Re:sound #154 The Painters and Poets Show

This hour: inside the the lives and works of two great American artists, painter Edward Hopper and poet Anne Sexton.

Painting the Loneliness
by Judith Kampfner (Ladbroke Productions, BBC Radio 4, 2010)
You know the painting: three customers and a counterman at a 1940s New York City diner in the middle of the night. It's mysterious, it's lonely, and something about its melancholy resonates with us. In Painting the Loneliness, producer Judith Kampfner brings Edward Hopper's iconic Nighthawks to life -- almost literally.

Consorting with Angels
by Charlotte Austin (Whistledown Productions, BBC Radio 4, 2010)
Poet Anne Sexton suffered from mental illness all her life and often referred to her poetry as therapy. In fact, it was her long time therapist who first suggested she try her hand at writing. After her suicide in 1974, transcripts of Sexton's therapy sessions were controversially released to the public. In Consorting with Angels, producer Charlotte Austin uses these tapes, along interviews with Sexton's daughters to paint a picture of a troubled and talented woman.

This episode of Re:sound was produced by Katie Mingle.