Art of History

It may have been easy for Joséphine de Beauharnais (1763-1814) to scoff at the “extraordinary destiny” once promised to her by a fortune-teller. From the Island of Martinique, where she spent her girlhood, to the shadow of the guillotine, where she became a single mother, Josephine likely never would have predicted her remarkable rise to become “more than a queen”—until, that is, she met one Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821). Today's Image: Sir David Wilkie, Joséphine and the Fortune-teller (1837). Oil on Canvas. National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh. ______ New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch! Listen to me on Lady Audaci-TEA: Spotify | Apple Podcasts Subscribe to my newsletter, The Fascinator. Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/matta_of_fact Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast TikTok: @artofhistorypod | @matta_of_fact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Swiss painter Henry Fuseli (1741-1825) was the man behind one of art history’s most famous spooky paintings: ‘The Nightmare.’ But how much do you actually know about this dream-fuelled Gothic image? Henry Fuseli, The Nightmare (1781). Oil on Canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan. ______ New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch! Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/matta_of_fact Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast TikTok: @artofhistorypod // @matta_of_fact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last seen in 1945, the Amber Room is the world’s most valuable missing piece of art, valued as highly as $500 million. Looted by the Nazis after Operation Barbarossa, this “Eighth Wonder of the World” once symbolized peace and unity. Today, it instead represents one of art history’s greatest mysteries. Today's Artwork: The Amber Room. Catherine Palace/Tsarskoye Selo State Museum and Heritage Site. ______ New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch! Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/matta_of_fact Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast TikTok: @artofhistorypod // @matta_of_fact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Kathleen B. Jones joins us on the podcast to discuss not only her new book, CITIES OF WOMEN, but also to dive into the life of literary and artistic icon Christine de Pizan (1364/65-1431). Listen to our conversation to hear how Christine became not only the first professional female writer in Europe, but also the first person in France to earn a living as a writer, period. Plus, we discuss the ins and outs of medieval manuscript-making, and the parallels between the obstacles faced by professional women in Christine's day and our own. ‘Cities of Women’ is out on September 5, 2023 - get your copy here! Today's Work: Christine de Pizan, ‘The Book of the Queen’ (Harley MS 4431) (c. 1410-1414). Parchment manuscript. 36.5 x 28.5 cm. British Library, London. ______ Thanks HelloFresh! Go to HelloFresh.com/50arthistory and use code 50arthistory for 50% off plus free shipping! ______ New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch! Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/matta_of_fact Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast TikTok: @artofhistorypod // @matta_of_fact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When historians first made the link between a book of hours at Trinity College, Cambridge and two others belonging to Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, they weren't just identifying who owned it. Yes, yes - the book was owned by Henry VIII's right-hand-man (for a time, at least): Thomas Cromwell. But this remarkable book has now become the only object from any 16th-century portrait to survive to this day. What can such an item tell us about the man who owned it, his times, and what he wanted everyone who saw his portrait to know? Today's artwork(s): Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex (1532-33). Oil on panel, 30.7 in × 25.2 in. Frick Collection, New York. AND the 1527 Book of Hours, on display at Hever Castle through November 2023. __________ New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch! Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/matta_of_fact Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast Twitter: @ArtHistoricPod TikTok: @artofhistorypod // @matta_of_fact __________ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Divorced, beheaded, died... divorced... A house connected to Anne of Cleves (1515-1557), Henry VIII's fourth wife, is currently on the market! Let's discuss the Grade I listed property and a tidbit of Anne's story in this Art Bite. _________ Thanks HelloFresh! Go to HelloFresh.com/arthistory50 and use code arthistory50 for 50% off plus free shipping! _________ New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch! Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/matta_of_fact Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast TikTok: @artofhistorypod // @matta_of_fact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grant Wood (1891-1942) is probably best known for his double portrait depicting a man and woman on a farmstead - that icon of American painting, American Gothic. But his career encompassed so much more, and was marked by an uncanny ability to weave and deconstruct "American values"—whatever those are. In The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, Wood builds us a dreamscape in which we can confront the fables and myths of our national identity head-on. And I'm bringing it to you just in time for Independence Day! Today's artwork: Grant Wood, The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (1931). Oil on Masonite. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. ______ New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch! Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/matta_of_fact Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast TikTok: @artofhistorypod // @matta_of_fact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’m so excited to be bringing you the first of a NEW offering on the Art of History podcast! 