Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages

Louise-Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun is best known as Marie Antoinette's favorite portrait painter. In this episode, I spoke with Judith Lissauer Cromwell, author of a new biography of Vigée Le Brun. Louise-Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun first studied art with her father. Sadly, he passed away while Vigée Le Brun was just a child. Her mother helped her to gain access to artworks, to gain inspiration and contin...

Constantin Brâncuși was a Romanian sculptor who made a significant impact on modern art through his abstract sculptures. His passion and dedication to art is legendary. In the autumn of 1903, he began a months-long walk from Bucharest to Paris, where he sought to immerse himself in the avant-garde art scene. Brâncuși's work, characterized by simplified forms and a focus on the essence of his subje...

Hieronymus Bosch was a 15th-century Dutch painter whose fantastical and often unsettling works continue to captivate viewers today. His most famous painting, "The Garden of Earthly Delights," is a triptych that depicts a complex narrative of creation, temptation, sin, and damnation. Bosch's unique visual vocabulary, drawn from religious iconography, folklore, alchemy, and contemporary social mores...

The Ardabil Carpet, a masterpiece of 16th-century Persian weaving, represents a pinnacle of Safavid art. Though associated with Ardabil, scholars suggest it may have been woven in Kashan, a prominent center for carpet production during that era. Commissioned during the reign of Shah Tahmasp I (1501-1736 CE) for the Shrine of Shaykh Safi al-Din Ardabili, this monumental wool pile carpet on a silk f...

James Abbott McNeill Whistler was a prominent figure in the Aesthetic Movement focusing on "Art for art's sake." One of Whistler's most renowned works is "Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1," widely known as "Whistler's Mother," painted in 1871. This oil on canvas depicts his mother, Anna McNeill Whistler, seated in profile. Despite Whistler's insistence that the painting be appreciated for its f...

Francisco Goya (1746-1828) is one of Spain's most important and complex artists. His career bridged the gap between the Old Masters and the modern era. He found success as a court painter for the Spanish monarchy, creating bright, lively tapestry designs for the royal palaces. However, a devastating illness in 1792 that left him completely deaf marked a profound turning point. His art took on a da...

My guest this week is B.A. Shapiro, author of a new historical fiction book, The Lost Masterpiece. Her book focuses on Berthe Morisot and the French Impressionists. In this interview, we dicussed some the things Shapiro learned through her exhaustive research into Morisot and other artists who appear in her book. Images discussed in the episode: Two Sisters on a Couch The Mother and Sister of the...

Today I wanted to share an episode of Culture Kids. Culture Kids is a great podcast for kids and families to enjoy learning about the world. It was a privilege to be a guest on their show talking about art and the moon. If you enjoy the episode, be sure to follow Culture Kids wherever you are listening. Check out my other podcasts  Fun Facts Daily | Art Smart | Rainbow Puppy Science Lab Who ARTed...

Édouard Manet, born in Paris in 1832, defied his privileged upbringing to pursue art, despite initial family opposition. Studying under Thomas Couture, Manet diverged from academic traditions, favoring scenes of modern Parisian life. His controversial works, such as Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe and Olympia, challenged artistic and social norms by depicting contemporary figures in realistic settings, no...

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...

Alberto Giacometti (1901–1966) was a significant 20th-century artist known for his elongated, attenuated sculptures that often embody post-war existential themes. Born in Switzerland, he was influenced by his artist father and later by Renaissance, Egyptian, and African art. He moved to Paris, studied sculpture, and was briefly involved with the Surrealists before breaking away to focus on working...

Today I thought it would be fun to switch things up a little bit. Instead of focusing on just one artist and artwork, I’ve got 5 artists who work with food in ways most people would never consider. Jason Mecier creates mosaic portraits of celebrities using their favorite snacks, vices, and trash, making him a prominent figure in "junk art." Vik Muniz recreates famous paintings on a large scale usi...

Charles and Ray Eames were an iconic husband-and-wife design team who became leaders of the Mid-Century Modern movement. Their partnership began at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, merging Charles's architectural and structural background with Ray's keen artistic eye for color and form. A critical development in their career was perfecting a method for molding plywood into complex shapes, a technique...

