Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages

Once again I will be hosting my annual Arts Madness Tournament this Spring. I will be posting daily mini-episodes covering 64 diverse artists and artworks from all around the world and from the prehistoric to the present. While many episodes in season 9 will be encore presentations of pervious episodes as a refresher for the works in the tournament, I will have at least one new episode each week c...

This year I will once again host my annual Arts Madness Tournament in March. I will be posting daily mini-episodes on 64 different artworks over the next 64 days to help everyone get to know the different artists and artworks, then this spring listeners will vote for their favorites over 6 rounds as we go from 64 diverse artworks down to 1 ultimate winner. Today's episode is about one of the oldes...

In the bustling streets of 19th-century New York, amid the ink-stained presses and frenetic energy of the newsroom, Thomas Nast, a German-born American artist, rose from humble beginnings to become the preeminent political cartoonist of his time. However, it was his whimsical and heartwarming illustrations of Santa Claus that would cement his legacy as the Father of the Modern Santa. Check out my...

In 2018, Banksy's painting, Girl with Balloon went up for auction. As the gavel sounded to announce a winning bid of about $1 million, everyone in the room was stunned to see the painting begin to self-destruct. Banksy had concealed a shredder in the bottom of the gold frame. Interestingly, the shredding only increased the value of the piece. When it went up for auction again in 2021, the shredded...

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...

Around 450 BCE as Polykleitos walked the dusty streets of Argos,  art and philosophy intertwined. The Greeks of the classical era produced works that artists and scholars still admire today. Polykleitos, however, sought more than admiration; he pursued perfection. It was an obsession that would echo through the ages. Unfortunately, all that’s left of Polykleitos and his life’s work are echoes, the...

Many know the image of Paris Street; Rainy Day, but somehow far fewer know the artist who painted it, Gustave Caillebotte. He was born in Paris in the mid 19th century just as massive changes were happening in urban development as well as with technology and society more generally. Caillebotte inherited a fortune that allowed him to follow his passion for art without needing to worry about what wo...

Max Beckmann was a German painter born on February 12, 1884. While he is often associated with the expressionist movement, he actually rejected that label. He was a part of the New Objectivity movement which shared some similarities with expressionists, but while the expressionists sought to portray their inner self for the world to see, the new objectivity movement was outward looking holding a m...

Bob Ross served in the United States military for 20 years before he became America's favorite painter of "happy little trees." This week, my guest Tom DesLongchamp joined me to talk about Bob Ross, his art and the joy of painting. Find more info about Tom DesLongchamp and his work at the links below. Tom's website | https://www.tomdeslongchamp.com/ Buy Tom's book | https://www.tomdeslongchamp.com...

Louis Prang not only started the company that makes some of my favorite art classroom supplies, he created the artist's color wheel and introduced Christmas cards to America. Prang was in the lithography business. He had learned to produce high quality full color lithographs at a time when most printers would make black and white prints then add color by hand if needed. He found success printing c...

Tom DesLongchamp is an incredible multidisciplinary artist, but it is his marker drawings that caught my attention. Tom has long felt the drive to create and he creates a new artwork in some form every day. Years ago, he began creating a series of daily portraits of his friend, Mike. After creating daily sketches for a while, he wanted to add color. He looked around his office and found a simple C...

Scientists have discovered some fossilized impressions of hand and footprints they estimate to be well over 100,000 years old. They also believe that these hand and footprints were pressed into the ground deliberately to form a design making it possibly the oldest known work of art. Check out my other podcasts Art Smart | Rainbow Puppy Science Lab Who ARTed is an Airwave Media Podcast. If you are...

Man Ray was a pioneer of cameraless photography. His signature technique was the "Rayograph" created by placing objects directly onto light-sensitive paper often manipulating them during exposure. Of course, that was not his only trick. Man Ray experimented with solarisation and in his piece Ingres's Violin, he painted on a photograph, then took another picture of the manipulated image. For this e...

