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PODCAST

Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages

Who Arted is art history and art education for everyone. While most art history podcasts focus on the traditional "fine art" we see in museums around the world, Who ARTed celebrates art in all of its forms and in terms anyone can understand. Each episode tells the story of a different artist and artwork including the traditional big names like Leonardo da Vinci, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol along with lesser-known artists working in such diverse media as video game design, dance, the culinary arts,

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All Episodes

7:35

Hilma af Klint

Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages ·

2025/02/16

Hilma af Klint was a painter making abstract art years before men like Kandinsky and she was exploring automatic drawing long before the surrealists. She knew she was well ahead of her time, which is why she stipulated in her will, that many of her greatest works were not to be displayed until 20 years after her death.Related episodes: Hilma af Klint | What a Human Being Is Spirit Photography Arts Madness 2025 Season 11 is all about my Arts Madness Tournament. Once again, I hope you will weigh

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8:56

Jack Kirby

Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages ·

2025/02/15

Jack Kirby created some of the biggest names in the golden age of comics including: Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Iron Man, Black Panther, The Incredible Hulk. He basically populated the Marvel Universe. In 1970 though he felt like he wasn't getting the credit he deserved there and left Marvel for DC. There he created a series, Fourth World which I imagine he thought would demonstrate his brilliance and make Marvel wish they hadn’t blown it with him. The series was a commercial flop so maybe not the

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7:40

Janet Sobel

Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages ·

2025/02/14

When you think of bold and revolutionary modern artists from the 20th century, you probably don't think of a grandmother laying across her living room floor painting, but maybe you should. Janet Sobel was a Ukrainian American painter who was dripping paint across the canvas long before Jackson Pollock "invented" the technique. Other artists mentioned in this episode: Jackson Pollock Alexander Calder Norman Rockwell Roy Lichtenstein Georgia O'Keeffe Arts Madness 2025 Season 11 is all about my Arts

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12:11

Wolfgang Beltracchi | The Art of Forgery

Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages ·

2025/02/13

Wolfgang Beltracchi, born Wolfgang Fischer in 1951, is considered one of the most skilled art forgers in history. He meticulously crafted fake paintings by adopting the styles and techniques of famous artists. Rather than simply copying, he immersed himself in the artist's world, studying their letters and visiting their inspirational landscapes. With a deep understanding of the artist, he created pieces missing from their body of work. Beltracchi also forged supporting documentation, including

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11:06

The Unbelievable Story of Han van Meegeren

Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages ·

2025/02/12

The late 1930s were a rough time in Europe. Nazis were on the rise, and museums began hiding their most treasured works or even shipping them off to safe locations. As all of these works were floating around in the art world and many pieces being hidden, Hans van Meegeren emerged as an art dealer with some lost Vermeers. As I explained in the previous episode about the Vermeer stolen from the Isabella Steward Gardner museum, there aren’t a lot of Vermeer paintings and much of his biography is

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9:54

Rene Magritte | The Son of Man

Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages ·

2025/02/11

Rene Magritte's painting, Son of Man, is among the most famous images of the Surrealist Movement. It is one of the few artworks that transcends the museum and has become a part of pop culture. Actually, technically it isn’t even in the museums. Son of Man is privately owned and rarely seen on public display, but it has been referenced in books, movies like Stranger than Fiction and The Thomas Crown Affair, tv shows like The Simpsons, music videos by the likes of Michael Jackson. Of course, listeners

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22:08

Keith Haring | Three Eyed Smiley Face

Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages ·

2025/02/10

Keith Haring, renowned for his iconic pop art and graffiti, rose to fame in the 1980s New York art scene. His signature style, characterized by bold lines, vibrant colors, and symbols like the radiant baby and barking dog, often conveyed social messages. Haring's art wasn't confined to galleries; it flourished in public spaces, notably subway stations, making it accessible to everyone. Despite his untimely death due to AIDS in 1990, his legacy lives on through his art and the Keith Haring

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10:57

Akira Yoshizawa and Origami

Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages ·

2025/02/09

Origami is the Japanese art of folded paper sculpture. It is a tradition that is basically as old as paper. In the 6th century CE, Buddhist monks brought paper from China to Japan. While origami has been practiced for hundreds of years, it has gone through some drastic changes in the way it was perceived by people. Early on when paper was really expensive and labor intensive to produce, origami was for the select few and for special occasions. As paper became more affordable, ordinary people made

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12:21

Roberto Matta | The Earth Is a Man

Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages ·

2025/02/08

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.”Arts Madness 2025 Season 11 is all about my Arts Madness Tournament. Once again, I hope you will weigh in on your favorite artists/artworks as we go from 64 down

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7:36

Felix Gonzalez-Torres | Untitled (Portrait of Ross in...

Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages ·

2025/02/07

Felix Gonzalez-Torres was a conceptual artist who became well known in the 1980s and 90s for his works that broke down the barrier between artist and audience. Many of his works invited the audience to become a part of the creative process making the work more dynamic and engaging.Arts Madness 2025 Season 11 is all about my Arts Madness Tournament. Once again, I hope you will weigh in on your favorite artists/artworks as we go from 64 down to 1. For this year’s tournament, I put 32 works from the

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6:52

Henri de Toulouse Lautrec | At The Moulin Rouge

Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages ·

2025/02/06

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

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8:10

Njideka Akunyili Crosby | Predecessors

Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages ·

2025/02/05

Njideka Akunyili Crosby is a Nigerian-born artist who moved to America as a teen and her work Predecessors looks at how her family has changed over generations. She uses painting and collage techniques to share her memories and connect different aspects of her identity as she has roots in both Nigeria and America.If you want to learn more, check out the full episode I recorded with Janet Taylor, an artist, art teacher, and writer for The Art of Education University. Njideka Akunyili Crosby (full

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18:45

Mark Rothko | The Seagram Murals

Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages ·

2025/02/04

Mark Rothko is one of the most famous painters of the Abstract Expressionist movement. While many look at his paintings as simple rectangles of various colors, he sought to express much deeper ideas and emotions in the most simple and direct way possible. He meticulously layered washes of oil paint to achieve deep, rich colors on massive canvases that overwhelm the viewer. The Seagram Murals were initially commissioned for an upscale restaurant in the building designed by Mies van der Rohe, but

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17:48

Paul Van Hoeydonck | Fallen Astronaut

Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages ·

2025/02/03

"Fallen Astronaut" is a 3.5-inch aluminum sculpture created by Belgian artist Paul van Hoeydonck and placed on the moon in 1971 by astronaut David Scott to commemorate fallen astronauts and cosmonauts. The sculpture, depicting a stylized human figure, was secretly brought aboard Apollo 15 and has remained on the moon since. While Van Hoeydonck intended to sell replicas, NASA's policy against commercial exploitation prevented this. This artwork, while not the first in space, represents a significant

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11:53

Victor Vasarely and Op Art

Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages ·

2025/02/02

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

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9:44

Charuvi Agrawal | 26,000 Bells of Hanuman

Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages ·

2025/02/01

Charuvi Agrawal made a name for herself with a stunning computer-animated film about Hanuman. In 2014, she grabbed more headlines as she created a record-setting 25-foot tall monumental work comprised of 26,000 bells. Arts Madness 2025 Season 11 is all about my Arts Madness Tournament. Once again, I hope you will weigh in on your favorite artists/artworks as we go from 64 down to 1. For this year’s tournament, I put 32 works from the AP Art History list in one bracket, and on the other side, I

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8:39

Alma Thomas | Resurrection

Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages ·

2025/01/31

Alma Woodsey Thomas was an African American artist who lived from 1891 to 1978. Her family moved from Columbus, Georgia to Washington, DC in 1907 to escape segregation and seek better opportunities. Thomas graduated from Howard University with a degree in art and later received a Master's in Art from Columbia University. Although she worked as a teacher for many years, she continued to pursue art and eventually became known for her abstract works characterized by mosaic-like splashes of color

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12:38

Roy Lichtenstein | Look Mickey

Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages ·

2025/01/30

By the 1960s Roy Lichtenstein was intrigued by the ideas of pop art and began dabbling in the style. Of course, if you want fresh new ideas, the best source is often the younger generation. Roy Lichtenstein was pushed by his young son. One day in 1961, the younger Lichtenstein taunted his father holding up his copy of the Disney book Donald Duck: Lost and Found. He pointed to an illustration and said, “I bet you can’t draw something as good as that?” In what can only be described as one of the

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11:24

Banksy | Girl with Balloon

Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages ·

2025/01/29

In 2018, Banksy's painting, Girl with Balloon went up for auction. As the gavel sounded to announce a winning bid of about $1 million, everyone in the room was stunned to see the painting begin to self-destruct. Banksy had concealed a shredder in the bottom of the gold frame. Interestingly, the shredding only increased the value of the piece. When it went up for auction again in 2021, the shredded painting sold for over $20 million. Banksy has become a polarizing figure in the art world. Some

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14:49

Yayoi Kusama | Narcissus Garden

Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages ·

2025/01/28

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

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