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Painting of the Week Podcast
Film Director Phil Grabsky and art-lover Laura Bentham meet each week to talk about paintings that inspire or excite them. Listen to their ‘Painting of the Week’ and explore some of the world’s most amazing art. For more information and to see the artwork being discussed please visit www.seventh-art.com/podcast
Episodes
98 episodes
Season 7 Ep 5: Caravaggio, Victorious Cupid
A real treat for you in this episode, as Phil goes on a field trip to London to meet with Xavier Bray, Director of the Wallace Collection, and discuss one of Caravaggio’s most controversial works, the focus of their current exhibition, running ...
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Season 7
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Episode 5
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35:53
Season 7 Ep 4: Hermann Herzog, Sunset in the Florida Hammocks
For this week's episode, Phil speaks with author & art dealer Deborah Pollack about Hermann Herzog’s steamy Florida wilderness, which he depicted in over 300 paintings, earning him the unofficial status as 'the artist of Florida.'
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Season 7
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Episode 4
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35:49
Season 7 ep. 3: Cecilia Beaux, Twilight Confidences
Captivated by Breton peasants in their striking costumes on a summer trip to the countryside in 1888, the wonderful American artist Cecilia Beaux was honing her skills with this intriguing portrait. The influence of the French impressionists wo...
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27:43
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Season 7, ep 2: An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump, Joseph Wright of Derby
This week’s focus in an artist who has been called ‘the British Caravaggio’. This eerie candlelit scene shows a scientific experiment in the ‘Age of Reason’, capturing the drama of the event, the limits of human knowledge and the fragility of l...
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34:51
Season 7 ep. 1: Whistler, Whistler’s Mother
It’s a new year and a new season of Painting of the Week! We’re starting off with one of the 20th century’s best-known artworks, beloved for its technical skill and its touching depiction of dignity in old age, and fascinating thanks to the art...
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Season 7
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Episode 1
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29:52
Christmas Special 2025
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...
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45:22
Season 6 Ep 10: Caravaggio, Conversion of Saint Paul
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...
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Season 6
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Episode 10
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33:14
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Season 6 Ep 9: Georges Seurat, Bathers at Asnières
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...
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Season 6
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Episode 9
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32:14
Season 6 Ep 8: Dora Carrington, Farmhouse at Waternlath
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...
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Season 6
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Episode 8
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32:41
Season 6 Ep 7: Zdeněk Dvořák, Czech Tradition
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...
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Season 6
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Episode 7
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28:16
Season 6 Ep 6: Henri Matisse, Woman Reading at a Yellow Table
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 t...
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Season 6
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Episode 6
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29:57
Season 6 Ep 5: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, La Chaîne Simpson
Two icons of French culture come together in this week’s artwork – Toulouse-Lautrec and the bicycle! Known for his ability to capture the bohemian lifestyle of late 19th-century Paris, Toulouse-Lautrec's dynamic poster design showcases famous F...
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Season 6
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Episode 5
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32:47
Season 6 Ep 4: Artemesia Gentileschi, Self Portrait as Saint Catherine
This episode examines Artemesia’s powerful self-portrait and the heartbreaking, inspirational story of survival behind it - with special guest Asia Graziano, author of ‘Artemesia Gentileschi’ for leading art publisher Scripta Maneant...
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Season 6
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Episode 4
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35:25
Season 6 Ep 3: Keith Pettit, Cabriole
This week’s episode features a fascinating sculpture carved from ‘Bog Oak’, preserved for nearly 6,000 years in a Sussex peat bog being transformed into a ballet dancer mid-leap...
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Season 6
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Episode 3
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1:01:06
Season 6, Ep.2: J M W Turner, The Lake, Petworth: Sunset, Fighting Bucks at Petworth
J. M. W. Turner, The Lake, Petworth: Sunset, Fighting Bucks at Petworth Recorded on site at Petworth House, West Sussex with curator Dr. Emily Knight, this episode looks at the Turner ...
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Season 6
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Episode 2
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39:20
Season 6, Ep.1: Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper
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....
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Season 6
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Episode 1
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40:17
Season 5, Ep.11: Tibetan Wheel of Life Thangka
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...
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27:04
Season 5, Ep.10: Wood, Earth, Hoop by Walter Bailey
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...
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40:04
Season 5, Ep.9: Orange, Red, Yellow by Mark Rothko
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...
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37:46
Season 5, Ep.8: Genesis #9/18 by Alan Magee
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 pa...
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28:04
Season 5, Ep.6: Deep Forest by Emily Carr
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...
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31:41
Season 5, Ep.7: The Haywain Tryptich by Hieronymus Bosch
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...
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34:35
Season 5, Ep.5: Starry Night over the Rhône by Van Gogh with Martin Bailey
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...
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Season 5
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Episode 5
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24:04
Season 5, Ep.4: Christmas Special - The Monopoly Board, Lizzie Magie
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...
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Season 5
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Episode 4
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45:41