| When: Sunday 8 November 2026 @ 4.30 pm |
| Where: Electric Palace |
| Sponsor: Buffy Sacher |
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Lachlan Goudie - The Secrets of Painting - The Hidden Art of the Masterpiece from Prehistory to Today How do you paint a masterpiece? Artist and broadcaster Lachlan Goudie returns to Bridport to explore how 20 of the greatest paintings in human history were created, from a blank surface to the finishing brushstroke. From 36,000-year-old cave paintings to the digital art of David Hockney, he interrogates each artist’s individual methods and techniques. And there’s a bigger picture: this is the story of how the evolution of painting materials – from spit, bone marrow and blood to digital image-making – has changed the course of human creativity. “Stupendous … a wonderful gift to the world of art loversˮ Simon Schama. -
Jennifer Potter - Looking for Mr Schwitters
Modern art circles revere Kurt Schwitters as an “artist’s artist”, leader of the Dada movement and pioneer of pop art. But he ended his days as an exile, working in post-war Cumbria. Writer and artist Jennifer Potter follows the traces left after Schwitters was dismissed as a “degenerate” by the Nazis and forced into exile. Potter blends biography, memoir and art history in an attempt to understand Schwitters’ mysterious influence on her own life and writing. Exploring his revolutionary collages as well as an unfinished masterpiece hidden in the Langdale Valley, Potter reflects on exile and what it means to leave a mark on a place. Chaired by festival director, Adrian Turpin.
When: Monday 9 November 2026 @ 3.30 pm Where: Bull Ballroom Sponsored by: Jim Bartos -
Paul Morley - On Hockney - An Artist for Life
The late David Hockney remains one of Britain’s most recognisable artists. His career spanned decades of constant reinvention, taking him from post-war Bradford and Swinging London to Los Angeles, Paris, Normandy and the Yorkshire Wolds. In David Hockney: An Artist for Life, writer and broadcaster Paul Morley explores how these locations shaped the painter’s vision. Morley traces Hockney’s key friendships and artistic influences showing how he repeatedly renewed his creative practice while remaining unmistakably himself. The result is a celebration of a restless, resourceful and deeply optimistic figure whose life and work mirrored broader changes in society and altered how a nation sees itself and understands the world.
When: Tuesday 10 November 2026 @ 10.30 am Where: Bull Ballroom -
Nicholas Hely Hutchinson - This Ancient Shore - Paintings of the Dorset Coast
In 1993, the artist Nicholas Hely Hutchinson moved to Dorset. First walking to the ancient chapel of St Adhelm’s overlooking the sea, he was captivated by the coast. From that moment, he has walked and painted the coast path time and time again, often in the company of his dogs. The book follows his travels west from Studland to Lyme Regis. In this work, which is accompanied by short essays, Nicholas perfectly recreates the drama in the landscape and seascape, its nature, farmland, the forgotten lanes and distant fields. His Dorset paintings will delight residents and visitors alike. £30 for 2 course supperWhen: Tuesday 10 November 2026 @ 6.30 pm Where: Sladers Yard Sponsored by: Rachel & Allan James -
Judith Mackrell - Artists, Siblings, Visionaries - The Lives and Loves of Gwen and Augustus John
Acclaimed biographer and former Guardian critic Judith Mackrell examines the entwined lives of two artistic giants. While Augustus achieved early fame as a bohemian prodigy, his reclusive sister Gwen combined a devotion to her subtle portraits with a series of obsessive romantic affairs in Paris. Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction, Mackrell’s exceptional dual biography explores their fierce sibling rivalry, shared obsession with absolute creative freedom and complex private lives. She reveals how two strikingly different personalities, reshaped British art. Chaired by Gill Pyrah.
When: Wednesday 11 November 2026 @ 3.00 pm Where: Bridport Arts Centre Sponsored by: Bettina & Michael Pescod