Leading art writer Richard Cork was 18 when he met Picasso. A meeting that inspired Cork to pursue those ‘voyages of discovery’ with artists – of their lives, their art, and the stories behind some of their most famous masterpieces. Face-to-face talks and interviews followed, and of an extraordinary range – from Francis Bacon to Tracey Emin, Richard Hamilton to Tacita Dean, Grayson Perry and Anish Kapoor. Just some of the artists encompassed in this talk. Cork brings new and direct insights to their worlds, from the personal to the broader international platform.

Cork is author of seminal works such as A Bitter Truth - Avant-Garde Art and The Great War, David Bomberg, and Vorticism and its Allies, and curator of major exhibitions in the UK and across Europe. He also broadcasts regularly on BBC television and radio. He was art critic for the Evening Standard, and then chief art critic for The Times. In 2011 he was appointed an honorary fellow of the Royal Academy.

Paul Hobson, director of Modern Art Oxford, will introduce Cork.