Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages

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 painting along with semiotics. He also experimented with video and performance. Focus on performance made him more conscious of movement in his painting. He said he moved to NY because he wanted intensity in his life and in his art. He was inspired by hip-hop and the club scene where all kinds of people would come together to dance and have a good time. At his gallery openings, he would often have a DJ bringing the energy and movement to a venue not typically known for that vibe, and even after his work sold in prestigious galleries around the world, he continued to make chalk drawings on subway platforms and selling affordable prints in the Pop Shop because he firmly believed that art is for everybody. My guest this week is Tim Bogatz host of Art Ed Radio from The Art of Education University. Here are his links: Art Ed Radio: https://theartofeducation.edu/podcasts/behind-the-scenes-of-the-art-room-makeover-ep-399/ The Art of Education University: https://theartofeducation.edu/ AOEU Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjHIXlDbceMVJwfuHLJ0QISPKtSJO_ACZ Related episodes: Felix Gonzalez-Torres Klaus Nomi Arts Madness 2024 links: The Brackets Spotify Playlist Prediction Form Vote in the Current Round Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 circus with an active and exciting composition showing the performers in action. It seems fitting for the Moulin Rouge which was known for it’s active performances and circus like atmosphere. In addition to being the birthplace of the high energy can can dance, The Moulin Rouge boasted some other wild innovations including building a dance floor for patrons to enjoy dancing along as the spirit moved them, and there was even an elephant on the premises in the garden. Arts Madness 2024 links: The Brackets Spotify Playlist Prediction Form Vote in the Current Round Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 commissioned to work on the design to make it less ugly. He drafted arches, glass-walled halls on every level, stonework around the base, and other ornamental details throughout the structure. Ultimately they stripped it down to a more utilitarian structure but they kept his idea of arches at the base. The form of the tower is largely determined by the engineers' calculations to cut down on wind resistance. The primary resistance came from writers and artists who criticized the tower throughout its construction. I think my favorite description came from Francois Coppee who called it “this mast of iron gymnasium apparatus, incomplete, confused and deformed.” Of course, this criticism faded as the world’s fair began and the tower was a huge hit. Over 2 million visitors came to marvel at it. While it did prove successful, the Eiffel tower was not intended to be a permanent fixture in the city. It was built to wow visitors in the fair and then to be torn down later. Eiffel only had a permit to have the structure stand for 20 years. The idea that the tower would be temporary provided an interesting opportunity for another sort of creative visionary. A truly remarkable con artist named Victor Lustig sold the tower for scrap… two times. Arts Madness 2024 links: The Brackets Spotify Playlist Prediction Form Vote in the Current Round Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 of clocks much like the ambiguous figure in the middle of the composition references a metamorphosis. Things are in a state of flux. Ants crawl all over the clocks like fruit left to rot on the ground. Dali referred to this work describing time as a soft cheese and yet with all of the absurdity, there are realistic elements drawn from the landscape of his home in Spain. There is an unsettling mix of the real and absurd which served as a device surrealist artists would use to call into question the rational world and whether things truly are as hard and fast as we might at first perceive them to be. The clocks melt because even time, like all things, is relative and malleable. Other episodes to check out: Art Smart - Surrealism Arts Madness 2024 links: The Brackets Spotify Playlist Prediction Form Vote in the Current Round Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 caught up in the moment but also foreshadowed a love interest with perhaps less than noble intentions. This is a great example of a Rococo artwork as the angles create a sense of movement and the spotlight on the central figure feels like a continuation of the high drama of the Baroque, but the Rococo was a bit more frivolous and self-indulgent. In this painting, we see a woman riding on a swing inside a private garden. It was a space where the aristocrats might be more at ease to let loose and have a bit of fun away from the strict confines of polite society. Fragonard was commissioned to make this painting which was kept in a private cabinet for only his patron and close friends to enjoy. Arts Madness 2024 links: The Brackets Spotify Playlist Prediction Form Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Brackets Spotify Playlist Prediction Form Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Brackets Spotify Playlist Prediction Form Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 would be spared if 6 burghers (a burgher was a title, so these were the town leaders) would sacrifice themselves. Six men stepped up. While they were ultimately spared, one can imagine the mix of feelings as some might feel proud to do something noble and heroic and yet terrified at the grim reality. Traditional depictions of these men showed them as larger-than-life heroic