Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages

Thank you to everyone who participated in this year's Arts Madness Tournament. After 6 weeks and thousands of votes, we have narrowed the field from 64 down to 1 ultimate artist. Listen for fun facts about our two final artists, Katsushika Hokusai and Maurizio Cattelan, and find out who came out on top in our final round.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

Joan Miró, a renowned Spanish painter, sculptor, and ceramicist, was born in Barcelona on April 20, 1893. Initially steered towards business, Miró's true passion was art. He studied at Barcelona's La Llotja School of Fine Arts and later the Escola d'Art. A period of illness led him to Mont-roig del Camp, a pivotal experience that solidified his commitment to painting and connection to nature. Miró absorbed influences from Fauvism and Cubism, joining the Courbet Group. In 1920, he moved to Paris, befriending Picasso and experiencing poverty, which fueled his art. His work The Farm marked a shift away from realism, and he later embraced Surrealism, developing a unique symbolic language.Arts Madness 2025Season 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 have 32 artists/works from my personal “Salon des Refusés” that were not included in the curriculum. Voting for Round 2 will begin Monday, March 3.Arts Madness 2025 links: The Brackets Vote in the Current Round at whoartedpodcast.com/vote 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

I was thrilled to interview Justin Witte, curator at the Cleave Carney Museum of Art. This summer, the Cleave Carney Museum of Art will be hosting Hokusai & Ukiyo-e | The Floating World. This is will be the first time this collection of works has come to the United States. They will be exhibiting not only prints, but also hand painted pieces from Edo, Japan. The collection features works by Hokusai, Hiroshige and other great artists from the period. Anyone interested in learning more or wanting to buy tickets for the show, go to Hokusai2025.orgArts Madness 2025Season 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 have 32 artists/works from my personal “Salon des Refusés” that were not included in the curriculum. Voting for Round 2 will begin Monday, March 3.Arts Madness 2025 links: The Brackets Vote in the Current Round at whoartedpodcast.com/vote 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

Lee Krasner, born Lena Krassner in 1908, was a pivotal Abstract Expressionist artist often overshadowed by her marriage to Jackson Pollock. Despite this, she forged a unique artistic path, studying at the Women's Art School of Cooper Union and the National Academy of Design before embracing modernism after the opening of MoMA in 1929. Influenced by Hans Hofmann's Cubist theories, Krasner experimented with abstraction, contributing to the WPA's Federal Art Project and the American Abstract Artists group. Her significant "Little Images" series, collages, and later large-scale works like the "Earth Green" and "Umber" series showcased her evolving style and resilience. While initial critical reception was mixed, Krasner gained recognition later in her career, culminating in retrospectives at the Whitechapel Gallery and the Whitney Museum, solidifying her legacy as a vital figure in 20th-century art.Arts Madness 2025Season 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 have 32 artists/works from my personal “Salon des Refusés” that were not included in the curriculum. Voting for Round 2 will begin Monday, March 3.Arts Madness 2025 links: The Brackets Vote in the Current Round at whoartedpodcast.com/vote 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

Today, Vincent van Gogh is one of the most beloved and widely celebrated artists, but in his lifetime, he had extremely limited commercial success. When Vincent died and his brother Theo unexpectedly passed shortly later, the widow Jo van Gogh was left with a young child to raise and no apparent means to support herself. She inherited a collection of Vincent van Gogh's paintings and drawings, but most considered them to be worthless. Joan Fernandez takes us into her her world and shares how Jo crafted Vincent van Gogh's legacy. Saving Vincent, A Novel of Jo van Gogh is a wonderful read that captures the triumphs and struggles that will help you see Jo, Vincent and the artwork in a new way.Joan Fernandez spent 30 years in Corporate America with a professional career in marketing. This background made Jo van Gogh’s marketing genius leap off the page. In 2018, Joan decided to retire to write Jo’s story. She also pens a weekly blog sharing tidbits about Jo as well as essays about shattering limitations that stand in the way of reaching our true potential—a lesson she learned from studying both Jo and Vincent. Check it out at https://joanfernandez.substack.com/Find Joan online: https://www.instagram.com/joanfernandezauthor/ https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Saving-Vincent/Joan-Fernandez/9781647428709 https://www.joanfernandezauthor.com/ https://joanfernandez.substack.com/p/when-a-4-word-feminist-manifesto Arts Madness 2025Season 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 have 32 artists/works from my personal “Salon des Refusés” that were not included in the curriculum. Voting for Round 2 will begin Monday, March 3.Arts Madness 2025 links: The Brackets Vote in the Current Round at whoartedpodcast.com/vote 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

