus television and radio talks and documentaries about art.

This is the story of Caravaggio’s crazy life , he lived fast and violently, rising in Rome as a brilliant but volatile painter whose raw realism shocked the art world. In 1606 he killed Ranuccio Tomassoni, during a dispute and was forced to flee Rome with a death sentence over his head. He moved through Naples and then to Malta, where he briefly found favour with the Knights of St John before falling into trouble again and escaping imprisonment. From there he drifted through Sicily, producing some of his darkest, most stripped-back works while constantly on the run. Hoping for a pardon, he tried to return toward Rome, but in 1610 he died under unclear circumstances in Porto Ercole, exhausted, sick, and still a fugitive. In this episode we explore what really happened. 

Jacopo Robusti 1518-1594, best known as Tintoretto was an Italian Renaissance painter from Venice. His contemporaries both admired and criticised the speed with which he painted and the unprecedented boldness of his brushwork. For his phenomenal energy in painting he was termed il Furioso (Italian for 'the Furious'). His work is characterised by muscular figures, dramatic gestures and bold use of perspective, in the Mannerist style. He is one of the greatest artists to come out of the golden age of Venetian painting and his influence on art is massive. In this conversation with Paolo Vojnovic I discuss his life and works in detail and explain how he influenced generations of artists.

Joseph Bucklow is a painter originally from Yorkshire who now lives and works in London. He studied History (BA) at the University of Glasgow before completing an MA in Fine Art at City & Guilds of London Art School in Kennington in 2019. He currently works full-time as an artist based in Notting Hill.
 
Drawing on imagination, memory, and photography as sources of inspiration, Bucklow’s paintings depict landscapes, urban scenes, and the people within them, all marked by a strong cinematic and theatrical influence. His imagery often takes the form of brooding, half-seen poetic visions that blur the boundaries between nostalgia and history, theatre and reality.
 
These semi-imagined settings offer viewers a glimpse into worlds that feel both familiar and unknown. The work evokes a sense of faded recollection alongside the tension and energy of the unexplored, providing just enough visual information for orientation while leaving space for uncertainty and introspection.
 
Bucklow’s painting style combines illustrative linework and detail with expressive, gestural brushstrokes, layering techniques to construct environments in which the mind is invited to wander and reflect. His images encourage contemplation of the forgotten and mundane aspects of the everyday, while elevating the sense of solitude and the peace found in seclusion. The works provide a space for intensely private moments often experienced within vast, expansive settings.

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.