All tagged WWII
Author Interview: Eden Collinsworth's "What the Ermine Saw: The Extraordinary Journey of Leonardo da Vinci's Most Mysterious Portrait"
I’ve got a great interview for you today— this time, I’m featuring a conversation with Eden Collinsworth on her fascinating book, What the Ermine Saw: The Extraordinary Journey of Leonardo da Vinci's Most Mysterious Portrait. This extraordinary work of narrative non-fiction traces the remarkable history of Leonardo da Vinci’s enigmatic portrait: The Woman with an Ermine, from its original creation, including the fascinating story of its subject, Cecilia Gallerani, and on to its mysterious disappearance for 250 years after which it emerged in the hands of an aristocratic Polish family. Now on display in Krakow, the painting was exiled in Paris, and kept hidden from the Nazis by a brave housekeeper. These defining moments in history comprise a portrait of Europe’s past as vivid and complex as the painting itself.
The magic of Collinsworth’s book is the powerful combination of research-based non-fiction— reminiscent of Walter Isaacson (Leonardo da Vinci) and Mary Gabriel (Ninth Street Women)— with a character-driven narrative that will keep readers glued to the page until the very end. Perfect for fans of Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch or Céline Sciamma’s film Portrait of a Lady on Fire, What the Ermine Saw pulls back the curtain on the fascinating history behind the astonishing portrait.
Episode #98: Cherchez La Femme, or The Woman Behind the Art--Rose Valland (Season 11, Episode 7)
In season 11 of ArtCurious, we’re highlighting the lives and work of the women who supported some of the world’s favorite artists. Today, I am so excited to share with you the life of Rose Valland, a great World War Two hero who personally helped save thousands of works of art from being destroyed or lost forever.
Curious Callback--Episode #54: True Crime/Fine Art: Otto Dix and the Plot to Kill Hitler (Season 6, Episode 1)
Enjoy this month’s Curious Callback episode, all about a “degenerate” painter much-hated by Hitler and fingered for his near-murder. Did Otto Dix plot to kill Hitler?
This is an episode that originally aired on September 30, 2019.
Episode #74: Art Auction Audacity-- Klimt's Adele Bloch-Bauer I (Season 8, Episode 6)
In our eighth season, we’re exploring examples of some of the most expensive artworks ever sold, considering why they garnered so much money, and discovering their backstories. Today: Gustav Klimt’s Adele Bloch-Bauer I.
Episode #54: True Crime/Fine Art: Otto Dix and the Plot to Kill Hitler (Season 6, Episode 1)
Welcome to Season 6 of the ArtCurious Podcast! This season we’re learning that true crime and art history are two genres that have smashed together with some fascinating results. First up: a “degenerate” painter much-hated by Hitler and fingered for his near-murder. Did Otto Dix plot to kill Hitler?
Episode #31: Season Finale, Art and WWII- The Long Shadow (Season 2, Episode 11)
World War Two was the bloodiest, biggest, and most destructive war of all time, decimating entire countries and taking the lives of millions. And as we have learned over the last 10 episodes of the ArtCurious Podcast this season, art was affected in many different ways due to the impact of the war. Art was used to document the experience of soldiers in battle; created to shape public opinion, values, and inspire the war effort; and to fight the enemy. It was a failed dream of Adolf Hitler, leading us to ask how art could have changed the course of history. And it was a victim in many ways, destroyed, looted, or impossibly altered during the course of events. But after the war ended in 1945 and the dust settled throughout Europe and other theaters of war, the effect of war on the art world lessened and the connections between the two softened. Right? Actually, that’s not what happened at all. And the effects of the Second World War are still being felt throughout the art world today.
Episode #30: Art and Remembrance (Season 2, Episode 10)
It's interesting that literature seems to have cornered the market on artistic depictions of those who experienced the Holocaust firsthand. We think of The Diary of Anne Frank or Elie Wiesel’s Night first and foremost when we think of how war has been creatively represented by those who survived it-- or didn’t survive it. But it turns out that there were many artists who made visual representations of their experiences, too-- and lots of these individuals were prisoners, like Anne eventually became, in concentration camps.