figures, but Rodin gives us the stark reality. I think the brilliance of Rodin's work is that it recognizes that true courage means facing reality, and experiencing fear but still finding the strength to do what is right. Arts Madness 2024 links: The Brackets Spotify Playlist Prediction Form Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 temple. Other content mentioned in this episode: The Nazca Lines Arts Madness 2024 links: The Brackets Spotify Playlist Prediction Form Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 from different nights and even different locations. He moved the cypress tree to the foreground and added a little town nestled in the mountains despite the town not being visible from his window. This marked a major shift in painting away from observation of the external world to artists creating work as a show of their internal thoughts and feelings. Related episodes: Vincent van Gogh (part 1) | The Potatoe Eaters Vincent van Gogh (part 2) | Starry Night Vincent van Gogh | Sunflowers Loving Vincent - a Film Made of Paintings Did Vincent van Gogh Really Only Sell One Painting? Art Smart: Impressionism & Post Impressionism Arts Madness 2024 links: The Brackets Spotify Playlist Prediction Form Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 message that would leave the viewer wiser. He naturally turned to Houdon who traveled from France to Virginia to take Washington's measurements and even made a life mask (a plaster cast of the subject's face). Houdon created what many consider to be the most accurate representation we have today of George Washington. This is one of the 64 artworks up for listeners to vote on in this year's Arts Madness Tournament. Check the links below to see the brackets, learn about the artists and fill out the prediction form before voting starts next week. Arts Madness 2024 links: The Brackets Spotify Playlist Prediction Form Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 balance and proportion. A common misconception about Mondrian is that his personal life was as bland as his art. Mondrian was actually quite charming. He took pains to be elegantly dressed at all times, he was kind and an avid dancer. He was said to be great at the foxtrot and the Charleston in particular. The ladies loved him, and he had multiple relationships including an engagement he called off in 1911, but he never married. I think my favorite odd bit though is according to a biographer, among the women of Amsterdam, Mondrian “developed a reputation for interesting, prolonged kisses, sometimes lasting for more than half an hour.” but back on point, he loved dancing and he loved music. While he was in Paris, he was particularly fond of the black American musicians that passed through including greats like Louis Armstrong. Mondrian talked about how the pianist accompanying Armstrong “allowed the bass line played with his left hand to fall out of sync, contrasting with the rhythmically varied ‘melody’ played by his right hand” Mondrian was all about the rhythm. Arts Madness 2024 links: The Brackets Spotify Playlist Prediction Form Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rachel Ruysch was an incredibly skilled Dutch painter in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. She was renowned for her still lives. The objects in this work were carefully selected and the image is loaded with symbolism. Her painting, Fruit and Insects is one of the works on the list for the AP Art History curriculum. Those prepping for the test may want to check out my Spotify playlist: AP Art History Cram Session to learn about a number of artists and works that may appear on the test. Arts Madness 2024 links: The Brackets Spotify Playlist Prediction Form Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Diego Velazques was one of the most significant painters of Spain's Golden Age in the 17th century. He was a master of both portraiture and genre painting, Las Meninas is a sort of mix of both. We see people who seem rather formally dressed by today’s standards, but the subject is also, it was a peak behind the curtain of royal life. Withing the work, the first focal point would be the little girl, the infanta margarita, daughter of the king and queen of spain. She is dramatically lit from the side by light streaming in from the window. The top half of the composition is essentially in shadow, and we see her looking out at us, the viewers. Diego Velazquez included himself in the scene as he stands before his giant canvas. Within this oil on canvas painting, we see a representation of a painter working on canvas. Velazquez also seems to break the fourth as he looks out at the viewer. There is a figure standing in the doorway in the back of the composition. The strong light in the doorway pulls our focus there as a secondary focal point, and that figure seems to be caught in motion and again, he looks out at us, the viewers. In this episode, I referenced Jan van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait. To learn more about that, check out my previous episode: Jan van Eyck | The Arnolfini Portrait Arts Madness 2024 links: The Brackets Spotify Playlist Prediction Form Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Faith Ringgold is a contemporary American artist. She studied art education and started as a painter, but she is best known for her story quilts. She has written and illustrated seventeen children's books. The most famous was Tar Beach which started as a quilt but later became an award-winning, best-selling book. In this episode I discussed her story quilt Dancing at the Louvre, which is one of the 250 artworks required for AP Art History