Ben Luke talks to Jenny Saville about her cultural experiences and their effect on her work and life. We learn about how her uncle inspired her to explore the Old Masters and match their ambition, how having children hugely affected the way she works, the visit to an artist’s studio that changed her life, the epic poetry that drives her painting into new territories, the strange rituals in her daily practice. Ultimately, we explore in depth her passion for art and the compulsion to respond to the world through paint. This episode is sponsored by Cork Street Galleries. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the inaugural episode of The Art Newspaper's podcast series of conversations with artists, host Ben Luke talks to Michael Armitage about his life and work through his cultural experiences: the artists, living and long gone, who he most admires; the art he has pinned to his studio wall; the museum that holds endless inspiration; the writers he returns to; the music he plays as he paints in the studio; the rituals of his daily practice. We learn about the unique fusion of East African and European culture at the heart of Armitage's paintings, explore the ways that the art of the past can infuse the present day; and ultimately ponder the wonderful, yet at times absurd, act of painting. This episode is sponsored by Cork Street Galleries.Links for this episode. Michael Armitage at White CubeMeek Gichugu at Red Hill Art GalleryChalenge van Rampelberg at Urban AfricansGoya’s Black Paintings in the PradoOur podcast, A brush with… Julie MehretuDetailed report on the conservation of Titian’s Assumption of the Virgin in the Basilica dei Frari, VeniceThe National Gallery, LondonVelázquez’s Immaculate Conception at the National GalleryNgũgĩ wa Thiong’oChinua Achebe article in the New Yorker Yvonne Adhiambo OwuorArticle on the Spotify playlist for this and the other episodes of the first series of A brush with… including Michael’s musical inspirationsTitian’s Pietà in the Accademia, Venice Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.