Victor Vasarely was a Hungarian-French artist known for his innovative style and contributions to the Op Art movement. One of Vasarely's most famous works is "Zebra," created in 1937. This painting showcases his ability to create optical illusions through the use of black and white stripes. When viewed from a distance, the stripes appear to vibrate and create a sense of movement. This technique, k...

As a podcast listener, a few topics I enjoy are obviously art and history, but I also like true crime and really anything with a compelling story. The Art of Crime hosted by Gavin Whitehead is an incredible podcast that brings all of that together. Longtime listeners have no doubt noticed my love of modernism and my fascination with how World War 2 reshaped the art world. Today I wanted to share a...

Heinrich Campendonk may not be a household name, but he was a part of some of the most influential groups of 20th century modernism. He was a part of The Blue Rider Group then a teacher at The Bauhaus. A few years ago, he grabbed headlines as Wolfgang Betracchi was caught trying to forge a Campendonk painting. Related episodes: Wolfgang Beltracchi | The Art of Fraud Bauhaus Parties Wassily Kandins...

Wolfgang Beltracchi is possibly the most artful forgers ever to have gotten into the game. While most would create a forgery by meticulously copying every line, shape and color in a known masterpiece, Beltracchi studied the artist then made his own original compositions imagining what the artist would have painted. In this episode, I talked to my fellow art teacher and art crime enthusiast, Emily...

Kawaii is a Japanese word translating to something like "cute" or "adorable" but it is much more than that. While kawaii figures tug at the heartstrings with their big eyes and baby-like proportions making them seem helpless and vulnerable, kawaii can also represent a rebellious spirit. Check out my other podcast Art Smart | Rainbow Puppy Science Lab Who ARTed is an Airwave Media Podcast. If you a...

It has been four years of exploring visual art in an audio medium. To mark the anniversary, I thought it would be nice to have a few of my podcast buddies like Tony Kresl, Tim Bogatz (host of Art Ed Radio from The Art of Education University) and Matthew Bliss (podcast host, editor and consultant) join me to share a few fun facts and interesting stories from art history. In this episode, we covere...

The Bauhaus was a small but enormously influential art school in the 1930s. It was known for producing architecture and industrial design with clean lines, simple shapes and an emphasis on function. Still, when they weren't working on practical designs for functional art, they had wild, elaborate costume parties. Learn a bit about the Bauhaus. In a previous episode, I covered a bit more about Wass...

Hans Holbein the Younger painted The Ambassadors in 1533. It is a massive, life sized double portrait filled with symbolism that gives us insights into the political and religious upheaval of the day. Still today, it is probably best known for the anamorphic skull cutting across the floor in the composition. In the Ambassadors, Holbein presents the symbol of mortality as a specter that looms ever...

Sugar skulls have been a popular decoration for Day of the Dead celebrations for hundreds of years now. Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead is a combination of Catholic traditions and indigenous Aztec customs going back hundreds of years. Check out my other podcast Art Smart | Rainbow Puppy Science Lab Who ARTed is an Airwave Media Podcast. If you are interested in advertising on this or any oth...

William Mulmer was born in 1832. For historical context, the oldest known Daguerrotype is from 1837, so Mulmer was born right around the same time as photography, and he loved the new medium, but started off as a hobbyist. Mulmer worked as a jewelry engraver, but in his spare time, he liked taking photographs of his family and friends. In 1860 though, he took a selfie that would change the course...

Raku bowls are humble. They are hand formed starting from a flat, circular base and coils built up around the sides. The process results in each piece being unique with evidence of the artist’s hand in the creative process. Check out my other podcast Art Smart | Rainbow Puppy Science Lab Who ARTed is an Airwave Media Podcast. If you are interested in advertising on this or any other Airwave Media...

This episode gives a brief overview of the life of Michelangelo, one of the greatest artists of the Italian Renaissance, and one of his most famous works, the fresco on the Sistine Chapel's ceiling. I was joined once again, by my good friend, Chuck Hoff who teaches art at the middle school my students feed into. When he first commissioned the painting for the ceiling of The Sistine Chapel, Pope Ju...