There are lots of questions that come up in every art history classroom. We hear them over and over again. What is art, really, and how can you define it? Why is the Mona Lisa smiling? What happened to the Winged Victory's arms? And then there's one that you'll hear, or that you'll even think yourself, especially if you are a fan or scholar of Renaissance art. Why, people ask. Why are Michelangelo's women so... un-womanly?
Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, had an image problem: she was seen as frivolous, silly, and out-of-touch. In order to combat her poor press, the royal court commissioned a series of portraits of the queen to make her more relatable and sympathetic. Such images act as excellent propaganda machines, giving Marie Antoinette a much-needed positive spin. But what is even more marvelous is the backstory of the artist who created these portraits-- because the painter who was chosen to portray the highest woman in the land was… another woman.
Talk about a revolution.
In the third episode of the ArtCurious Podcast, we'll look at the lucky and semi-charmed life of Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun, one of the most popular painters of 18th-century France and the official court painter of Marie Antoinette.
Vincent Van Gogh's suicide is a huge part of the mythology surrounding him: as much as the famous tale of the cut-off ear is. This so-called "tortured genius," it is said, was so broken down by life and failure that he had no choice but to end his life. Right? But in 2011, two Pulitzer Prize-winning authors published a book titled Van Gogh: The Life that stunned the art world. Therein, Gregory White Smith and Stephen Naifeh state that the artist didn't actually commit suicide.
No, they say: he was actually murdered.
The inaugural episode of the ArtCurious Podcast explores the world's most famous work of art: Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. It is iconic, incredible, and unforgettable-- but is the work on view in Paris's Louvre Museum today the real deal? Host Jennifer Dasal uncovers the story of the Mona Lisa from its creation in the 16th century through its 1911 theft and to its current status as untouchable superstar, breaking down the strange stories and rumors swirling around it.
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