The Escape Artist

Ross Sutherland takes us to the birth of modern art as he traces the extraordinary life of Arthur Cravan.

Cravan went through life using multiple mysterious personas. He was the nephew of Oscar Wilde, a boxing champion, a notorious art critic, a scandalous performer, a deserter, the husband of modernist poet Mina Loy, and was pursued by the CIA.

This mystery story, led by writer Ross Sutherland, tracks across 20 countries, as Cravan's outlandish persona shifts between incarnations. Ross's journey leads him to Cravan's greatest riddle of all - his disappearance in the Gulf of Mexico.

Cravan's anarchic art heralded Dada, surrealism, situationism, punk rock and alternative comedy. His whole life was an extravagant show and his influence spreads right across the 20th century.

Monday: The Persona
Ross investigates Cravan's mutiple personas, to find out what lay beneath.

Tuesday: The Love Story
Ross investigates Cravan's relationship with modernist poet Mina Loy.

Wednesday: The Echo
Ross investigates the aftermath of Cravan’s mysterious vanishing.

Thursday: The Missing
In this episode, with Ross hitting a series of blank walls in his research, he attempts to find search the elusive Roger Conover, an authority on Arthur Cravan.

Friday 
Ross investigates one of Cravan's most outrageous stunts.

• Writer and Presenter: Ross Sutherland
• Producer: Melvin Rickarby
• Music by Jeremy Warmsley

Publicity contact: BBC Radio 3 Publicity