Ten Minute Masterpieces

In this episode, we focus on the work of one French-American sculptor Louise Bourgeois. Her eighty year career explored lifelong themes of  childhood, motherhood, and family identity.  Louise Bourgeois’s Spider sculptures are an ode to her mother — the spider series became the centerpiece of the last chapter of her life. Louise Bourgeois returned again and again to the image and symbol  of the spi...

At Segregated Drinking Fountain Photographed in 1956 by Gordon Parks (1912-2006) The Gordon Parks Foundation In the episode, we take a look at our first photograph on the podcast – Gordon Parks’ image from 1956 entitled At Segregated Drinking Fountain. In the summer of 1956, Life Magazine sent Gordon Parks to Alabama to document Black Americans living under Jim Crow laws in the South. Twenty-six o...

Water Lilies (series - Nymphéas in French ) 250 oil on canvas paintings by Claude Monet (b. 1840, d. 1926) created between 1897-1926 ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In the episode, we explore a prolific series of paintings – Claude Monet’s Water Lilies. In the last thirty years of his life, Monet painted more than 250 works in his Water Lilies series at his beloved gardens in Giverny , France. Paintings from...

The Two Fridas Painted in 1939 by Frida Kahlo (b. 1907 - d. 1954) Oil on canvas Museo de Arte Moderno , Mexico City, Mexico ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In the episode, we focus on Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, and her 1939 work entitled Las Dos Fridas , or The Two Fridas . Frida Kahlo is credited with placing Mexican art on the international stage. She began painting as a teenager after a devastating autom...

Mona Lisa Painted by Leonardo da Vinci  (b. 1452 - d. 1519) from 1503-1516 The Louvre Museum , Salle des États,  Room 711, Denon Wing, Level 1 If you haven’t yet listened to our first episode about Mona Lisa, we recommend checking out Part One before continuing with this episode about how the First Lady of the Renaissance keeps making her mark — even in our modern world. In this episode (Mona Lisa...

Mona Lisa Painted by Leonardo da Vinci  (b. 1452 - d. 1519) from 1503-1516 The Louvre Museum , Salle des États,  Room 711, Denon Wing, Level 1 ABOUT THIS EPISODE: Our eyes are on one of the most renowned and visited  works of art in history – Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa . And since she’s so famous and enchanting, there are just too many details to fit into ten minutes. We’re giving Leonardo da V...

The Starry Night Painted by Vincent van Gogh in Saint Rémy, France in June 1889 On view at MoMA , Floor 5, 502, The Alfred H. Barr, Jr. Galleries. ABOUT THIS EPISODE: This episode dives into one of the most recognizable works of art in the world, The Starry Night, painted by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh in 1889 ( Museum of Modern Art , Floor 5, 502, The Alfred H. Barr, Jr. Galleries). This episod...