🎉  These “Art Bites,” as I’m calling them, will be a casual place to discuss pieces of news that pertain to topics we’ve either discussed on the show, or which activate my art history brain.  Our first Art Bite is centered on an upcoming auction at Sotheby's, where a privately-owned portrait of Katherine Parr will go up for sale in July. Tune in to hear me geek out about the power display going on in this representation of Henry VIII’s sixth and final queen. (We also chat about royal jewelry).  See more on the Old Masters auction and the Coronation auction here. Today's artwork: Katherine Parr, attributed to “Master John” and dated to the mid-1540s ______ New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch! Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/matta_of_fact Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast Twitter: @ArtHistoricPod TikTok: @artofhistorypod // @matta_of_fact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark Rothko (1903-1970) was at the forefront of a generation of American artists who revolutionized the scene, right down to the way we understand the very essence of the artistic process. Even as he rejected both the label of Abstract Expressionism and even the idea that his paintings were technical masterpieces, he is nonetheless a “key protagonist” of the Abstract Expressionist movement and a fierce advocate for the artist’s freedom of expression. Today's Image: Mark Rothko, ‘Untitled (Red over Dark Blue on Dark Gray)’ (1961). Oil on canvas. Berkeley Art Museum, University of California. ______ New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch! Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/matta_of_fact Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast TikTok: @artofhistorypod // @matta_of_fact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite his short life, French painter Thèodore Gèricault (1791-1824) is remembered of one of the giants of art history. In his evocative masterpiece The Raft of the Medusa, Gèricault laid the groundwork for the Romantic era in the visual arts.  It's easy to get swept up in the vast spectrum of human emotion on display in the canvas. But how much of this painting was drawn from real life events? Today's image: Théodore Géricault, The Raft of the Medusa. (1818-19). Oil on Canvas. Musée du Louvre, Paris. ______ New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch! Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/matta_of_fact Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast TikTok: @artofhistorypod // @matta_of_fact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marie-Rosalie, or Rosa, Bonheur (1822-1899) has been lauded as the most celebrated woman artist of her time. Her breathtaking animal paintings showcase not only her technical skill, but also her so-called “radical” ideals. But just how “radical” was Rosa—who has been lauded as a feminist art historical figure—actually setting out to be? Today's Image: Rosa Bonheur, The Horse Fair (1852–55). Oil on canvas; 96 1/4 x 199 1/2 in. (244.5 x 506.7 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Wayne Thiebaud on The Horse Fair Linda Nochlin: Why have there been no great women artists? ______ Please support the podcast by taking Airwave's short listener survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/airwave. ______ New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch! Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/matta_of_fact Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast ______ New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch! Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/matta_of_fact Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast TikTok: @artofhistorypod // @matta_of_fact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, gender is largely understood as a fluid concept. And while an increasingly loud minority insist that "men are men and women are women," and that’s simply the way it’s always been…a look through the lens of art history is just one way to quickly realize how flawed that worldview just might be. Jusepe de Ribera (1591-1652) provides that lens in his 1631 portrait of Magdalena Ventura, subtitled 'The Bearded Woman.' Is this a depiction of a woman boldly defying gender norms? Or simply a person existing with the hand they were dealt by nature? Today's Image: Jusepe de Ribera, Magdalena Ventura with Her Husband and Son (La Mujer Barbuda) (1631). Museo Fondación Duque de Lerma, Toledo, Spain. ______ Please support the podcast by taking Airwave's short listener survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/airwave. ______ New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch! Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/matta_of_fact Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part II of Edmonia Lewis' story takes us for a closer look at her masterpiece: the 1876 sculpture, 'Death of Cleopatra.' In an echo of Edmonia’s approach to her own biography, the work shows Egypt’s last queen “sealing her fate and having the last word on how she’ll be recorded in history.” Today's Image: Edmonia Lewis, Death of Cleopatra (1876). Marble. Smithsonian American Art Museum. ______ New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch! Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/matta_of_fact Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast TikTok: @artofhistorypod // @matta_of_fact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Edmonia Lewis (1844-1907) was history’s first internationally recognized sculptor of African American and Native American descent, and (as you might expect!) a woman with a multifaceted life story. Today's Image: Edmonia Lewis, Forever Free (The Morning of Liberty) (1867). Marble, 41.25 x 22 x 17 in. Howard University Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. ______ New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch! Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/matta_of_fact Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast TikTok: @artofhistorypod // @matta_of_fact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ilya Repin (1844-1930) was one of Russia’s leading realist painters, known for his evocative portrayals of 19th-century working conditions. He was also known for his charged depictions of episodes from Russia’s past - such as an 1885 canvas showing Ivan the Terrible moments after striking his son and heir with a deadly blow.  