Like them or loathe them, social media platforms now play a prominent role in the art world – whether as marketing tools for businesses, museums and artists, playgrounds for self-promotion, or forums for the dissemination of images and debate. But how far do social media, and particularly Instagram, inform how the art market operates? Have they disrupted traditional sales methods or diversified business opportunities in this sector? And what effect have they had on the behaviour of art world professionals, in terms of decision-making or interpersonal relations?

These are among the topics addressed by Paul Melton in a new Apollo sponsored by Sotheby’s Institute of Art. Melton is a member of the faculty at Sotheby’s Institute of Art New York, and an expert in strategy and communications in the culture sector. In the podcast, he argues that the art market’s infatuation with Instagram brings it closer to financial markets, in terms of how value is assigned in an economy in which attention has increasingly become an asset in its own right.

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Hosted by Thomas Marks

With the curator Zoe Whitley at Tate Modern in London. Whitley discusses the women who have inspired her, the importance of diversity in exhibition-making, and why she loves working with artists – including Lubaina Himid, who supervised her PhD, and Cathy Wilkes, whose work she is curating for the British Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale. 

The Apollo 40 under 40 podcast is presented by Gabrielle Schwarz

With the artist Jasmina Cibic, who discusses the role of politics in culture, the advice she would give to emerging artists, and her past and future projects – including the exhibition ‘Everything That You Desire and Nothing That You Fear’ at DHC/ART Foundation for Contemporary Art in Montreal.

The Apollo 40 under 40 podcast is presented by Gabrielle Schwarz

With arts and textiles teacher Andria Zafirakou. Zafirakou discusses the path that led her to teaching and her ideas about widening young peoples’ access to the arts – in particular through her charity Artists in Residence (AiR), which she founded this year after being awarded the Varkey Foundation’s Global Teacher Prize.

The Apollo 40 under 40 podcast is presented by Gabrielle Schwarz

With the actor and writer Mark Gatiss, who talks about his film John Minton: The Lost Man of British Art. Gatiss discusses his first encounter with Minton’s work at the National Portrait Gallery, and how it led to a lifelong fascination with the artist – seeking out Minton’s paintings, collecting his works, and latterly, for this documentary, retracing his footsteps and talking to some of the artists and models who knew him.

Presented by Thomas Marks

With the artist William Kentridge, who talks about his performance project, The Head & the Load, as its world premiere takes place at Tate Modern. Kentridge discusses how the piece strives ‘to register and record’ the experience of Africa during the Great War, and to commemorate the African soldiers, carriers and civilians who lost their lives in the conflict.

Presented by Thomas Marks

The popularity of exhibitions such as ‘Charles I: King and Collector’ at the Royal Academy is a reminder of just how large and enthusiastic an audience still exists for Old Master paintings. But in the 21^st century, when fewer people than ever can tell a Saint Roch from a Saint Augustine, or distinguish the period of a painting from its drapery alone, how many of us have the specialist knowledge that allows for a profound appreciation of the Old Masters? How would our understanding of paintings change if we knew more about their condition, or the history of their display, or how their market value has fluctuated historically? And how would we set out to gain such knowledge? 

Those are some of questions that Thomas Marks puts to Chantal Brotherton-Ratcliffe in a new podcast sponsored by Sotheby’s Institute of Art. Brotherton-Ratcliffe is an expert on Old Master paintings who has been teaching at Sotheby’s Institute of Art since 1989, and currently teaches on the MA Fine and Decorative Art and Design in London. In the podcast, she makes the case for how important it is to teach connoisseurial skills, and some of the more unusual methods that she has adopted for doing so. Listen to the podcast now to find out why ‘if you haven’t drawn it, you haven’t seen it’, and why you really ought to wear sunglasses next time you stand in front of a Caravaggio painting.

Presented by Thomas Marks