courses across the US. For listeners prepping for the AP Art History test, check out my Spotify playlist (AP Art History Cram Session) with episodes about artworks and artists from that list. Arts Madness 2024 links: The Brackets Spotify Playlist Prediction Form Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maria Martinez belonged to the Tewa-speaking Pueblo people, known for their rich artistic heritage. Pottery-making was deeply rooted in Puebloan culture, serving as a means of artistic expression and a reflection of their close connection with the natural world. Maria grew up watching her family members create pottery, learning the traditional techniques. Of course, we seldom talk about those who simply carry on a tradition. Maria Martinez and her husband Julian revolutionized pottery production and shared their methods with their community. In doing so, they raised the profile of pottery as an art form while helping others understand and appreciate their cultural heritage. If you would like to learn more about modern clay production, check out the clay episode of my other podcast, Art Smart. Art Smart | Clay Art Smart | Glaze This is one of the 64 pieces in this year's Arts Madness Tournament. Starting Feb 26, voting will begin in a series of head to head matches. For more information, go to https://www.whoartedpodcast.com/arts-madness This is also one of many episodes I have created covering artists and artworks required for AP Art History. Check out my Spotify playlist AP Art History Cram Session to learn more. Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bay was painted in 1963 as Frankenthaler had refined her soak and stain process. While Mountains and Sea was made with diluted oil paints, The Bay is acrylic on unprimed canvas. She had found that using acrylics gave her greater control over the viscosity or how fluid the paint was. As I look at The Bay, the title indicates a landscape and the brightness, the organic shapes of blue and green give me a sense of a Bay, but it feels like it is more about a happy, contented sort of tone. There is movement, but it seems gentle like sitting out on a boat drifting in calm waters. The Bay represents a different sort of take on Abstract Expressionism. While many followed Jackson Pollock’s and Willem de Kooning’s aggressive and agsty style, Helen Frankenthaler’s color fields are more gentle and at peace. Her work was a breath of fresh air showing that painting could reduce art to fundamental elements in line with esoteric modernist philosophy and still be beautiful and joyous. Related episodes: Jackson Pollock Diego Rivera The Bay from 1963 is one of the required artworks for AP Art History. Check out my Spotify playlist, AP Art History Cram Session to learn about other artists and artworks from that curriculum. Check out my other podcasts Art Smart and Rainbow Puppy Science Lab Who ARTed is an Airwave Media Podcast. If you are interested in advertising on this or any other Airwave Media show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thomas Jefferson may be a surprising person to find in an art history podcast, but the writer of the Declaration of Independence, third president of the US was also a self-taught architect. Monticello is considered a UNESCO Heritage Site. Jefferson believed that great architecture could not only reflect the community, but also inspire the people to seek enlightenment. Monticello is a neoclassical masterpiece that illustrates the duality of Jefferson as a brilliant idealist who was also a flawed man failing to live up to his ideals. Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jean-Michel Basquiat has created some of the most highly valued American paintings ever to go on auction. Basquiat sought to remake art history in his image, and I would say he was successful. His triptych, Horn Players, is one of the artworks required for the AP Art History curriculum studied by American high school students. In the middle of February 1981, a group exhibition opened at P.S.1 in New York. The show featured over a hundred different artists from the underground art scene. There were paintings, drawings, photographs, objects and graffiti all mixed together in an explosive portrait of the post-punk scene. The show was called New York/New Wave and many affectionately referred to it as the armory show of the 80s. The armory show was of course the famous exhibition from 1913 that introduced European modern art to the American audience. This time though, it wasn’t European artists upending the New York gallery scene. This time, the revolution was coming from inside the community. Among the artists on display was a 20 year old by the name of Jean-Michel Basquiat. He had previously made a name for himself as a graffiti artist. Basquiat and his friend Al Diaz created a text-based project SAMO spraypainting messages around new york. They were particularly active in the area where numerous gallery spaces were located. SAMO often sought to be a little bit humorous, but also gives an outsider’s perspective on the art world with phrases like “SAMO AS AN END TO PLAYING ART” or “SAMO FOR THE SO-CALLED AVANT-GARDE”. Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Turner's painting of The Slave Ship from 1840 was originally titled "Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying" and the event that inspired this work is exactly as horrific as it sounds. The captain of the ship was throwing men overboard in order to collect insurance money on those lost at sea, or to use a more accurate term, murdered. In this episode, I mentioned that one of my favorite fellow Airwave Media podcasts, The Constant, did an episode about how ships would be sent to sea to sink for the insurance money. Check out that episode here: The Constant | Shipwreckless Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While Raphael sadly passed away just in his 30s his work has lived on for hundreds of years. Learn a bit about the great Renaissance painter and architect as well as his most famous work, The School of Athens. Other episodes to check out: Art Smart: The Renaissance Michelangelo Leonardo da Vinci (theft of the Mona Lisa), (The Last Supper) Arts Madness 2024 I am once again posting daily mini-episodes ahead of my annual Arts Madness Tournament. I planned this year's tournament to make it valuable as a classroom resource/activity. 60 of the artists/artworks in this year's tournament are from the list of required works for AP Art History courses in the US. The other 4 are wildcard artists chosen from my most popular episodes. Beginning the week of February 26, listeners will be able to vote for their favorite artists in a series of head-to-head matchups. Every week half the artists will be eliminated and over 6 weeks, we will narrow the field from 64 down to just 1 ultimate artist/artwork. To make it a little more fun, I will be giving away some Amazon gift cards throughout the tournament. Here are some of the ways you can win: Fill out the prediction form stating which artist/artwork you think will win the tournament and why. At the end of February, I will send a $25 gift card to the person who makes the most interesting, unexpected, and compelling argument in favor of their chosen artist. At the end of the tournament, I will randomly select from those who correctly predicted the winning artist. Leave a kind rating/review on your favorite podcast app. Email a screenshot of a kind rating/review you left on your favorite podcast app to [email protected] using the subject line "Five Stars" At the end of February, I will send a $25 Amazon gift card to a randomly selected listener as my way of saying thank you. (the review does not have to be recent, so if you left me a kind rating/review at any point, you can submit a screenshot for a chance to win). I'll be using my ad money this month to buy gift cards, so the more you listen the more I can give away this spring. Check out the brackets Fill out the prediction form at www.whoartedpodcast.com/vote Arts Madness 2024 Playlist Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michelangelo was considered to be one of the greatest examples of a Renaissance man. He is also one of the worst examples of personal hygiene. Learn a little bit about the artist who painted the ceiling on the Sistine Chapel. Related episodes: Michelangelo | The Sistine Chapel Ceiling Art Smart: The Renaissance Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous works is not housed in a museum. It is in the Convent of Santa Maria in Milan Italy. It seems totally fitting for a depiction of the last supper was painted on the wall in the convent’s dining hall. Visitors today are often surprised by how enormous the work it. The People are life sized on this massive 15 by 29 foot painting. Another surprising fact is that while people flock to see Leonardo’s work on the wall of the convent, very little if any of what we see there today was actually painted by Leonardo. Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donatello’s statue of David, just like the story, seems straightforward and simple at first glance, but with great art, there is always more than meets the eye. His bronze statue of the boy who slayed the giant depicts a figure who seems young and vulnerable yet with confidence and a bit of swagger. This was the first life-sized, free-standing nude statue since antiquity. Donatello and his David were triumphant helping to usher in a re-birth of ancient style for the Italian Renaissance. Ironically, part of Donatello's innovation was borrowing from the ancient style. Like all great artists, he reached new heights standing on the shoulders of giants. Arts Madness 2024 I am once again posting daily mini-episodes ahead of my annual Arts Madness Tournament. I planned this year's tournament to make it valuable as a classroom resource/activity. 60 of the artists/artworks in this year's tournament are from the list of required works for AP Art History courses in the US. The other 4 are wildcard artists chosen from my most popular episodes. Beginning the week of February 26, listeners will be able to vote for their favorite artists in a series of head-to-head matchups. Every week half the artists will be eliminated and over 6 weeks, we will narrow the field from 64 down to just 1 ultimate artist/artwork. To make it a little more fun, I will be giving away some Amazon gift cards throughout the tournament. Here are some of the ways you can win: Fill out the prediction form stating which artist/artwork you think will win the tournament and why. At the end of February, I will send a $25 gift card to the person who makes the most interesting, unexpected, and compelling argument in favor of their chosen artist. At the end of the tournament, I will randomly select from those who correctly predicted the winning artist. Leave a kind rating/review on your favorite podcast app. Email a screenshot of a kind rating/review you left on your favorite podcast app to [email protected] using the subject line "Five Stars" At the end of February, I will send a $25 Amazon gift card to a randomly selected listener as my way of saying thank you. (the review does not have to be recent, so if you left me a kind rating/review at any point, you can submit a screenshot for a chance to win). I'll be using my ad