For the Love of Art: The Story of The Secret Painter

Intelligence Squared

Arts, News, Society & Culture, News Commentary

4.2 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 3 February 2025

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, we uncover the story of a painter who was never recognised for his art during his lifetime with television scriptwriter Joe Tucker. Drawing from his new book The Secret Painter, Tucker sheds light on the life of his uncle Eric Tucker – an unassuming working-class man from Warrington who secretly created over 500 extraordinary paintings, which were only discovered after his death. Why did Eric paint in private for decades? What compels someone to create art with no intention of sharing it? And what does Eric’s story reveal about who gets to be recognized as an artist? Joining Tucker in conversation is Kathryn Hughes, author and critic, whose latest book Catland examines the life of Victorian cat artist Louis Wain. Together, they discuss creativity without an audience, hidden talent and the barriers that keep certain people out of the art world. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events ... Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:00.8	Welcome to Intelligence Squared, where great minds meet.
1:04.5	I'm producer Leila Ishmael.
1:06.9	Our guest today is television scriptwriter and author Joe Tucker.
1:11.9	His new book, The Secret Painter, tells the fascinating story of his uncle Eric, a working-class man from Woking, who secretly created over 500 paintings that were uncovered after his death.
1:23.6	Joining Joe in conversation is author and critic Catherine Hughes, whose latest book, Catland,
1:29.6	explores the life of Victorian cat artist Lewis Wayne. Let's join Catherine now with more.
1:35.9	Welcome to Intelligence Squares. I'm Catherine Hughes. And our guest today is Joe Tucker.
1:42.6	Joe Tucker originally trained as an animation director before becoming a television scriptwriter.
1:48.0	With his scriptwriting partner, Lloyd Wolfe, he's created and written the BBC shows, Wittless, Click and Collect, and Black Ops.
1:57.4	His new book, which we'll be discussing today is the secret painter welcome to
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