Our events are recorded and on-demand to ticket holders for a month. Proceeds from ticket sales benefit UK museums, galleries and other arts-based organisations.
Titian, Diana and Acteon, 1556-9. National Gallery, London and National Galleries Scotland.
How do you paint a masterpiece? In this ARTscapades talk based on his new book, The Secrets of Painting, artist and broadcaster Lachlan Goudie seeks the answer by exploring how some of the greatest paintings in human history were created, from a blank surface to the finishing brushstroke.
How did artists in Roman Egypt paint with molten beeswax? Why did court painters in Song Dynasty China employ inks that were perfumed with cloves and honey? What inspired artists like Rembrandt to season their oil colours with strange ingredients including crushed glass, powdered lead, brick dust and fossilized amber?
From the earliest paints, mixed using spit, bone marrow and blood, to the arrival of AI, The Secrets of Painting is full of unexpected revelations. Goudie unveils the methods and techniques employed by individual artists, bringing their studios to life at the very moment they produced their most celebrated works. Along the way a bigger picture is painted, charting how the evolution of painting materials has changed the course of human creativity.
Book discount: The Secrets of Painting by Lachlan Goudie is published by Thames & Hudson (2 April 2026) ticket holders will receive 25% off the book price when ordered through their website. (UK orders only).
Mansur & Manohar, detail, Prince Salim enthroned, 1600-1.
This is an online event hosted on Zoom which can be watched live with Q&A, or on-demand for one month afterwards. You will receive your link to access the event in your email confirmation and the on-demand link after the event ends.