Michael Palin travels to France in search of the Mediterranean view on his wall, captured by his favourite artist, Scottish painter Anne Redpath (1895–1965). He travels from a London bank, via a chateau in Cap Ferrat, and a monastery in Edinburgh.

Michael Palin explores the lives and paintings of four Scottish artists known as the Colourists—Francis Cadell (1883–1937), John Duncan Fergusson (1874–1961), Leslie Hunter (1877–1931) and Samuel Peploe (1871–1935). Their works hang in 10 Downing Street, but in their time they shocked the critics.

At the start of 20th century, wealthy American sisters Claribel and Etta Cone (1864–1929 and 1870–1949, respectively) amassed one of the world's finest collections of modern art, including many works by the French Fauvist painter Henri Matisse (1869–1954). Presenter Michael Palin travels to the Italian city of Florence, the source of their passion for art, and tours their apartment-turned-gallery in Baltimore, Maryland.

Danish artist Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864–1916) was a mysterious recluse of an artist, whose work had worldwide acclaim at the turn of the 19th century, but whose intriguing painting style fell into oblivion after the First World War. Michael discovers how a meticulous painter with a relatively little body of work has gone from relative obscurity to a situation today where his paintings are much sought after and now fetch up to £340,000 at auction, with private collectors in Europe, America, and Japan.

Michael Palin explores the extraordinary life and work of the popular and controversial American artist Andrew Wyeth (1917–2009), meeting the people who inspired his paintings.

Michael Palin discovers the story of 17th-century Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1656). He unearths not only her paintings, but a complex and difficult life.