Great art explained by James Payne in plain language

James Payne, a former London art dealer, began a YouTube channel during the COVID-19 lockdown and now has about 1.8 million subscribers for his roughly 15-minute, plain-language videos; Thames & Hudson has published his book Great Art Explained, which covers 30 works.

James Payne is a former London art dealer who started a YouTube channel during the COVID-19 lockdown. He expected a small audience but now reaches about 1.8 million subscribers with short videos that explain individual works. Payne focuses on plain language and on explaining historical context and technical terms plainly rather than using exclusionary jargon. Thames & Hudson has published his book Great Art Explained, which features 30 works spanning a 12th-century Chinese scroll to paintings by Claude Monet, Frida Kahlo and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Key points: - Payne launched his channel during the COVID-19 lockdown and initially aimed at a modest audience. - His videos typically run about 15 minutes and concentrate on one well-known or contested work at a time. - He has about 1.8 million subscribers. - Thames & Hudson published Great Art Explained, which presents 30 works including a 12th-century Chinese scroll, Monet's Water Lilies, a Frida Kahlo self-portrait and Jean-Michel Basquiat's Hollywood Africans. - Payne emphasizes plain language, explaining specialist terms when they appear and opposing exclusionary "art-speak". Summary: Payne's plain-language approach has reached a large online audience and resulted in a book that presents 30 works in accessible essays. Undetermined at this time.