Remote Events
Podcast
The Foreign Invention of British Art: From Renaissance to Enlightenment, Leslie Primo (2025), with Miranda Kaufmann (EMPIRE LINES Live at the National Gallery, London)
In this special episode, authors and historians Leslie Primo and Miranda Kaufmann join EMPIRE LINES live, to discuss migration, national identity, and the many heritages of Britain’s best-known artworks, drawing from the collections of the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery in London.
This episode was recorded live at the Supporters’ House Salon at the National Gallery in London in October 2025. Find all the information in the first Instagram post: instagram.com/p/DPogN0mgvtF/
The Foreign Invention of British Art: From Renaissance to Enlightenment by Leslie Primo is published by Thames & Hudson.
Heiresses: Marriage, Inheritance and Caribbean Slavery by Miranda Kaufmann is published by One World Publications.
Both are available in all good bookshops and online.
PRODUCER: Jelena Sofronijevic.
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In Person Events
Join Leslie Primo in person at one of his book events, where he explores the themes and insights from his new work, The Foreign Invention of British Art.
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Sunday 15th of Febuary at 15:00: Join us at Wilderness Kitchen with Leslie Primo for a talk on his latest book ‘The Foreign Invention of British Art’. Pair the talk with a £25 Sunday lunch add-on, available before the talk from 1pm.A timely history of immigration, integration and national identity that reveals the true heritage behind some of the nation’s defining artworks.To truly understand British art is to recognize the pivotal contributions of the many foreign artists who have called Britain home. Traditional narratives have long obscured foreign influence, but this radical study challenges the notion of an exceptional or exclusive British culture, and in so doing rewrites the history of Renaissance and Enlightenment-era art.Broadcaster and lecturer Leslie Primo expertly places art history in the wider political contexts of xenophobia and influence, addressing both foreign artists working in Britain and British-born artists affected by foreign cultures. From Hans Holbein to Artemisia Gentileschi, from William Hogarth to Angelica Kauffman, familiar masters and lesser known creators are situated within the multiculturalism inherent to, yet commonly dismissed by, the art world at this time.
Weaving together artists’ experiences of both acclaim and adversity, The Foreign Invention of British Art not only demonstrates how immigration and diversification are so often the driving force behind creative innovation but also reveals the true heritage behind some of the nation’s defining artworks.