Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages

The Ouija Board was patented in 1891 by Elijah Bond, and that is an odd and interesting story. Bond filed a patent for the "Ouija or Egyptian luck-board" but the patent office was initially hesitant to grant it. They considered the board's ability to answer questions to be unexplainable and potentially fraudulent. To convince the patent officer, Bond and Helen Peters (his sister-in-law) conducted a demonstration. They asked the board to spell out the patent officer's name, which it supposedly did correctly, even though they claimed not to know it. The demonstration worked! The patent officer, reportedly quite shaken by the experience, approved the patent.For a spooky fun bonus fact, learn why sheets became symbols of ghosts.Related episodes:Spirit PhotographyThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. If you are thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It is online, flexible and convenient to meet your needs on your schedule. Visit BetterHelp.com/WhoARTed today and get 10% off your first month.Check out my other podcasts  Art Smart | Rainbow Puppy Science LabWho 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

Maurizio Cattelan is an Italian artist known for his provocative and satirical sculptures and installations that challenge the norms of the art world. His works often spark controversy and public discourse, blurring the lines between high art and everyday objects. Some of his most recognized pieces include, "Strategies," his mock up of a magazine cover intended to help him land a spot on the actual magazine's cover, "Comedian," a banana duct-taped to a wall, which sold for $120,000, and "America," a fully functional solid gold toilet that was once stolen from Blenheim Palace. Cattelan's art is often seen as a commentary on consumerism, celebrity culture, and the value of art itself.My guest this week was Tim Bogatz, host of Art Ed Radio from The Art of Education University (where you can also see articles I have written).In this episode, we referenced work by other artists. Listen to these episodes to learn more:Marcel Duchamp | FountainMeret Oppenheim | ObjectThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. If you are thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It is online, flexible and convenient to meet your needs on your schedule. Visit BetterHelp.com/WhoARTed today and get 10% off your first month.Check out my other podcasts Art Smart | Rainbow Puppy Science LabWho 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

Starting in 1917, the US Radium Corporation hired a bunch of young women to paint watch faces with radium based paints that would glow in the dark. For these young women, it seemed like a great job. They were paid about 3 times what the average working woman was getting at that time, they got to work with this cool new material that glowed like something from science fiction, and the job was relatively easy. They just had to lip, dip and paint. But that first part, the lip part turned out to be a major problem. The women were using camel hair brushes to paint tiny details on watch faces and instrument dials. As any painter could tell you, after just a few brush strokes, the bristles start to splay requiring them to point their brush. The women working for the US Radium Corporation, and a few rival companies of that day were all told to use their mouths to point the brush. While they could have achieved similar results with water and rags, it was more efficient for the workers to simply put the brush in their mouth using their lips, teeth and tongues to get the bristles realigned. Listeners today would no doubt be horrified at the prospect of putting radioactive material into their mouths, but for the so called radium girls, it was part of the job and for many of them, it seemed like a fun perk. There are stories of the young women painting their teeth, or their nails with the radioactive paints. Of course, as the old saying goes, it’s all fun and games until someone’s jaw falls off. Unsurprisingly, it was the dentists who first noticed the health effects of radium ingestion. The radium girls developed a condition referred to as radium jaw or necrosis of the jaw which simply put means the cells in their jaws were dying from radiation poisoning and along with that teeth fell out and bones would become distorted due to tumors or even they might be left with holes in the jawbones. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. If you are thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It is online, flexible and convenient to meet your needs on your schedule. Visit BetterHelp.com/WhoARTed today and get 10% off your first month.Check out my other podcasts  Art Smart | Rainbow Puppy Science LabWho 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

Reggie Laurent is a contemporary artist based out of Atlanta. Laurent is a largely self-taught artist working in a variety of media and often on unexpected surfaces. He is known for his DNA series of paintings characterized by bold colors and elaborate patterns in abstract compositions. He says that the DNA series is largely similar to his childhood doodles and the creative expression that was always in him. While many artists inspire students with their stunning work, Laurent goes further by explaining his process and working with groups of students via Zoom.Find Reggie Laurent Online:https://www.laurentoriginals.com/ www.instagram/laurentoriginalshttps://woodpeckerscrafts.com/reginald-laurent-dna-collection/ This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. If you are thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It is online, flexible and convenient to meet your needs on your schedule. Visit BetterHelp.com/WhoARTed today and get 10% off your first month.Check out my new favorite history podcast, Calm History:Want to dive even deeper into history? Try the podcast Calm History You'll learn about famous explorers, leaders, inventions, civilizations and ancient wonders all narrated in a calm voice to help you relax or fall asleep. Find Calm History on your favorite podcast app: https://podfollow.com/calm-historyCheck out my other podcasts Art Smart | Rainbow Puppy Science LabWho 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

Hieronymus Bosch was a 15th-century Dutch painter whose fantastical and often unsettling works continue to captivate viewers today. His most famous painting, "The Garden of Earthly Delights," is a triptych that depicts a complex narrative of creation, temptation, sin, and damnation. Bosch's unique visual vocabulary, drawn from religious iconography, folklore, alchemy, and contemporary social mores, challenged the established norms of religious art and introduced an element of ambiguity into his narratives. Bosch's exploration of human psychology and the darker aspects of human nature contributed to the subversive nature of his art, offering a more nuanced and unsettling view of the human condition. Despite the often disturbing imagery in his paintings, Bosch was a respected member of his community and a devout Catholic. The enduring power of his work lies in its masterful balance between the concrete and the ambiguous, inviting viewers to decipher the complex relationships and narratives within his paintings.Check out our sponsor Factor at www.FactorMeals.com/whoarted50 Enter the promo code whoarted50 to get 50% off your first box and 20% off your next month!Check out my other podcasts Art Smart | Rainbow Puppy Science LabWho 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

My guest this week is Emily Beeny, the Curator in charge of European paintings for The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. She spoke with me about Mary Cassatt at work, an exhibition coming to The Legion of Honor after being displayed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.Check out these links to learn more:https://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2014/degas-cassatt.html https://www.famsf.org/exhibitions/mary-cassattMary Cassatt was born in Pennsylvania, but she became a part of the French Impressionist circle. Today, she is widely remembered for her somewhat sentimental paintings of mothers and daughters, but the exhibition shows us there was far more to the life and work of Mary Cassatt. We discussed her biography, her paintings and prints including The Coiffure, which is one of the works required for AP Art History. Students studying for the test can check out my AP Art History Cram Session playlistListen to these other Impressionist episodes:Edgar DegasGustave CaillebottePierre-Auguste RenoirBerthe MorisotClaude MonetCheck out our sponsor Factor at www.FactorMeals.com/whoarted50 Enter the promo code whoarted50 to get 50% off your first box and 20% off your next month!Check out my other podcasts Art Smart | Rainbow Puppy Science LabWho 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

On November 26, 1922, Howard Carter prepared to enter the tomb of a little-known pharaoh. Nobody had set foot inside the space for over 3,000 years, but as Carter held up his candle, his partner, Lord Carnarvon who had financed the expedition called out asking if he saw anything. Carter responded, “Yes, wonderful things.” Though his reign may have been short, the treasures found in Tutankhamun’s tomb have given him an outsized place in the history books and popular culture.Related episodes:Art Smart | Ancient Egyptian Art Who ARTed | The Ancient Egyptian Book of the DeadWho ARTed | The Mummy's CurseWho ARTed | The Pyramids at GizaCheck out our sponsor Factor at www.FactorMeals.com/whoarted50 Enter the promo code whoarted50 to get 50% off your first box and 20% off your next month!Check out my other podcasts Art Smart | Rainbow Puppy Science LabWho 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 week I spoke with Carrie Rickey, the author of a new biography of Agnes Varda. Varda is considered to be one of the greatest female directors in film history. She is one of the greatest French directors in film history. She is among the greatest and most influential directors in really any category of film. In her decades of work producing film, photographs and installations, she inspired generations of creators with her exploration of fresh perspectives. Varda helped to define the French New Wave.Buy A Compliecated Passion: The Life and Work of Agnes Varda on Amazon or wherever you get your books.Learn more about Varda:https://www.amazon.com/Early-Women-Filmmakers-International-Dual-Format/dp/B06X42G2RT    A DVD box set of films by women filmmakers.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RR1361-7nw Interview with Agnes Varda for the Academy Libraryhttps://youtu.be/4cG0JF9tuf0?si=qGJDi1JPWyjkPiml  The young Varda photographs Brassai in a slapstick documentary for French TV.Check out our sponsor Factor at www.FactorMeals.com/whoarted50 Enter the promo code whoarted50 to get 50% off your first box and 20% off your next month!Check out my new favorite history podcast, Calm History:Want to dive even deeper into history? Try the podcast Calm History You'll learn about famous explorers, leaders, inventions, civilizations and ancient wonders all narrated in a calm voice to help you relax or fall asleep. Find Calm History on your favorite podcast app: https://podfollow.com/calm-historyCheck out my other podcasts Art Smart | Rainbow Puppy Science LabWho 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

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 LabWho 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

The brilliance of Edward Hopper is that he was able to be simultaneously specific and concrete yet vague and leave a lot up to the viewer to interpret. In a painting like Nighthawks we see people gathered in a diner, but as viewers we are stuck on the outside looking in. We feel isolated and apart from the scene and as we look closer, we discover that the people inside the diner are isolated themselves. It is not a group of four inside the space but rather a collection of four individuals.My guest for this episode was Julie Averbach, the founder of smARTee, a non-profit that helps people feel connected and continue their lifelong learning via free virtual museum tours. She is also the author of the upcoming book, The Art of Trader Joe's (https://theartoftraderjoes.com) which helps readers appreciate the subtle brilliance of the grocery chain. Buy the book on Amazon or at your local bookstore.Check out our sponsor Factor at www.FactorMeals.com/whoarted50 Enter the promo code whoarted50 to get 50% off your first box and 20% off your next month!Check out my new favorite history podcast, Calm History:Want to dive even deeper into history? Try the podcast Calm History You'll learn about famous explorers, leaders, inventions, civilizations and ancient wonders all narrated in a calm voice to help you relax or fall asleep. Find Calm History on your favorite podcast app: https://podfollow.com/calm-historyCheck out my other podcasts Art Smart | Rainbow Puppy Science LabWho 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