This episode sees actress Lily Cole examine four of the 20th century's greatest artists and writers. Lily explores the lives of Pablo Picasso, Virginia Woolf, Alfred Hitchcock and Andy Warhol - finding out what inspired their most celebrated works, and why they still resonate today. In the 20th century, history unfolded at a rate humanity could barely keep up with and helping us process these seismic shifts were a group of complex, sometimes dark geniuses: our artists and writers. Cofounder of the Cubist movement, Pablo Picasso possessed extraordinary talent from an early age. He could have had a brilliant career as a traditional artist but he chose instead to rip up the artistic rule book, creating defiantly sensual and provocative pieces, and one of the most powerful and enduring images of conflict that the world has ever seen. Feminist, pacifist and trailblazer Virginia Woolf subverted expectations, both professionally and personally. She broke new ground in literature, was unafraid to write about mental health, and issued a rallying cry for artistic equality on behalf of women everywhere. Nicknamed the master of suspense, Hitchcock's career spanned six decades, and he was behind some of the most famous moments in cinema. Not only was Hitchcock a prodigious film-maker but he was a pioneer of the industry, transforming the role of film director into that of an artist. His ground-breaking visual and storytelling techniques are ubiquitous in film today. In an age of post-war prosperity, Andy Warhol's work - which explored consumerism and mass production - was so revolutionary that while some thought he had redefined art, others believed he had broken it. He turned the everyday into works of art, and began documenting every aspect of life decades before the selfie-obsessed culture we live in today.

Originally released by BBC Worldwide Learning, 2019. Streaming video file encoded with permission for digital streaming by Infobase on April 12, 2023.