We’ll dive deep into this…unique father-son bond, and explore the motivations that led Repin to put this controversial image on display 300 years after the event in question took place. Today's Image: Ilya Repin, Ivan the Terrible and his Son Ivan (1883-1885). Oil on Canvas, 78.5” x 100”. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. ______ New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch! Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/matta_of_fact Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast TikTok: @artofhistorypod // @matta_of_fact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two things are true of history podcasts: Everyone loves a bit of Tudor History, and everyone loves a good ghost story. Today, we explore a bit of both! When visiting Henry VIII’s magnificent Hampton Court Palace, it’s often the darker episodes from its past that get the best reactions. Using Tudor portraiture as our guide, let’s explore the origin of some of the Palace’s ghostly tales and the lives at the center of them. Today's images: Jane Seymour (unfinished), after Hans Holbein the Younger (1537). Oil on panel. National Portrait Gallery, London. Jane Seymour, by Hans Holbein the Younger (1536/37). Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Portrait of a Lady, perhaps Katherine Howard, by Hans Holbein the Younger. (ca. 1540). Watercolor on vellum laid on playing card (the 4 of Diamonds). Royal Collection Trust. Effigy of Dame Sybil Penn, from Hampton Church British School, The Family of Henry VIII (c.1545). Oil on canvas. Hampton Court Palace, Royal Collection Trust. ______ New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch! Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/matta_of_fact Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast Twitter: @ArtHistoricPod TikTok: @artofhistorypod // @matta_of_fact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

85 years ago, a groundbreaking art exhibition was held in Munich. It showcased the work of 120 artists, many of these internationally renowned modernists. The show was attended by one million people in its first six weeks. But this landmark show, while one-of-a-kind, is not something to be celebrated. Entartete Kunst (‘Degenerate Art’) was organized at the behest of Adolf Hitler, under Joseph Goebbels' Ministry of Propaganda, to showcase works of art that “undermined” the ideals of the Nazi regime. The term ‘degenerate’ is making a comeback in contemporary discussions of non-traditional art and culture. The sinister undertones associated with the term could easily be missed by this generation, but to label subversive art forms ‘degenerate’ is a dangerous act. Today on Art of History, we unpack how the term was weaponized, sometimes literally, against avant-garde artists in Hitler’s Reich. ______ New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch! Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/matta_of_fact Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast Twitter: @ArtHistoricPod TikTok: @artofhistorypod // @matta_of_fact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tulipmania has stuck in our collective memory as one of the biggest economic calamities to ever strike the western world. The popular narrative holds that in 17th century Holland, ​​homes were mortgaged, reputations were ruined, and livelihoods were lost—all so that tulip bulbs could be bought at higher and higher prices. And when the “bubble” burst, chaos ensued. In fact, the truth was far less sensational. But contemporary 17th-century artworks can shed some light on the real Tulip Fever, and perhaps give us some clues as to why Tulipmania continues to hold such power over our notions of the Dutch Golden Age. Today's Images: Jan Breughel the Elder, Still Life with Tulips, Chrysanthemums, Narcissi, Roses, Irises and other Flowers in a Glass Vase (1608-1610). Oil on copper. The National Gallery, London. and Jan Brueghel the Younger, A Satire of Tulip Mania (c. 1640-1650). Oil on Panel. Frans Hals Museum, Netherlands. Jan Brueghel the Younger, Allegory of Tulipomania (c. 1640-1650). Oil and gold on Panel. Private collection, France. ______ New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch! Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/matta_of_fact Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast Twitter: @ArtHistoricPod TikTok: @artofhistorypod // @matta_of_fact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte (1785-1879) was one of America’s first international celebrities and self-made women. But how did this Baltimore girl come to count royalty among her in-laws—a century or two before the likes of Wallis Simpson and Meghan Markle snagged their princes? The answer may lie in her unique triple-view portrait by Gilbert Stuart…or is that only part of Elizabeth’s story? Today's Image: Gilbert Stuart, Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte (1804). Oil on canvas. Private collection. New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch! Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/matta_of_fact Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast Twitter: @ArtHistoricPod TikTok: @artofhistorypod // @matta_of_fact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009) is considered one of American’s greatest modern artists. His works combine a regionalist simplicity with a surrealist view of the inner world. But without the people and places that inspired him and allowed him to channel his emotions onto the canvas, we might never have seen that inner world at all. Let’s take a walk through the life of Andrew Wyeth, encountering the several muses that played an integral part in his creative process, as we endeavor to answer, “What is a muse?” Today’s artwork: Andrew Wyeth, Christina’s World (1948). Tempera on Panel. Museum of Modern Art, New York. New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch! Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/matta_of_fact Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast Twitter: @ArtHistoricPod TikTok: @artofhistorypod // @matta_of_fact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices