A Long Look Podcast

I realized I've been talking a lot lately about pure and pious saints. So, it's time to lighten up by hanging out with people who know how to party–the Dutch! Scenes like this of a large group drinking and dancing were Jan Steen's specialty.

We'll find out what brings these country and city folks together and the naughty message behind the caged rooster!

See the artwork at https://alonglookpodcast.com/the-dancing-couple-by-jan-steen/

SHOW NOTES

"A Long Look" theme is "Ascension" by Ron Gelinas youtu.be/jGEdNSNkZoo

Episode theme is "Achaidh Cheide" by Kevin MacLeod. Music from https://filmmusic.io "Achaidh Cheide" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

The Dancing Couple information Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., "Jan Steen/The Dancing Couple/1663," Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century, NGA Online Editions, https://purl.org/nga/collection/artobject/1220 (accessed December 03, 2019).

Jan Steen: Painter and Storyteller (PDF) https://www.nga.gov/research/publications/pdf-library/jan-steen-painter-and-storyteller.html

Breezing Up was a huge hit when Homer exhibited it during the American centennial, 1876. Viewers loved the optimism he conveyed in this scene of a trio of boys and their old skipper speeding towards port, one lad looking towards the horizon.

We'll find out how Homer uses a technique we heard about in the Sargent episode that makes us feel like we're on board and get a brief introduction to lithography, a popular printing method. And I confess to missing an important symbol!

See the artwork at https://alonglookpodcast.com/breezing-up-a-fair-wind-by-winslow-homer/

SHOW NOTES

"A Long Look" theme is "Ascension" by Ron Gelinas youtu.be/jGEdNSNkZoo

Episode theme is "Today's Special:Jam Tomorrow" by Dr. Turtle. https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Doctor_Turtle/Will_Play_Wonderwall_For_Food/Todays_Special_Jam_Tomorrow

Breezing Up information https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.1401.html

https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.30228.html

Winslow Homer information Wilmerding, John. Winslow Homer. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1972. Print.

American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part 1 (PDF) https://www.nga.gov/research/publications/pdf-library/american-paintings-of-the-nineteenth-century-part-i.html

American Stories information https://www.nga.gov/calendar/guided-tours/docent-led-tours/american-stories.html

Lithography tutorial from Minneapolis Institute of Art (YouTube) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHw5_1Hopsc

A young person kneels before a crowd of one-percenters in this kaleidoscopic medieval scene. Meet Joan of Arc, one very tough teen. She's here to convince the exiled French court that she can save France from the British. No wonder they look skeptical!

And just like Sodoma, we get to discover another artist, Louis Maurice Boutet de Monvel. He painted a series of six images about Joan's life for Senator William A. Clark that formerly hung in the Corcoran Gallery in Washington DC.

See the artwork at https://alonglookpodcast.com/her-appeal-to-the-dauphin-by-louis-maurice-boutet-de-monvel/

SHOW NOTES

"A Long Look" theme is "Ascension" by Ron Gelinas youtu.be/jGEdNSNkZoo

Episode theme is "Our Story Begins" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com). Courtesy of https://filmmusic.io License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Joan information

Cristen Conger "Why was cross-dressing the only crime Joan of Arc was charged with?" 2 February 2009. HowStuffWorks.com. https://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/joan-of-arc-trial.htm 11 October 2019

https://www.biography.com/military-figure/joan-of-arc

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Joan-of-Arc

Joan of Arc: Her Image in France and America by Nora Heimann https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/98997.Joan_of_Arc

Joan of Arc trial transcripts https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/joanofarc-trial.asp

French medievalism and Clark commission https://soundcloud.com/nationalgalleryofart/boutet-de-monvels-jeanne-darc-from-print-to-paint

https://soundcloud.com/nationalgalleryofart/the-passion-for-all-things-post-medieval-a-multimedia-perspective

NGA Curatorial Records https://www.nga.gov/collection/curatorial-records-make-an-appointment.html

Slaying dragons and rescuing damsels–all in a day's work for St. George of Cappadocia. We get his story from The Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine, the same place I found the story of St. Lucy!

We also discover the flamboyant Sodoma, an artist I've never heard of! Apparently, this painting isn't always on display so it was great to find this hidden gem.

