The Object

It is one of the greatest artworks of the Italian Renaissance, and for the better part of a century it was rolled up in storage. A tapestry—the art form of popes, kings, and emperors—bigger than any painting that has ever come to America from 16th-century Italy. Made in the famous Medici gardens where the Renaissance was nurtured. Hidden away at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Until now. A story...

Journalist Eric Kelsey was already familiar with "Sonja," the enigmatic portrait sometimes called the German Mona Lisa: a woman in black with short hair and cigarettes, sitting in a cafe. An iconic image of free-spirited Weimar Berlin almost since it was painted by Christian Schad in 1928. Then he realized who she really was.  Kelsey has now spent years researching his connection to "Sonja" and th...

This electrifying, sold-out live show of The Object podcast was recorded May 21, 2026, at the Minneapolis Institute of Art with host Tim Gihring and very special musical guests from the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers with Philip Brunelle conducting and playing the virginal (we had the same question; you'll have to listen to find out). It's a celebration of the 555th birthday of Albrecht Dürer , wit...

Simeon Solomon—bold, dashing, and openly gay—is a rising star in the Victorian art world when a scandal in 1873 supposedly forces him into obscurity, a cautionary tale for fans like Oscar Wilde. But the truth is more complicated and only now coming to light, revealing the fate of this forgotten figure as both more tragic and more inspiring. You can see an “allegorical self-portrait” here , from th...

In the 1940s, an heir to the Pillsbury flour fortune acquires an ancient Chinese bronze vessel, thousands of years old, in the form of an extremely charming owl. An instant visitor favorite at the Minneapolis Institute of Art—until, a couple of years ago, it falls from its perch. A story of the things we carry through time, what survives and what does not, and the recent miraculous resurrection of...

When World War II begins, Lee Miller is one of the most sought-after women in the world—a celebrated model, an irresistible muse, and an emerging photographer in her own right. So why does she trade the high life for the front line, risking everything to become the only female photojournalist allowed in combat? You can see photographs of Lee Miller in her modeling days—and photographs taken by Mil...

In the early 1930s, Max Beckmann is the biggest thing in Germany, the übermensch of art with his larger-than-life paintings and ego to match, peering over a champagne glass at the beautiful free spirits in the cabarets. But when Hitler takes over, Beckmann is in his crosshairs, forced to choose between creative freedom and the country he loves. An epic story of war and resilience, the sweep of his...

It is the stuff of legend: Claude Monet discovers Japanese art in the late 1800s, something clicks, and he goes on to become the most famous artist in the world. But one of his greatest influences on the other side of the earth is a mystery, the artist behind the “great wave” and hundreds of other iconic images. The artist who calls himself Hokusai (at least for a time)—and won't be nearly as luck...

It's the Season 8 premiere! Claude Monet, by the 1900s, is the most famous artist in the world, a singular genius (if not exactly genial). But there is another Monet: Blanche Hoschedé Monet. The only artist Claude Monet takes under his wing—and almost completely forgotten, until now. A story of what it means to be an artist, and what happens when your story is not your own. You can see Hoschedé Mo...

New season begins March 16! Now, an encore episode that was our most popular story a few seasons ago. About a woman who was once of the most recognizable  in the world, her long copper hair filling painting after painting, even if few people knew her name: Fanny Cornforth. Model, muse, and mistress to the most influential artists of the Victorian era, who she still had to fight for everything she...

Season 8 of The Object begins March 16! All-new episodes, bonus content, and more about the almost famous, the nearly lost, and more surprising true stories at the intersection of art and history. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode! Now, enjoy the second in our bonus series of Fireside Stories: The incredible, fast, and forgotten life of painter Bob Thompson. The original Basquiat, seeming...

This rollicking, sold-out live show of The Object podcast was recorded February 7, 2026, at the Minneapolis Institute of Art with host Tim Gihring and musical guest jeremy messersmith. It's our Valentine's show, with quizzes, storytelling, and curator conversation all about the gods in—and often out of—love.  Messersmith, a NPR Tiny Desk alum whose new song F••• This has become a viral hit, perfor...

One month to go until the new season of The Object premieres! Subscribe so you don't miss it, and in the meantime enjoy bonus and encore episodes like this one from early in The Object archives. William Edmondson is a middle-aged laborer in Nashville, Tennessee, at the height of the Great Depression, when God tells him to carve a tombstone. Soon, he's the first African American artist to have a so...