Petra, the ancient city carved into the sandstone cliffs of Jordan, is a testament to the ingenuity and artistry of the Nabataean civilization. Established in the 4th century BC, Petra's strategic location along trade routes fueled its prosperity. The Nabataeans carved impressive structures like the Treasury and the Monastery directly into the rock face using chisels, hammers, and picks. The city'...

Mariko Mori, born in Tokyo in 1967, is a Japanese artist whose work blends traditional Buddhist iconography with futuristic digital art. With a background influenced by her father's inventiveness and her mother's art history knowledge, Mori initially studied fashion design before pursuing visual arts in London and New York. Her early pieces featured herself in elaborate costumes, exploring identit...

Sandro Botticelli, born Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, was a renowned Florentine painter during the Renaissance. By the 1470s, Botticelli established his own workshop and gained recognition for his unique style. He received commissions from wealthy patrons, including the powerful Medici family. For the Medici, Botticelli painted portraits and created allegorical and mythological works th...

My guest this week is Michelle Young, author of The Art Spy. During WWII, French museum curator Rose Valland risked her life to sabotage the Nazi art theft machine, secretly documenting their plunder and saving countless masterpieces. The book is thoroughly researched to not only verify the facts of Valland's work preserving art, but also to gain insights into Valland as a human being. In our inte...

In 2009, a television presenter from the BBC, a guy by the name of James May, gathered about 2,000 volunteers and approximately 3.2 million bricks donated by LEGO to create a two-story house out of Legos. He created this for a series called James May's Toy Stories. The house even went so far as it had working plumbing, like it had a working shower and toilet all made of LEGO. May actually spent th...

Jessica Poundstone is the author of Museum of Dogs: a Romp through Art History for Dog People. As the name suggests, it is a light and fun look at dogs as portrayed by various artists throughout time and across cultures. In this episode, we discussed dogs in art history and mentioned several artists including Edouard Manet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Berthe Morisot, and Dieg...

Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal, 1887-1985) was a prominent Russian-French modern artist whose life spanned nearly a century of dramatic historical change. Originating from a Hasidic Jewish community near Vitebsk, Russian Empire (now Belarus), Chagall pursued art studies in St. Petersburg before immersing himself in the Paris art scene from 1911-1914. There, he absorbed influences from Cubism and...

Fun Facts Daily is a new podcast I have been working on for a bit. It is exactly what the name suggests. Every Monday through Friday, on Fun Facts Daily, I’ll be sharing five fun facts, a word of the day and practical tips all related to a single topic in around 10-15 minutes.  I’ll still be bringing you episodes of Who ARTed on Mondays and Fridays, but I wanted to create another show because ther...

The Codex Borgia is a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican manuscript, a 36-foot folded document made of animal hide, dating from the 13th to early 16th centuries. Created by Indigenous peoples, likely in central Mexico, it serves as a religious and divinatory almanac used by priests. Filled with intricate depictions of deities like Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl, and Tlaloc, it illustrates the 260-day tonalpoh...

Walter De Maria (1935-2013) was a pivotal figure in Minimalism, Conceptual Art, and Land Art, known for large-scale environmental installations. His significant works include The New York Earth Room and The Lightning Field. The Lightning Field, commissioned by the Dia Art Foundation and completed in 1977 in Catron County, New Mexico, comprises 400 stainless steel poles arranged in a precise grid,...

Elaine de Kooning (1918-1989) was a vital figure in 20th-century American art. She was a renowned Abstract Expressionist painter, portraitist, and writer. Elaine de Kooning's 1963 portrait of John F. Kennedy, now at the National Portrait Gallery, is a significant work reflecting her Abstract Expressionist style applied to portraiture. Commissioned by the Truman Library, the painting captures Kenne...

Willem de Kooning, a Dutch-American Abstract Expressionist painter, was born in Rotterdam in 1904. He stowed away on a freighter in 1926, eventually settling in New York City. De Kooning's early work transitioned from figurative studies to abstraction, though he never fully abandoned the figure, famously stating, "Flesh was the reason oil paint was invented." He gained recognition for his black-an...