Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages

Roberto Matta was a Chilean born artist whose life and work transcended boundaries. He was always looking to explore new ideas, push his work further and to astonish. As he said, “A landscape is at peace whenever there is no visible catastrophe and yet ecologically it is violent and devouring. One must grasp what lies behind appearance.” 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: advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From 1912 to 1948, medals were awarded for artistic creations inspired by sport, alongside those for athletic prowess. This unique fusion of disciplines was the brainchild of Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, who envisioned the Games as a celebration of both physical and intellectual pursuits. Coubertin's vision for the modern Olympics extended far beyond athleticism. He believed in the holistic development of the individual, emphasizing the importance of both physical and intellectual pursuits. This philosophy stemmed from his deep admiration for the ancient Greek ideal of "kalokagathia," which represented the harmonious balance of body and mind. In 1894, Coubertin's efforts culminated in the establishment of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896. The art competitions were introduced at the 1912 Stockholm Games, featuring five categories: architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture. A total of 146 artists were awarded Olympic medals for their artistic creations between 1912 and 1948. 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: advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An artist’s skillful application of paint will make an artwork good, but a good story makes that artwork great. In 2010, a painting went on auction at Sotheby’s and sold for $1.5 million and I would argue that price is not because of the image, or the artist, but rather the story. Harry Hahn was an American pilot fighting in World War 1. He was fortunate to not only survive the brutal war, but also while serving overseas, he met the love of his life. He married a French woman named Andree Lardoux. Her aunt, the Comtesse Louise de Montaut decided to give the young couple one of the old paintings in her collection as a wedding present. This gift seemed particularly special as a French connoisseur by the name of George Sortais had examined the painting in 1916 and he had declared it to be the work of none other than Leonardo da Vinci. 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: advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is about Arthur Boyd the Australian painter known for his use of symbols from mythology to express his philosophical views. My guest this week was Matthew Bliss, a podcaster and producer. Check out his work at https://matthewbliss.net/from-my-home-to-yours 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: advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrew Wyeth was the son of a successful illustrator. Wyeth is best known for his painting "Christina's World" which is among the few artworks to leap from the museum walls to popular culture as it has been referenced in numerous photos, TV shows and movies. The painting was inspired by Wyeth's neighbor who was unable to walk but chose to crawl rather than use a wheel chair. He was inspired as he saw Christina crawling across her family farm to make her way back home. The expansive field serves as a powerful symbol of Christina's vulnerability and isolation. Still, he created the composition from a worm's eye view so that we the viewers are not looking down upon Christina. We are invited to see the world through her eyes and look up at the scene and the house that seems so far off on the horizon. 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: advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bosko Hrnjak is a multidisciplinary artist best known for his tiki inspired wood carvings and ceramics. In this episode, he was kind enough to sit down and share a bit about his artistic journey. We talked about his inspiration growing up in California surrounded by mid century modern tiki. He also shared a lot of the history and development from Polynesian roots to pop culture. Bosko also shared insights into his methods both in wood carving and ceramics. Find Bosko online: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tikibosko/ Website: https://www.tikibosko.com Documentary: https://rebirthoftiki.com/watch (trailer: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/boskoandtherebirthoftiki ) 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: advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shigeru Miyamoto has developed some of the most popular games of all time including Mario which is the most successful game franchise ever. Mario has actually been in 250 videogames and The Super Mario Brothers movie was the first major motion picture ever made based on a videogame. Well maybe that one was a little regrettable, but I’m sure the next Mario movie will be great.  Interestingly though, Miyamoto’s big break came largely by accident. When he was first hired by Nintendo, he was making designs for their game cabinets. Nintendo had grossly overestimated the popularity of a game called Radar Scope and found themselves with 2,000 cabinets in need of a new game. They wanted to make a Popeye game, but couldn’t get the rights so Miyamoto came up with a new concept and Donkey Kong was born. When his game was released in 1981, it pulled in $200million and Miyamoto was quickly put in charge of game development. 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: advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, Renoir is remembered as one of the greatest painters of the Impressionist movement. His paintings are soft and delicate, but his life and his work was a painful struggle. Most painters pride themselves on their ability to work with their hands. They spend years practicing, developing fine motor skills and muscle memory to easily render a beautiful image, but Renoir’s hands weren’t on board with the plan. As his son Jean recounted “Visitors who were unprepared for this could not take their eyes off his deformity. Though they did not dare to mention it, their reaction would be expressed by some such phrase as ‘it isn’t possible! With hands like that, how could he paint those pictures?” In 1899, Pierre-Auguste Renoir was sticken with Rhumetiod Arthritis which not only caused painful inflammation of the joints. It left his hands deformed. While even the most minor movements of his hand or wrist would bring pain, Renoir persisted. He continued making beautiful paintings until his death 20 years later because as he said, “pain passes, but beauty remains.” 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: advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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, known as the "Vasarely effect," became a hallmark of his style. The Zebra painting is considered to be the first Op Art painting. 