Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) stands as a titan in the realm of Japanese woodblock prints of the ukiyo-e period. His tranquil landscapes, meticulously detailed cityscapes, and captivating depictions of flora and fauna continue to resonate with viewers centuries after their creation. Hiroshige's life, however, was far from a serene stroll through the picturesque scenes he immortalized. Born into a...

It is time to announce the winner of this year's Arts Madness Tournament. Thank you all for taking the time to share your opinions and insights about all of these great artworks. I hope you learned a bit, had some fun and please continue listening and telling your friends about the show. Arts Madness 2024 links: The Brackets Spotify Playlist Check out my other podcasts Art Smart | Rainbow Puppy Sc...

Peter Paul Rubens wasn't your typical 17th-century artist. He produced magnificent Baroque masterpieces, his canvases overflowing with vibrant colors and dynamic figures. While Baroque art was known for its high drama, in this case, the real life of the artist may have been even more intriguing. Rubens was not only a highly skilled artist, he was also a shrewd diplomat and a cunning spy, a man who...

Today I have another artist interview. I have been a big fan of Tom DesLongchamp since I first encountered his drawings while I was researching an episode of my other podcast Art Smart. In addition to mind blowing marker drawings, Tom creates live animation performances on Cartoon Mess. I talked with him about his life, his influences and his process. Check out Tom's links: Website https://www.tom...

Betty Woodman was an artist who started as a conventional potter but through her career began making creative connections that elevated the form. She built off traditional plates, bowls, vases etc. adding bold colors, and twisting the forms into something that was more about the artist's creative vision than a functional object. Betty Woodman expanded people's notions of what ceramics could be. Ar...

Piet Mondrian is considered an icon of modern art, but he didn't start off that way. While he always loved art, he got his degree in education. Mondrian's early paintings were somewhat traditional landscapes. He experimented with Impressionist and Post Impressionist styles, then moved on to some Cubist influence. His major breakthrough was with the De Stijl movement focusing on the basic elements...

In this episode of Who ARTed: Weekly Art History for All Ages, we delve into the captivating world of The Forbidden City, a monumental complex in Beijing, China, steeped in history and artistry. We explore the architectural marvels that define its majestic presence, from the sprawling palace compounds of the outer court, reserved for state affairs and accessible only to men, to the intimate domest...

In what many would consider a major upset last week, Leonardo da Vinci was knocked out of our Arts Madness Tournament. I love the stories surrounding Leonardo and his work, so I thought this would be a perfect time for an encore presentation of my interview with Nicholas Day, author of The Mona Lisa Vanishes Order The Mona Lisa Vanishes on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mona-Lisa-Vanishes-Legendar...

This week we are wrapping up Round 3 of Arts Madness 2024. The matches are very close. Last week, Emily Kame Kngwarreye beat Keith Haring by a single vote. This week, one of the most famous artists of all time is on track to be eliminated. Be sure to check the links below to see the brackets and vote for your favorites. I also wanted to share something for a little fun fact Friday. As many long ti...

This week I interviewed Margaret Shepherd, a calligraphy artist and author. She has written several books, but her latest is Learning American Calligraphy. As she explains in the interview, calligraphy is an art form with a rich history all around the world. Check these links for more information: Margaret Shepherd's website Learn American Calligraphy book for sale on Amazon Arts Madness 2024 link...

The Rubik's Cube is a fun puzzle toy, but some have begun looking at it as a medium to create pixelated masterpieces. Learn a little bit about Erno Rubik, his cube, and a young artist using it in a way Rubik never anticipated. Daniella Chaim is a teenager making sophisticated works by solving and meticulously arranging hundreds of Rubik's Cubes. See her work on Instagram The math to figure out how...

Herb Williams is an incredibly talented sculptor bringing crayons to a whole new dimension. I sat down to talk to Williams about his background, his artistic influences, and exactly how and why he uses crayons to sculpt. He shared his memories of making art as a child as well as his experience working in a foundry making lost wax castings before he decided to pursue a literal dream of making sculp...