See the artwork at https://alonglookpodcast.com/saint-george-and-the-dragon-by-sodoma/

SHOW NOTES

"A Long Look" theme is "Ascension" by Ron Gelinas youtu.be/jGEdNSNkZoo

Episode theme is "Angeli, Archangeli" composed by Andrea Gabrieli. Performed by Michel Rondeau. Courtesy of musopen.org https://musopen.org/music/43293-angeli-archangeli/ https://musopen.org/music/performer/michel-rondeau/ https://musopen.org/music/composer/andrea-gabrieli/

St. George information https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.41691.html Jacobus. The Golden Legend of Jacobus de Voragine. New York: Arno Press, 1970. Print.

Sodoma information Priuli-Bon, Lilian. Sodoma. London: G. Bell & Sons, 1900. Print. Vasari, Giorgio. Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects.

Excited for Season 4 to get started! We'll be looking at one big favorite and a couple of hidden gems. Plus one artist I'd never even heard of!

A Long Look is now available on all podcast apps, including Spotify and TuneIn! As always, you can find links to the information in each episode in the show notes.

The best thing about A Long Look? It's available to all art lovers! Listeners who are blind or have low vision can use accessible apps like Apple Podcasts, Overcast and Downcast.

If you want to support the show, please subscribe; leave a rating or review in Apple Podcasts; or spread the word! Recommendations from friends and family is the No. 1 way people are discovering podcasts!

We've reached the end of Season 3! Thanks to all you returning listeners and welcome to our new audience members. If you've been enjoying the show, you can show your appreciation by subscribing and sharing! You can also help by leaving a comment or rating in Apple Podcasts or in your podcast app. That helps more people discover the show!

"A Long Look" will be back in October to give me time to plan and prep for Season 4.

Until then, there's plenty happening at the Gallery. They're staying open until 8 p.m. through August 18 when "The Life of Animals in Japanese Art" closes. Works by Oliver Lee Jackson are up til Sept. 15. And "By the Light of the Silvery Moon: A Century of Lunar Photographs" is up through January 5. Check www.nga.gov for details.

In the meantime, you can catch up on any episodes you missed. You can find them in the archives here and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn or your favorite podcast app.

Thanks for listening!

SHOW NOTES

"A Long Look" theme is "Ascension" by Ron Gelinas youtu.be/jGEdNSNkZoo

This dramatic scene was painted by Paolo Veronese during the Counter-Reformation. The Church, reeling from years of corruption and the rise of Protestantism, relied on works like these to promote the importance and validity of the sacraments. And martyrs were meant to serve as role models to Catholics. The idea was, "Hey, look what this person is willing to go through for their faith!"

I thought it would be fun to have an actual artist on the podcast! So today, I'm joined by Bruce Campbell, one of the Gallery's longtime copyists. We discuss technique and what he discovered while copying this painting he describes as operatic.

Lucy was one tough lady. Despite being born into a noble Sicilian family in the third century, she became a Christian at a time when Christians were being persecuted mercilessly. She stood up to an abusive Roman governor and died speaking her truth to power.

See the artwork at https://alonglookpodcast.com/the-martyrdom-and-last-communion-of-st-lucy-by-veronese/

SHOW NOTES

"A Long Look" theme is "Ascension" by Ron Gelinas youtu.be/jGEdNSNkZoo

Episode theme is "Adoramus te Christe" composed by Giovanni Palestrina. Performed by Słowiki Choir. Courtesy of musopen.org https://musopen.org/music/4209-adoramus-te-christe/

St Lucy information https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.63264.html#overview

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Lucy

de Voragine, Jacobus. The Golden Legend. Anno Press, NY 1969

Counter Reformation information https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/renaissance-and-reformation/protestant-reformation/v/introduction-to-the-protestant-reformation-the-counter-reformation-4-of-4

Bruce Campbell information www.atelierbic.com

This deceptively peaceful summer landscape actually bristles with energy! Van Gogh painted this in Arles, in the south of France where he tried to escape modern life and re-discover a simpler, brighter world.

We'll find out how the actions of an American admiral in a country on the other side of the globe led to one of the biggest artistic influences that Europe–and Vincent–had ever experienced.