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: advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In LaGrange Illinois just a bit West of the city of Chicago, The Nettie J McKinnon Art Collection consists of around 120 artworks and today it is valued in the millions of dollars. From 1929 to 1960, students would raise money to buy artworks including pieces by big names like John Singer Sargent. The collection was created by and for the benefit of the students so classes can tour the gallery located in Park junior high, but it is also open to the public. Links related to the collection: McKinnon Gallery Website Salt Creek American Art Foundation WTTW 2019 news video Aug. 2019   WTTW 2013 news video Nov. 2013 Some of my pictures of the collection Related episodes: Ivan Albright | The Picture of Dorian Gray Michelangelo Shigeru Miyamoto | Mario 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: advertising@airwavemedia.com 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 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: advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

June is pride month and I thought it might be nice to make a little episode covering some fun facts about rainbows and different colors. Links to related episodes Henri Matisse | The Desert: Harmony in Red Killer Wallpaper The Primary Colors DayGlo Colors 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: advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amedeo Modigliani, a rebellious Italian painter, left a lasting mark on the art world with his distinctive style and captivating portraits. Born in Livorno in 1884, his early life was marked by illness and a dramatic incident that saved his family from financial ruin. Modigliani's art, influenced by diverse sources like Cezanne, Brancusi, and African sculpture, is characterized by elongated figures, long necks, and almond-shaped eyes. He moved to Paris in 1906, where he became a part of the bohemian art scene, despite struggling with poverty and rejection. His first solo exhibition in 1917 caused a scandal due to its nude paintings, but it also solidified his position as a major artistic figure. Modigliani's tragic early death at 35 cut his career short, but his legacy lives on through his unique artistic vision, capturing the essence of human emotion and form in his timeless works. Related Episodes: Henri Matisse Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Pablo Picasso Paul Cezanne 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: advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amrita Sher-Gil, born in 1913 to a Sikh aristocrat and a Hungarian-Jewish opera singer, was a trailblazing artist who blended European and Indian influences. After studying art in Paris and achieving early success at the Grand Salon, she returned to India in 1934. Though initially met with resistance due to her modern style, Sher-Gil's evocative portrayals of Indian life and her unique fusion of cultural traditions ultimately garnered critical acclaim. Her paintings, like the renowned "Bride's Toilet," showcased her bold colors, expressive figures, and insightful observations. Despite her untimely death in 1941, Sher-Gil's legacy as a pioneer of modern Indian art endures, inspiring generations of artists and solidifying her place as one of India's most celebrated creative figures. Related episodes: Paul Cezanne | Mont Sainte-Victoire Charuvi Agrawal | 26,000 Bells of Hanuman Shiva Nataraja | Shiva Lord of the Dance 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: advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Kandinsky 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: advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Fiedler. I showed her two works, one by Beltracchi, and one by Campendonk. I labeled them painting A and painting B to see if she could tell the authentic from the forgery. Look at the works: Painting A | Painting B If you love a good forgery story, check out my previous episode on The Unbelievable Story of Han van Meegeren I am publishing this episode to coincide with my latest article in The Art of Education University's Magazine focusing on some of my favorite daring art crimes. 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: advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 are interested in advertising on this or any other Airwave Media show, email: advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is an encore presentation of my episode about Jim Davis, the creator of Garfield. My guest for this episode was Lindsey Little, creator of the Oni Girl comic. Here is her link tree for all the places to find her and her work https://linktr.ee/OniGirl 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: advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was early evening just a few minutes from closing time at the National Museum when suddenly the normally peaceful museum took on the aesthetic of an action movie. An armed intruder walked in yelling at the guards and patrons to be still and calm which I have to assume had the exact opposite effect. He had two accomplices already in the space and they apparently were trained on the guards. Meanwhile, the thieves detonated explosives in two cars parked in front of hotels across town. The thieves were working under the assumption that exploding cars would create panic and chaos drawing the attention of the police leaving fewer officers to chase after them. They also threw nails into the road to blow the tires on any police cars that tried to chase after them. Of course, it seems like a bit of overkill throwing out the nails to stop police cars because the thieves didn’t escape in a getaway car. The National Museum in Stockholm is next to the water, so they fled the scene in a speedboat.  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: advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 that showcased his mastery of line, color, and composition. His most famous paintings, "The Birth of Venus" and "Primavera," were created during this period. "The Birth of Venus" depicts the arrival of the goddess Venus on the shore after emerging from the sea. The painting is rich in symbolism, drawing from classical mythology, Neoplatonic philosophy, and Christian theology. Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty, and fertility, is the central figure. Her nudity, while controversial today, was associated with purity in classical art. The painting is filled with symbolic elements, like the wind gods Zephyrus and Aura representing the forces of nature, and the Hora of Spring welcoming Venus with flowers, signifying her connection to fertility. 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: advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices