Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Germaine Greer

Writer and academic Germaine Greer discusses sitting for a portrait by Paula Rego. She describes the friendship and respect that made the painting possible.

Paula Rego's portrait of Germaine Greer is one of the most popular in the National Portrait Gallery. Greer describes the friendship and respect that made the portrait possible. She wouldn't have sat for a portrait had it NOT been Paula, whose work Greer hugely admires.
Greer explains her misgivings about portraiture which she considers 'a minor art form at best...made by artists working in a self-limiting genre'. Worst of all are portraits of women - which are vapid or flattering or soulless.
What then was the key to the success of this portrait and how did it come about?

15 minutes

Last on

Fri 16 Aug 2013 22:45

Broadcasts

  • Wed 9 May 2012 22:45
  • Fri 16 Aug 2013 22:45

Death in Trieste

Death in Trieste

A 1760s murder still informs ideas about aesthetics, a certain sort of sex, and death.

Watch: My Deaf World

Watch: My Deaf World

Five compelling experiences of what it is like to be deaf in 21st-century Britain.

The Book that Changed Me

Five figures from the arts and science introduce books that changed their lives and work.

Download The Essay

Download The Essay

Download all the episodes from the series and listen at your leisure.

Podcast