Episode description

While the great Italian renaissance painters and the Dutch masters are world famous, why are there so few British artists from this period leading the way? It’s one of the questions the art historian Bendor Grosvenor examines in his new history, The Invention of British Art. From prehistoric bone carvings to the landscapes of John Constable, Grosvenor reassesses the contribution British artists have made at home and abroad.

The writer and former curator at the V&A Susan Owens wants to turn our attention to drawing. It is a simpler, more democratic form of art-making, she argues in The Story of Drawing: An Alternative History of Art. And one that is a fundamental part of the creative process. She reveals what can be learnt by looking again at the sketches made by Gainsborough, William Blake and Tacita Dean.

The artist Lucinda Rogers specialises in urban landscapes. She immerses herself in her environment and records straight from eye to paper. Her intimate street views explore the changing nature of cities, from London to New York. During the US Presidential election she travelled to different locations as a reportage illustrator. A reproduction of her first sketchbook, New York Winter 1988, has just been re-released.

Producer: Katy Hickman