A young, up-and-coming Robert Rauschenberg knocked on the door of Willem de Kooning, one of the biggest stars of the art world in his day. Rauschenberg had a big ask. He didn't want advice or help in the traditional sense. He wanted de Kooning to give him a drawing so he could erase it. After an uncomfortable conversation, de Kooning agreed. He looked through his portfolios and picked out a drawing. It was not easy. Rauschenberg spent weeks and wore through numerous erasers on the mixed media piece. In the end he obliterated nearly every trace of de Kooning's drawing in an act that some consider to be an iconoclastic destruction of the artist's legacy and others see as an incredible tribute that completely upended the way we encounter the work moving it from the paper to the imagination.Arts Madness 2025Season 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 have 32 artists/works from my personal “Salon des Refusés” that were not included in the curriculum. Voting for Round 2 will begin Monday, March 3.Arts Madness 2025 links: The Brackets Vote in the Current Round at whoartedpodcast.com/vote 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

Guoying Stacy Zhang is an art historian and advisor specializing in Buddhist art. She previously served as the associate curator of the Tsz Shan Monastery Buddhist Art Museum and she has advised numerous private collectors on their acquisitions. Her latest work focuses on the intersection of art, spirituality, and technology. In our conversation, she discussed the history of Buddhism, some of themes and motifs in artwork, and how works have evolved over the centuries. We discussed a stone carving of Buddha Sheltered by the Serpent King Muchalinda.Find Guoying Stacy Zhang online: www.gszhang.com www.buddhaland.io Arts Madness 2025Season 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 have 32 artists/works from my personal “Salon des Refusés” that were not included in the curriculum. Voting for Round 2 will begin Monday, March 3.Arts Madness 2025 links: The Brackets Vote in the Current Round at whoartedpodcast.com/vote 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

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.Arts Madness 2025Season 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 have 32 artists/works from my personal “Salon des Refusés” that were not included in the curriculum. Voting for Round 2 will begin Monday, March 3.Arts Madness 2025 links: The Brackets Vote in the Current Round at whoartedpodcast.com/vote 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

Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) was a pivotal figure in the Northern Renaissance, renowned for his mastery of painting, printmaking, and art theory. Born in Nuremberg, Germany, Dürer's early training as a goldsmith and painter laid the foundation for his innovative techniques in woodcut and engraving, exemplified by his famous Apocalypse series and the meticulously crafted Adam and Eve. His travels to Italy exposed him to classical ideals and Renaissance innovations, which he integrated into his unique style. As the court painter to Emperor Maximilian I, Dürer's influence extended throughout Europe, solidifying his legacy as a true Renaissance man and a master of art.Arts Madness 2025Season 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 have 32 artists/works from my personal “Salon des Refusés” that were not included in the curriculum. Voting for Round 2 will begin Monday, March 3.Arts Madness 2025 links: The Brackets Vote in the Current Round at whoartedpodcast.com/vote 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

In mid-19th century Paris, the prestigious Paris Salon, sanctioned by the Académie des Beaux-Arts, reigned as the art world's epicenter, acting as the primary gateway to artistic success. By 1863, mounting rejections ignited public outcry, compelling Emperor Napoleon III to establish the groundbreaking Salon des Refusés. This exhibition, held at the Palais de l'Industrie, showcased rejected artists like Manet, Cézanne, and Pissarro, with Manet's "Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe" causing particular scandal. Despite harsh critical reception, the Salon des Refusés became a pivotal moment, exposing the Académie's rigidity, fostering modern art's rise, and demonstrating a public appetite for unconventional art, ultimately paving the way for future artistic revolutions like Impressionism, and cementing its legacy as a symbol of artistic freedom.Arts Madness 2025Season 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 have 32 artists/works from my personal “Salon des Refusés” that were not included in the curriculum. Voting for Round 2 will begin Monday, March 3.Arts Madness 2025 links: The Brackets Vote in the Current Round at whoartedpodcast.com/vote 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