See the artwork at https://www.nga.gov/artworks/52178-farmhouse-provence

SHOW NOTES

"A Long Look" theme is "Ascension" by Ron Gelinas youtu.be/jGEdNSNkZoo

Episode theme is "Sonatine – II. Mouvement de Menuet" composed by Maurice Ravel. Performed by Markus Staab. Courtesy of musopen.org. https://musopen.org/music/4724-sonatine/

Farmhouse in Provence information https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.52178.html

https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.52178.html#relatedpages

Japanese influence on Western art Japonisme : Japanese Reflections in Western Art. Sunderland, England: Northern Centre for Contemporary Art, 1986. Print.

Put, Max., Sichel, Philippe., and Koechlin, Raymond. Plunder and Pleasure : Japanese Art in the West, 1860-1930 . Leiden: Hotei Pub., 2000. Print.

Vincent van Gogh and Japan. Tokyo: TV Asahi, 1992. Print.

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/jpon/hd_jpon.htm

https://www.kumon-ukiyoe.jp/en/history.php

https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/stories/inspiration-from-japan#10

Quotes from van Gogh's letter explaining color use https://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/audio-video/audio/collection-highlights-english/farmhouse-in-provence-van-gogh.html

The Life of Animals in Japanese Arthttps://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2019/life-of-animals-in-japanese-art.html

Library of Congress Japanese Prints Collection https://www.loc.gov/collections/japanese-fine-prints-pre-1915/about-this-collection/

Andō, Hiroshige, Artist. Tōto meguro yuhhigaoka / Hiroshige ga. Fuji Japan Mount Tokyo, 1858. [Tokyo: Tsuta-ya Kichizō] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2004666335/.

Today's painting was a real challenge to describe! It's by Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian artist who was one of the pioneers of abstract art. We'll find out how the Apocalypse, Monet, Matisse and music all came together to influence this work.

And we'll find out how Kandinksy's philosophy behind the Improvisation paintings made him an early advocate for long looking!

Improvisation 31 (Sea Battle) does not have an open access image available but you can see it at https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.56670.html

SHOW NOTES

"A Long Look" theme is "Ascension" by Ron Gelinas youtu.be/jGEdNSNkZoo

Episode theme is "Symphony No.40 in G minor, K.550 – III. Minuetto allegretto" composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Performed by Das Orchester Tsumugi. Courtesy of musopen.org https://musopen.org/music/1577-symphony-no-40-in-g-minor-k-550

Improvisation 31 (Sea Battle) information https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.56670.html

Improvisation 31 (Sea Battle) audio https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.56670.html#relatedpages

Wassily Kandinsky, Improvisation No. 31 (Sea Battle) by the National Gallery of Art, 1979?

Wassily Kandinsky, Life and Work, by Will Grohmann. Published by New York, H. N. Abrams, 1958

Monet's "Haystacks" at Art Institute Chicago https://www.artic.edu/collection?artist_ids=Claude%20Monet

RECOMMENDED READING

Concerning the Spiritual in Art by Wassily Kandinsky

Degas broke the rules with his innovative sculpture of Marie van Goethem, a young ballet student at the Paris Opera. We'll find out where she came from and the not-so-glamorous life of a ballerina in Paris in the 1880s and how freaked out the public was when it went on display!

We'll also discover how he was the original upcycler, using materials he had on hand to create her.

At the end of the episode, I let you know which mystery show she plays an important role in!

You can see her at https://alonglookpodcast.com/little-dancer-aged-fourteen-by-edgar-degas/

Ed. note: I'd like to thank the staff of the Object Conservation Department at the Gallery for their help with today's episode.

SHOW NOTES

"A Long Look" theme is "Ascension" by Ron Gelinas

Episode theme is "Violin Sonata in A major" composed by César Franck. Sonata for Cello and Piano – I. Allegretto ben moderato. Performed by Paul Pitman, Bang-Eun Lee

Degas's Little Dancer exhibition brochure (PDF)

Little Dancer Aged Fourteen (NGA Highlights Essay)

Degas and His Dancers (Smithsonian Magazine)

Modeling with Clay (YouTube) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocAc–CQdPw

Little Dancer featured in Endeavour (link expires 6/30/19)