money this month to buy gift cards, so the more you listen the more I can give away this spring. Check out the brackets Fill out the prediction form at www.whoartedpodcast.com/vote Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emily Kame Kngwarreye was born around 1910, a time when the Aboriginal people were not considered full citizens in their own country. Earth’s Creation is an absolutely massive painting about 9 feet tall and 20 feet wide. She painted it in 1994 when she was around 84 years old. Most biographies will say that she only painted for the last 8 years of her life, but really, she was only painting for Western audiences for that period. She spent her life learning, practicing and creating in line with the Aboriginal customs. Arts Madness 2024 I am once again posting daily mini-episodes ahead of my annual Arts Madness Tournament. I planned this year's tournament to make it valuable as a classroom resource/activity. 60 of the artists/artworks in this year's tournament are from the list of required works for AP Art History courses in the US. The other 4 are wildcard artists chosen from my most popular episodes. Beginning the week of February 26, listeners will be able to vote for their favorite artists in a series of head-to-head matchups. Every week half the artists will be eliminated and over 6 weeks, we will narrow the field from 64 down to just 1 ultimate artist/artwork. To make it a little more fun, I will be giving away some Amazon gift cards throughout the tournament. Here are some of the ways you can win: Fill out the prediction form stating which artist/artwork you think will win the tournament and why. At the end of February, I will send a $25 gift card to the person who makes the most interesting, unexpected, and compelling argument in favor of their chosen artist. At the end of the tournament, I will randomly select from those who correctly predicted the winning artist. Leave a kind rating/review on your favorite podcast app. Email a screenshot of a kind rating/review you left on your favorite podcast app to [email protected] using the subject line "Five Stars" At the end of February, I will send a $25 Amazon gift card to a randomly selected listener as my way of saying thank you. (the review does not have to be recent, so if you left me a kind rating/review at any point, you can submit a screenshot for a chance to win). I'll be using my ad money this month to buy gift cards, so the more you listen the more I can give away this spring. Check out the brackets Fill out the prediction form at www.whoartedpodcast.com/vote Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan van Eyck was a remarkable painter. He worked in oils during the Renaissance, and created stunning photorealistic portraits centuries before photography was developmed. In the Arnolfini portrait, he captures not only the subjects standing before him, but also a reflection of the room in a convex mirror showing the full scene and accurately rendering the distortions caused by the curved glass. Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Skipping ahead a few hundred years, the artist Xu Bing created Book from the Sky as a monumental print. It is probably among the most ambitious, labor-intensive, and useless books ever to be printed in China or anywhere else. He created 4,000 unique characters on wood blocks to print this massive "book" but while those characters look like Chinese writing, they are actually completely meaningless. A Book from the Sky is one of the required artworks for AP Art History. Check out my Spotify playlist, AP Art History Cram Session to learn about other artists and artworks from that curriculum. 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Modernists said, “form follows function” focusing on how people will use a space, but Gehry focuses on how people will react to the space. His goal is to inspire, to make them feel. He talks about the challenge of creating feeling with inert materials. He says it is the movement that brings out a feeling. With his design in Bilbao, Spain, rather than simply designing a building to house a collection of some of the world’s most beautiful and inspiring art, Gehry made the building itself a work of art that inspires awe and wonder. The Guggenheim Bilbao is one of the required artworks for AP Art History. Check out my Spotify playlist, AP Art History Cram Session to learn about other artists and artworks from that curriculum. Check out my other podcasts Art Smart and Rainbow Puppy Science Lab Who ARTed is an Airwave Media Podcast. If you are interested in advertising on this or any other Airwave Media show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1896, Louis Sullivan wrote about skyscrapers and architectural design in “The Tall Building Artistically Considered” This was the origin of the famous phrase, “form follows function.” What Sullivan actually said was “form must ever follow function” but regardless of phrasing, the meaning remains the same - architects should first consider how a building will be used then base the design on that. One of his most famous designs was for the Carson Pirie Scott building downtown Chicago. Today the building is actually called the Sullivan Center in his honor, but Sullivan was such a difficult man to deal with, he was actually passed over for the third phase of it's construction. Essentially Louis Sullivan couldn't get the job of designing The Sullivan Center. Other episodes you may find interesting: Frank Lloyd Wright | Falling Water Barbara Kruger | Don't Be a Jerk Art Smart | Art Nouveau Arts Madness 2024 Links: Check out the brackets for this year's tournament Go to www.WhoARTedPodcast.com/Vote to fill out the prediction form for a chance to win one of the Amazon gift cards I'll be giving away in February and March. Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1778, Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun met Marie Antoinette at the Royal palace in Versailles. The queen had heard of Le Brun’s talent and asked to paint her portrait. Marie Antoinette loved the way Le Brun painted her and from that point on, she was pretty much her official royal portrait painter. Le Brun painted 30 portraits of the queen. Almost as quickly as her star rose, her fortunes changed. In 1789, Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun was forced to flee France in a disguise and under the cover of darkness during the early stages of the French Revolution. Le Brun didn’t have the opulent life of luxury that revolutionaries despised, but she had worked her way up to become Marie Antoinette’s favorite portraitist and the French Revolution was not the ideal time and place for friends of the monarch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Frank Lloyd Wright was one of America's most famous and influential architects. He famously said, "No house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill. Belonging to it. Hill and house should live together each the happier for the other." It was this emphasis on unity between the construction and the surrounding landscape that made Falling Water such a breathtaking design. Related Episodes: Frank Lloyd Wright | Falling Water (full episode) Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series was not his only narrative series of paintings, but it was his biggest hit. This collection of 60 painted panels tells the story of The Great Migration as millions of black families moved from the rural South to Northern cities around the time of World War 1. Lawrence was speaking to his experience and the experience of many black Americans in the period between the wars. I think this series resonates with a wide audience because it hits at the hope and the promise of the nation, the tragedy of failures to live up to its promise and ideals, but also the perseverance of hopeful people. As he said in this work, "They kept coming." Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christo and Jeanne Claude are best known for their monumental works using fabric to transform public spaces. These massive works outside of the museum or gallery context helped to bring art to the masses. Whether people wanted to or not, they were forced to reconsider the space as the building, or the coast was covered in masses of fabric. Related Episodes: Christo and Jeanne Claude | The Floating Piers (full episode) Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ai Weiwei is possibly the most interesting man in the world. He is not only a famous contemporary artist. He was a top rated blackjack player, a political prisoner and released a heavy metal album about his incarceration. His installation, Kui Hua Zi, consisted of 100 million hand-crafted, porcelain sunflower seeds. Related episodes: Ai Weiwei (full episode) Marchel Duchamp Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pablo Picasso was among the most influential artists of the 20th century and Guernica is possibly his greatest work. While I am not a fan of Picasso as a person, his significance as an artist is undeniable. Related Episodes: Pablo Picasso Art Thief? Art Smart: Cubism Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this portrait, Andy Warhol presented Marilyn Monroe in the format typically associated with religious artworks. This work was created just a few weeks after Monroe’s untimely death and it seems like a pop art shrine. Hers was a face that graced the pages of every magazine and tabloid. She was a young girl, Norma Jean who had been plucked from obscurity and celebrated around the world for her beauty, but outside of public view, she struggled with her mental health, failed relationships and substance abuse. She was a martyr of the common culture’s celebrity worship. In Warhol’s diptych, we see 50 repetitions of her famous face. On one panel, there is shockingly bold underpainting creating a cartoonish appearance. On the other we see 25 black and white copies of the same shadows and contours but without the garish color. There are varying degrees of intensity. Some over-saturated with black and others fading to the ghost of an image. And yet, with all of these, we never see the real Marilyn. We see only copies of a publicity still. The image of a star at the height of her fame and beauty. Frozen in time and sent out for others to see and appreciate. The image prime for reproduction and distortion. For the artist and audience to project and see as they wish. Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katsushika Hokusai is best known for The Great Wave off Kanagawa, part of his series of 36 Views of Mount Fuji. His family was in the mirror business, but Hokusai showed a proclivity for art starting at a young age. When he was 14 he started apprenticing as a wood carver. He spent 4 years carving wood blocks to use as stamps for printmaking. He then went on to study under artists to produce his own designs. His first prints were of actors from the Kabuki theater in 1779. Some years later, he would shift his focus to landscapes. Today marks 400 episodes in my feed. Although many have been encore presentations as I post re-runs when I need a break or in preparation for my annual Arts Madness Tournament (remember Mondays will still be new episodes) seeing that number on my feed made me pause to reflect for a moment. I am truly grateful for everyone who takes time out of their day to listen to my show. To make sure this would be a good episode for you all, I re-recorded one of my most popular episodes adding a little more information about Hokusai. This is one of the first episodes I am recording since upgrading my mic so it should sound good and hopefully, the show will just keep getting better as we go. Whether you have listened to every episode or you are just now discovering the show, I appreciate your support. Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wassily Kandinsky was an artist, teacher and art theorist in the early 20th century. His work was very influential in the development of modern, abstract art. He was likely able to paint differently because he experienced the world differently. Kandinsky is thought to have had a rare condition called synesthesia, which is a combining of the senses. For him sound and color were linked. He would see music and often used that for inspiration in his paintings as in the case with Improvisation 28 (second version) which I used in the cover art for this episode. That piece is also one of the 250 required works for AP Art History. Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Benin Bronzes, a collection of exquisite brass and bronze sculptures originating from the Kingdom of Benin (present-day Nigeria), stand as a testament to the artistic brilliance, historical significance, and the complex narrative of colonial exploitation. These bronze pieces were not merely decoration. They recorded the history of the people and the kingdom of Benin. Because the Benin Bronzes hold such great artistic, historical and cultural significance, it seems only fitting that the piece "Equestrian Oba and Attendants," would be one of the 250 artworks required for the AP Art History curriculum. Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marcel Duchamp liked to portray himself as a rebel and an outsider courting controversy. While he was bold and pushing boundaries, he also came from a family of artists and he served as an advisor to the likes of Peggy Guggenheim and MoMA. Two of Duchamp's best known pieces were Nude Descending a Staircase 2 and Fountain. Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1936, Meret Oppenheim sat down in a cafe with Pablo Picasso and Dora Maar. Picasso took note of Oppenheim's bracelet and commented that anything could be wrapped in fur. Meret replied "even this tea cup" and thus found inspiration for one of the greatest Surrealist sculptures of all time. Other episodes for to explore: Meret Oppenheim | Object (full episode featuring Janet Taylor from The Art of Education University) Marcel Duchamp Pablo Picasso Art Smart: Surrealism Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Henri Matisse was born in Northern France on December 31, 1869. His father was a successful grain merchant. In 1887, Henri was well on his way to a successful, respectable career when he went to Paris. He was going to study law, and was working in that arena for a while then at age 20, he had appendicitis. His mom gave him a paint set so he could have something to do while he recovered, and he decided to become an artist. Links: Katsushika Hokusai Vincent van Gogh Henri de Toulouse Lautrec JMW Turner Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yayoi Kusama is one of the most popular contemporary artists with her infinity rooms drawing massive crowds wherever they are installed. In the infinity rooms, the walls are covered in mirrors creating reflections of reflections that seem to go on forever. This idea of playing with reflections was a fixture in Kusama’s work pretty much from the start. As I covered in my previous episode about Yayoi Kusama, she grew up in Japan where her family owned a nursery. She was surrounded by plans and looked at nature around her imagining not only what was beyond the mountains in the landscape, but what was inside the plants, the rocks, the dirt. This is where we get her signature polka dots. She refers to the repeated dots as Infiniti nets, a visualization of the structures that make up all of the things in our world and even our universe. It seems fitting that in 1966, she created Narcissus Garden to catapult her career to the next level. The piece consisted of an installation of 1,500 reflective spheres. It feels both personal to Kusama and simultaneously generic as the woman who grew up at her family's garden nursery installed a garden of mass-produced mirrored spheres. In 1966, she accompanied the installation with a performance as she dressed in a gold kimono and sold the mirrored balls for $2 each. Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Claude Monet loved his garden and made about 250 paintings of water lilies. He and his Impressionist contemporaries were focused on color, light, and how our eyes perceive the world, but I would say technology was also central to the development. In his paintings of the train station, The Gare Saint Lazare, Monet gives us a glimpse of iron and glass station filled with the smoke of the steam engines. One critic wrote, “Unfortunately thick smoke escaping from the canvas prevented our seeing the six paintings dedicated to this study.” While the Impressionists were overtly apolitical, there is always a statement made by what is shown and what is not shown. Even if the artist himself or herself strives to be objective simply holding a mirror to their world, which way they aim that mirror matters. Monet shows the steam engine in its element as the subject of the work not merely something in the background. Technology of course drives change in our world. In the middle