How do you paint a masterpiece? In The Secrets of Painting, artist and broadcaster Lachlan Goudie seeks the answer to this question by exploring how twenty of the greatest paintings in human history were created, from a blank surface to the finishing brushstroke.

Beginning at the dawn of civilization with prehistoric cave paintings and ending with the arrival of AI, Goudie unveils the methods and techniques employed by individual artists, bringing their studios to life at the very moment they produced their most celebrated works. Along the way, a bigger picture emerges, charting how the evolution of painting materials has changed the course of human creativity.

As a practitioner himself, Goudie offers a lively and engaging perspective on the international story of painting and traces how, over the centuries, a succession of creative "big bangs" reverberated across generations and continents, helping to transform the story of art itself.