The Genius of British Art

The history of British art is the story of Britain. For centuries, artists have reflected our times and shaped the way we see ourselves. This series presents six passionate polemics on how British art makes us who we are today and gives us a vision of ourselves. David Starkey considers how royal portraiture has had an enduring influence on the iconic power of personality. Dr Augustus Casely-Hayford explores William Hogarth's revolutionary pioneering of art for the people. Howard Jacobson breaks through the frost of Victorian prudery in search of an eroticism all the more potent for its moral ambiguity. Sir Roy Strong shows how the English invented a landscape art. Janet Street Porter revisits her own youth to show how modern art since the 1950s has been at the forefront of the social and cultural changes that define our world today. And Jon Snow presents a timely reminder of how British artists have expressed and defined our response to the horror of war.