Free tickets are going fast for the next live taping of The Object podcast with special guest jeremy messersmith on February 7 in Mia’s historic Pillsbury Auditorium. A Valentine's show with jeremy performing live, storytelling, and "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" style quizzes, all about the art of love. It’s The Object LIVE!—everything you love about the podcast, live on stage. Reserve your free ticke...

Free tickets are going fast for our next live taping of The Object podcast with special guest musician Jeremy Messersmith , quizzes, and storytelling—all about the art of love. February 7 at 2PM in the historic Pillsbury Auditorium at our home museum, the Minneapolis Institute of Art. A place to come together in love, beauty, and reflection. Get tickets and details at the Tickets page at Artsmia.o...

Big news: Free tickets are now available starting January 7 at 9:30 a.m. (CST) for the next live taping of The Object podcast. It's our Valentine's show on February 7 at 2 p.m. with special guest musician jeremy messersmith in the historic Pillsbury Auditorium at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.  The Object LOVE! Don't Go Breaking My Art! will include fun quizzes and prizes, music, curator conver...

NEWS! Tickets will be available starting January 7 for The Object LOVE! , our very Valentine's live show with special guest jeremy messersmith on February 7 in the Minneapolis Institute of Art's historic Pillsbury Auditorium. All about the gods in (and often out of) love, whose stories have long captured our imagination in art. Tickets are free but limited—go to the tickets page at the Mia website...

Brand-new episode: Swedish textile artist Helena Hernmarck became an international art star making monumental tapestries, an ancient art she gave a modern Pop Art twist starting in the 1960s. Some 260 commissioned works in all, often for corporate settings. But as the corporate world changed, and her tapestries changed hands, at least two dozen have gone missing. Now, at 84, she's scrambling to tr...

Tickets will be available soon for The Object LOVE!, a very Valentine’s edition of our live taping of the podcast, happening February 7 at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, with quizzes, storytelling, and very special musical guest jeremy messersmith, all about the gods in (and out of) love! It’s good to be the pope in the 1600s. But staying pope is not so easy, as the famous Barberini family find...

This third sold-out live show of The Object podcast was recorded October 30, 2025, at the Minneapolis Institute of Art with special guest Chan Poling of The Suburbs and New Standards. Quizzes, storytelling, and curator conversation all centered on F. Scott Fitzgerald and his near-miraculous creation of The Great Gatsby, inspired by the cover art and a girl he met sledding in St. Paul. A big thank-...

In the 1890s, B.A. Haldane sets up a photography studio in Alaska and begins documenting the vibrant life of his Tsimshian community—even as non-Native photographers like Edward Curtis are trekking to reservations, documenting what they believe is a "vanishing race.” Quietly contradicting a president and scientists steeped in theories of white supremacy and evolution, Haldane and other Native arti...

Tickets for The Object LIVE! on October 30 are now sold out, but some tickets will be available at the door! And if you have tickets already, don't forget to come to our hour-long live taping of The Object podcast with very special guest Chan Poling of The Suburbs and New Standards, quizzes, and storytelling at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Part of a full evening of activities at the Minneapol...

Tickets are going fast for our next exclusive live taping of The Object podcast on October 30 at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, with special guest Chan Poling (The Suburbs, The New Standards), fun quizzes, curator conversation, and of course storytelling—all about the 100th anniversary of The Great Gatsby and the art of the Jazz Age. Tickets are absolutely FREE but you do need to have them. Go...

Big news! Tickets are now available for the next edition of The Object LIVE! Our hour-long live taping of The Object podcast on October 30, with very special guest Chan Poling of The Suburbs and New Standards, quizzes, and storytelling. All about the 100th anniversary of The Great Gatsby, the joys of jazz and St. Paul, and maybe the proper occasion to wear an ascot. Which is quite possibly this sh...

Vienna in the early 1900s is a kind of paradise of power and beauty, the center of an empire that will seemingly go on forever. Only an eccentric young artist, who sees faces in trees and finds God in the forest, seems to understand the fall that is coming. A loss of innocence that will consume him—and much of the world. You can see the work of Egon Schiele, Josef Hoffman, and the other artists, d...