Monet, Manet, and a Gentleman Thief

Update: 2025-07-24

Description

Episode 51: Monet, Manet, and a Gentleman Thief

This week’s prompts: Parisian, Crown, 540, Fuschia

What do you get when a birthday party is interrupted by a hostage situation with a grenade landing in your neighborhood? You get Lauren’s summer.

In this episode, Lauren and Neal return with updates from the chaos of everyday life—and a seriously rich deep dive into art history, revolutionary brushstrokes, and one very cranky artist. Lauren breaks down The Judgment of Paris by Ross King, a nonfiction ride through the 1860s that pits old-school battle painter Ernest Meissonier against the boundary-pushing Édouard Manet. From nude scandals to Prussian sieges, the book—and this episode—certainly have it all.

Then, Neal takes us on a whirlwind tour through the origins and legacy of gentleman thief Arsène Lupin. Learn about the character’s creation by Maurice Leblanc, his rivalry with Sherlock Holmes and how this French antihero has inspired stage plays, films, anime, and of course, the Netflix hit Lupin. Bonus: a theory about Mr. Peanut you won’t be able to unsee.

We talk salons (the French kind), shockingly radical water lilies, and the fight to define what counts as “real” art. Also: a surprise detour into Whistler’s rage issues and a cozy mystery connection you didn’t see coming.

Plus:
– What happens when your street gets blocked by bomb squads?
– Why were 19th-century Frenchmen smacking paintings with riding crops?
– And did Lupin inspire Father Brown’s Flambeau?

And don’t miss:
– A new Patreon idea brewing… book club anyone?
– Music League Volume III dropping soon!

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