of the 19th century, painters suddenly had to compete with the camera. As photographs could quickly and easily capture the lines, shapes and proportions of a subject, painters shifted their focus to the color, an element cameras could not capture at that time. The tube of paint and numerous synthetic pigments also came about in the 19th century giving artists easy access to a wider range of colors. As I look at Monet’s use of so many colors, the pinks and blues of the cloud rising from the steam engine, I think of the critics the defenders of the status quo feeling threatened by change. They feel overwhelmed by the subject and begin to choke at the sight of roaring engines filling the space with smoke and they want to look away. They want the grand facades buildings and well-dressed elites walking city streets, not the workers and machines that powered the advancements. Monet though was unwavering. He meticulously studied his subjects at different times and in different seasons to find the beauty of even the smoke and engines in the industrial space. While the critics wanted grand visions of mythology, Monet showed what he and countless others experienced in the real world. Other episodes to listen to: Claude Monet | Water Lilies Pierre-Auguste Renoir | Luncheon of the Boating Party Berthe Morisot | The Cradle Gustave Caillebotte | Paris Street Rainy Day Art Smart: Impressionism & Post Impressionism Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a young adult, Edvard Munch studied art. He was influenced early on by the Impressionists, but he really came into his own when he began using painting as a way of expressing his inner struggles. He is best known today for his expressionistic works like The Scream. Interestingly The Scream is not about a person screaming. The tormented figure in the painting is actually suffering an anxiety attack and overwhelmed by the din or the noise of the world around him. The specific look of the figure may have actually been based on a Peruvian mummy that was on display in the World’s Fair in Paris in 1889. Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alfred Stieglitz is considered by many to be the father of modern photography. He looked at the camera as not simply a tool to document the world, but an artistic medium. His photograph The Steerage from 1907 is possibly his most famous work. As he set out on a European vacation, Alfred and his family were in first class, but he did not feel comfortable. He went out onto the deck and looked down at the people on the lower deck, the steerage. He said he wished he could mingle with them and he was struck by the lines and shapes on the ship as well as on the people's clothing. Everything about the scene laid out before him felt like a modern artwork and he sought to create a photograph using those lines and shapes to express his feeling in the moment. He ran back to his room and got his camera but only had one glass plate, one shot to capture the scene. Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Louis Daguerre was an early pioneer of photography. While he didn't invent the medium, he did come up with a method that was workable, and perhaps most importantly, he made his method open source, so others could build off of his findings. In his early photograph, The Artist's Studio, from 1837, Daguerre wanted to show the potential for photography as not only a science but an art. He arranged a still life filled with symbols alluding to mythology demonstrating that his new method was well suited to capturing traditional subjects. Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cezanne is widely celebrated today, but he struggled early on. He was rejected by Beaux Arts multiple times. He went back home to work at the bank for a while but he felt compelled to pursue the arts and he persisted. He met other artists like Renoir and Monet who had also been rejected by academic establishment and many critics of the day. The supported each other and learned from each other. In 1863, people were so sick of being rejected by the Paris Salon, they actually set up “Salon des Refuses” (salon of the rejected) next to the official salon to exhibit works by Monet, Manet, Pissarro. Cezanne would have loved to have his paintings exhibited in The Paris Salon, but his work hung in The Salon des Refuses. Related episodes to check out: Paul Cezanne (full episode) Art Smart - Impressionism & Post Impressionism Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today Diego Rivera is less of a household name than his wife Frida Kahlo, but in the early 20th century, he was the more established artist. In Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Central Park by Diego Rivera, Mexico's rich and complex history comes to life. It is a slightly surreal and thought-provoking composition. This massive mural, set in Mexico City's largest park, invites viewers to take a stroll through four centuries of Mexican history, where hundreds of characters from different eras mingle in a dreamlike atmosphere. Related episodes: Frida Kahlo Pablo Picasso Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Frida Kahlo was a painter in the early 20th century associated with the Surrealist movement. While she had some moderate success as a painter during her lifetime, her fame grew in the decades after her passing. Today she is among the most popular figures in art history. She is best known for her self-portraits that give viewers a sense of her pain but more importantly, her strength. Check out my other podcasts 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 show, email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices