Explore every episode of the podcast Painting of the Week Podcast
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christmas Special 2025 | 19 Dec 2025 | 00:44:41 | |
Laura and Phil get into the Christmas spirit by seeking out festive artworks and having a giggle along the way. What artworks does your Christmas lunch make you think of? You may be surprised at Laura and Phil’s choices... | |||
| Season 6 Ep 10: Caravaggio, Conversion of Saint Paul | 16 Oct 2025 | 00:32:33 | |
Finishing season 6 off on a high, we have special guest David Bickerstaff - co-director of Exhibition on Screen’s ‘Caravaggio’ - exploring the true nature of the artist behind the ‘Bad Boy of Baroque’ persona... | |||
| Season 6, Ep.1: Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper | 07 Aug 2025 | 00:39:36 | |
Kicking off Season 6 with a bang is one of the most famous works of art in history – Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘The Last Supper’. In this episode, Phil & Laura delve into the fascinating layers of meaning and mastery in this iconic work. | |||
| Season 5, Ep.11: Tibetan Wheel of Life Thangka | 18 Feb 2025 | 00:26:23 | |
For the final episode of Season 5, Phil teams up with his brother Marc to examine his beautiful Christmas present, a stunning depiction of the Buddhist Wheel of Life which Marc brought back from his travels in Nepal... | |||
| Season 5, Ep.10: Wood, Earth, Hoop by Walter Bailey | 06 Feb 2025 | 00:39:23 | |
In this week's episode, Phil & Laura talk to Mark Collins, art collector and owner of Artelium Wine Estate in Sussex to discuss a unique sculpture currently residing on their estate... | |||
| Season 5, Ep.9: Orange, Red, Yellow by Mark Rothko | 30 Jan 2025 | 00:37:05 | |
A badly needed splash of colour this week as Phil & Laura take a deep dive into a Rothko work which sold in 2012 for the staggering sum of $87 million. Just what lies behind those famous, vibrant rectangles... | |||
| Season 5, Ep.8: Genesis #9/18 by Alan Magee | 24 Jan 2025 | 00:27:22 | |
This week, Phil speaks to us from Friday Harbour, San Juan Island, USA with Assistant Curator of the San Juan Islands Museum of Art Wendy Smith about a very unique artwork, finished by a loom in Belgium thousands of miles from the artist who painted it... | |||
| Season 5, Ep.6: Deep Forest by Emily Carr | 21 Jan 2025 | 00:31:00 | |
This week, Phil meets with senior curator Richard Hill from the Vancouver Art Gallery to discuss a moody and mysterious work by the matriarch of Canadian art... | |||
| Season 5, Ep.7: The Haywain Tryptich by Hieronymus Bosch | 16 Jan 2025 | 00:33:54 | |
This week, Laura and Phil discuss the eternally bizarre and delightful Bosch, focusing on one of his fabulous triptychs, with this one telling the story of the Fall... | |||
| Season 5, Ep.5: Starry Night over the Rhône by Van Gogh with Martin Bailey | 02 Jan 2025 | 00:23:23 | |
The new year kicks off with Phil revisiting Van Gogh’s romantic masterpiece – and the poster image for our smash hit documentary Van Gogh: Poets & Lovers – this time with world Van Gogh expert Martin Bailey at the National Gallery... | |||
| Season 5, Ep.4: Christmas Special - The Monopoly Board, Lizzie Magie | 24 Dec 2024 | 00:45:00 | |
In this cosy Christmas special, Laura and Phil sit down with three times British Monopoly champion (and Phil’s brother) Mike and his long-suffering son Alex to discuss the remarkable artwork of the monopoly board over a mince pie or two... | |||
| Season 5, Ep.3: Le Pont-Neuf by Pierre-Auguste Renoir | 19 Dec 2024 | 00:22:13 | |
Phil speaks with curator Mary Morton at one of his favourite galleries - the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC - about a poignant view of Paris a year on from one of the worst years in Parisian history... | |||
| Season 6 Ep 9: Georges Seurat, Bathers at Asnières | 09 Oct 2025 | 00:31:33 | |
Painted before his 25th birthday, this monumental 2m x 3m work was supposed to be Seurat’s big break but was rejected by the 1884 Salon... | |||
| Season 5, Ep.2: Christ of Saint John of the Cross by Salvador Dalí | 12 Dec 2024 | 00:30:45 | |
In this episode, Phil & Laura look at Dali’s unique take on the crucifixion, supposedly inspired by what Dali called his “cosmic dream” of the universe... | |||
| Season 5, Ep.1: Olive Grove, Saint-Rémy (1889) by Vincent van Gogh | 05 Dec 2024 | 00:45:31 | |
Season 5 begins in the warm and inviting olive groves around Saint Remy which Van Gogh painted repeatedly, fascinated as he was by the irregular growth and ever-changing colours... | |||
| Season 4, Ep.10: Starry Night Over the Rhône by Vincent Van Gogh | 27 Jun 2024 | 00:36:38 | |
This week, Phil and Laura look at Vincent’s other ‘Starry Night’, painted just down the road from his famous yellow house in Arles, and explore the themes of love, madness and beauty that have followed this beloved and troubled artist over the centuries... | |||
| Season 4, Ep.9: Augustus of Prima Porta Statue - Vatican Museums | 19 Jun 2024 | 00:38:03 | |
Talk about good PR! This masterpiece by an unknown Greek artist depicts the first official emperor of Rome, Augustus, demonstrating his firm grasp of the importance of a carefully crafted public image in 20AD... | |||
| Season 4, Ep.8: Colliers Unloading on Hove Beach by John Constable | 13 Jun 2024 | 00:27:18 | |
This week, Phil’s takes leading BBC radio presenter Danny Pike for a trip to the Brighton Pavilion to examine local legend John Constable’s stunning work depicting the seafront a stone’s throw from our office… | |||
| Season 4, Ep.7: Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez | 04 Jun 2024 | 00:34:29 | |
This week, Phil and Laura discuss what has been repeatedly named one of the greatest paintings in history, the monumental ‘Las Meninas’ or ‘The Maids’ by the legendary Diego Velázquez... | |||
| Season 4, Ep.6: Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando by Edgar Degas | 30 May 2024 | 00:28:49 | |
This week, co-directors of My National Gallery, London Ali Ray and Phil Grabsky discuss Ali’s favourite work in this world-renowned gallery, and just why it stuck out to her amongst this enormous collection of masterpieces... | |||
| Season 4, Ep.5: Rain, Steam, and Speed by JMW Turner | 20 May 2024 | 00:30:42 | |
In this episode, Phil and Laura discuss the wonderfully dynamic Turner work which Michael Palin called his “science fiction painting” in My National Gallery, London... | |||
| Season 4, Ep.4: The Virgin of the Rocks by Leonardo da Vinci | 20 May 2024 | 00:29:16 | |
| Season 4, Ep.3: The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein the Younger | 02 May 2024 | 00:34:53 | |
This week's topic of discussion is Holbein’s masterpiece from one of the most important years in British history – 1533. This was the year that Henry VIII broke from the Catholic church, married Anne Boleyn and had a daughter who would become one of England’s most popular monarchs, Elizabeth I... | |||
| Season 6 Ep 8: Dora Carrington, Farmhouse at Waternlath | 02 Oct 2025 | 00:31:59 | |
This week, Phil and Laura talk about a Tate Britain work that pulls you in with its striking depiction of the rolling hills of Cumbria, uncovering the hidden story of the Bloomsbury Group icon who created it... | |||
| Season 4, Ep.2: The AIDS Memorial Quilt with Yvonne Gilleece | 17 Apr 2024 | 00:30:19 | |
| Season 4, Ep.1: Madame X by John Singer Sargent | 11 Apr 2024 | 00:29:56 | |
| Christmas Special: Painting of the Year | 19 Dec 2023 | 01:01:44 | |
In this special Christmas episode, Phil and Laura pick their top 3 favourite paintings from a year full of masterpieces to discuss over Laura's homemade Christmas punch... | |||
| Season 3, Ep.20, Gustav Klimt - Hermine Gallia | 25 Sep 2023 | 00:32:36 | |
On this episode of Painting of the Week, Phil & Laura discuss a Klimt work which sits right on the cusp of his drastic artistic transformation... | |||
| Season 3, Ep.19: Ditchling War Memorial by Eric Gill | 14 Sep 2023 | 00:30:15 | |
Phil, Laura and special guest Janet Laurence explore a local work by a controversial artist Eric Gill, a terrible man with a wonderful talent, and debate whether you can separate the art from the artist... | |||
| Season 3, Ep.18 Mohri Yuko - Moré Moré | 14 Aug 2023 | 00:25:30 | |
This episode explores a wildly different art style on the cutting edge of the Japanese avant-garde movement, as featured in our latest film’ Tokyo Stories’... | |||
| Season 3, Ep 17: Georges de La Tour - Penitent Magdalen | 03 Aug 2023 | 00:26:55 | |
This moody, gothic painting was a clean break from the bombastic nature of the baroque style which dominated in the seventeenth century and brings the viewer into a quiet moment of intense contemplation with Mary Magdalene herself… | |||
| Season 3, Ep 16: Wilfredo Lam - La Silla (The Chair) | 20 Jul 2023 | 00:23:32 | |
| Season 3, ep.15: Charles Webster Hawthorne - The Boat Steerer | 29 Jun 2023 | 00:22:35 | |
This episode, recorded at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum with CEO Chris McCarthy, examines an evocative painting by one of the founders of the Cape Cod art colony, the oldest continuous art colony in the USA… | |||
| Season 3 Ep.14: John Singer Sargent - El Jaleo | 08 Jun 2023 | 00:29:29 | |