The late 1930s were a rough time in Europe. Nazis were on the rise, and museums began hiding their most treasured works or even shipping them off to safe locations. As all of these works were floating around in the art world and many pieces being hidden, Hans van Meegeren emerged as an art dealer with some lost Vermeers. As I explained in the previous episode about the Vermeer stolen from the Isab...

Keith Haring is one of my absolute favorite artists because he was earnest and direct in his paintings. In his works, he would reduce complicated messages to clear and catchy slogans. He used bright colors and dancing figures to make art that was fun but also sought to make the world a better place. In 1978, Haring moved to New York City to attend the School of Visual Arts, where he studied painti...

Henri de Toulouse Lautrec was associated with the Moulin Rouge since it first opened in 1891. He was captivated by the unique spirit of the club where people of all walks of life would mingle and enjoy the festivities. Of course it probably also helped that the nightclub’s owner bought Lautrec’s Equestrian painting to hang in the foyer. That painting was one of Lautrec’s many works depicting the c...

The Eiffel Tower was by far the largest structure built for the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris. Eiffel was an entrepreneur and he had two engineers working with him to plan the iron tower, but not everyone was on board with the design. Audiences today may be surprised to hear that many Parisians thought the design was an eyesore and a blight on their beautiful city. The architect Stephen Sauvestre was...

Salvador Dali's most famous painting is The Persistence of Memory from 1931. The painting is surprisingly small just 9 ½ by 13 inches or slightly larger than the average sheet of paper. It is one of the most widely recognized and referenced images of the surrealist movement. For those who don’t know it by name, you will likely recognize the description of clocks melting in the desert. The melting...

Jean-Honore Fragonard’s painting, The Swing is one of those rare pieces that feels so immediately accessible it has begun to make the leap from the museum gallery wall to pop culture. Early in the immensely popular Disney movie Frozen, the character of Anna jumps up in front of the painting to mimic the expression of the woman on the swing. It was a moment that portrayed Anna as spontaneous and ca...

Vermeer created stunning works and he is widely celebrated as one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age. This painting, Woman Holding a Balance is a work intended to encourage temperance and moderation being mindful that divine judgment is looming in the end. Related episodes: The Unbelievable Story of Han van Meegeren Jan van Eyck | The Arnolfini Portrait Arts Madness 2024 links: The B...

The transformation mask is a carved and painted sculpture, a status symbol, a costume element and a simple machine all at once. Pulling the strings on the mask allows the wearer to move parts that effectively animate the mask and bring it to life in front of the gathered crowd. Kwakwaka’wakw artists created a number of different masks representing different figures. Arts Madness 2024 links: The Br...

Today's mini-episode is about Auguste Rodin and his sculpture of The Burghers of Calais. The story behind the piece is an inspiring tale that defines courage. During the Hundred Years' War, the English had the city of Calais surrounded. As the days went on and the French army was unable to break the siege, the townspeople were forced to begin negotiating terms of surrender. They were told the town...

On the peninsula at Rozel Point on Utah’s Great Salt Lake, Smithson created his most famous monumental sculpture using over six thousand tons of black basalt rocks and earth from the site. The spiral forms a path out onto the lake. It is intended to be not only witnessed but also experienced. Walking the spiral would be an almost meditative act similar to circumambulating or walking around a Hindu...

Vincent van Gogh saw little commercial success during his lifetime, but he loved art and he worked to forge relationships with other artists he could learn from. The Starry Night came about late in his short career after Vincent van Gogh was hospitalized. He painted the view from his window, but rather than painting things exactly as he saw them, he painted a sort of composite landscape of views f...

Jean-Antoine Houdon was one of the greatest neoclassical sculptors in the late 18th century. Shortly after the American Revolution, the governor of Virginia asked Thomas Jefferson to find a sculptor to make a marble statue of George Washington for the state capital building. Jefferson was a self-taught architect and a big believer in the neoclassical movement's use of symbolism in art to convey a...

Piet Mondrian is best known for painting primary colored squares and rectangles. For this episode, fellow art teacher, Jeff Arndt and I talked about the big ideas that led Mondrian to make such simple work. He pushed the ideas of modern abstract art further than anyone else. Mondrian limited himself to basic elements of simple lines, shapes, and colors to focus on the principles of design like bal...