The Foreign Invention of British Art: From Renaissance to Enlightenment (2025)

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.