This episode explores a dynamic masterpiece by the greatest portraitist of his time, John Singer Sargent, and his immersion into the "Hispanism" which gripped Europe at the end of the nineteenth century... | |||
| Season 6 Ep 7: Zdeněk Dvořák, Czech Tradition | 19 Sep 2025 | 00:27:34 | |
This visceral photograph of a butcher at work, chosen by special guest World Food Photography Awards founder Caroline Kenyon, brings up issues surrounding the importance of food in preserving cultural heritage... | |||
| Season 3, Ep 13: Egon Schiele - Seated Woman with Bent Knees | 08 Jun 2023 | 00:30:05 | |
This week's Painting of the Week explores a work which subverts the traditional beauty standard, bringing a sense of grittiness and discomfort into this erotically charged portrait of the artists' beautiful wife... | |||
| Season 2, Ep. 12: Goya, The Duchess of Alba | 10 Mar 2023 | 00:36:57 | |
This week, Phil and Laura discuss Goya's portrait of a formidable young noble woman, recently widowed. Is there more to this portrait than meets the eye? | |||
| Season 3, Ep.11: Albrecht Dürer, Great Piece of Turf | 02 Mar 2023 | 00:33:28 | |
This week Phil and Laura explore Albrecht Dürer's 'Great Piece of Turf' and what made this very pretty patch of lawn so ground-breaking in the 16th century... | |||
| Season 3, Ep.10: Vermeer - Girl Reading a Letter by an Open Window | 16 Feb 2023 | 00:20:28 | |
In this very special episode Phil speaks to 'Girl With a Pearl Earring' author Tracy Chevalier from the Rijksmuseum's once-in-a-lifetime Vermeer exhibition. Phil and Tracy stand before a masterpiece and discuss it's surprising history... | |||
| Season 3, Ep. 9: Caravaggio, The Calling of Saint Matthew | 25 Jan 2023 | 00:35:15 | |
Join Phil and Laura this week as they discuss Caravaggio's 'The Calling of Saint Matthew', a masterpiece that brings this pivotal biblical moment into the world of the 16th century... | |||
| Season 3, Ep.8: Pieter de Hooch - Courtyard of a House in Delft | 12 Jan 2023 | 00:31:56 | |
In this episode, Phil and Laura explore this masterpiece from the Dutch Golden Age, uncovering the magic contained within this very normal visions of everyday life... | |||
| Season 3, Ep. 7: Horace Pippin - Christmas Morning, Breakfast | 21 Dec 2022 | 00:30:17 | |
In today's festive episode, Phil and Laura focus on Horace Pippin's 'Christmas Morning, Breakfast' and the fascinating story of one of America's foremost black artists... | |||
| Season 3, Ep.6: Rembrandt, The Jewish Bride | 24 Nov 2022 | 00:29:27 | |
For this episode, Phil and Laura discuss a mysterious masterpiece by Rembrandt... | |||
| Season 3, Ep. 5: Renoir, Luncheon of the Boating Party | 21 Nov 2022 | 00:31:57 | |
This week Phil and Laura discuss one of their favourite paintings - Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party - and why its creator was such a controversial figure... | |||
| Season 3, Ep. 4: William Meyerowitz, Gloucester Humoresque | 02 Nov 2022 | 00:23:15 | |
For this episode, Phil traveled to the wonderful Cape Ann Museum in New England while making 'Hopper: An American Love Story' and discussed William Meyerowitz's 'Gloucester Humoresque' with chief curator Martha Oakes. | |||
| Season 6 Ep 6: Henri Matisse, Woman Reading at a Yellow Table | 11 Sep 2025 | 00:29:16 | |
In this episode, Phil and Laura talk to Christopher Gorham, author of the fascinating new book ‘Matisse and Art Under the Nazis’, and explore how Matisse and other artists of the time navigated the occupation, avoiding arrest whilst using art to express disgust for the horrors unfurling around them... | |||
| Season 3, Ep. 3: Caspar David Friedrich, Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog | 29 Sep 2022 | 00:31:56 | |
This week, we explore a painting that has become the archetypal image of the Romantic era and the Sublime… | |||
| Season 3, Ep. 2: Rene Margritte, The Promenades of Euclid | 09 Sep 2022 | 00:31:24 | |
This week, Phil and Laura discuss a surrealist painting that plays with the idea of reality and perception... | |||
| Season 3, Ep. 1: Dame Laura Knight, Ruby Loftus Screwing a Breech Ring | 25 Aug 2022 | 00:27:33 | |
Season 3 begins with Phil and Laura discussing an important wartime work which reveals much about the previously untapped skills of British women... | |||
| Season 2, Ep. 20: Daybreak - Maxfield Parrish | 28 Mar 2022 | 00:41:59 | |
To celebrate the clocks going forward here in the U.K. and the return to 'British Summer time', this Painting of the Week is Maxfield Parrish's Daybreak - the most popular print of the twentieth century! | |||