Despite his short life, French painter Thèodore Gèricault (1791-1824) is remembered of one of the giants of art history. In his evocative masterpiece The Raft of the Medusa, Gèricault laid the groundwork for the Romantic era in the visual arts. 

It's easy to get swept up in the vast spectrum of human emotion on display in the canvas. But how much of this painting was drawn from real life events?

Today's image: Théodore Géricault, The Raft of the Medusa. (1818-19). Oil on Canvas. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

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Marie-Rosalie, or Rosa, Bonheur (1822-1899) has been lauded as the most celebrated woman artist of her time. Her breathtaking animal paintings showcase not only her technical skill, but also her so-called “radical” ideals. But just how “radical” was Rosa—who has been lauded as a feminist art historical figure—actually setting out to be?

Today's Image: Rosa Bonheur, The Horse Fair (1852–55). Oil on canvas; 96 1/4 x 199 1/2 in. (244.5 x 506.7 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Wayne Thiebaud on The Horse Fair

Linda Nochlin: Why have there been no great women artists?

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New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch!

Email: [email protected]

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Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast

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New episodes every month. Let's keep in touch!

Email: [email protected]

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/matta_of_fact

Instagram: @artofhistorypodcast

TikTok: @artofhistorypod // @matta_of_fact

Today, gender is largely understood as a fluid concept. And while an increasingly loud minority insist that "men are men and women are women," and that’s simply the way it’s always been…a look through the lens of art history is just one way to quickly realize how flawed that worldview just might be.

Jusepe de Ribera (1591-1652) provides that lens in his 1631 portrait of Magdalena Ventura, subtitled 'The Bearded Woman.' Is this a depiction of a woman boldly defying gender norms? Or simply a person existing with the hand they were dealt by nature?

Today's Image: Jusepe de Ribera, Magdalena Ventura with Her Husband and Son (La Mujer Barbuda) (1631). Museo Fondación Duque de Lerma, Toledo, Spain.

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Part II of Edmonia Lewis' story takes us for a closer look at her masterpiece: the 1876 sculpture, 'Death of Cleopatra.'

In an echo of Edmonia’s approach to her own biography, the work shows Egypt’s last queen “sealing her fate and having the last word on how she’ll be recorded in history.”

Today's Image: Edmonia Lewis, Death of Cleopatra (1876). Marble. Smithsonian American Art Museum.

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Today on Art of History, I am beyond thrilled to bring you two episodes of a show that has quickly become a staple in my daily podcast listening: History Daily.

Every weekday, host Lindsay Graham (American Scandal, American History Tellers) takes you back in time to explore a momentous event that happened ‘on this day’ in history. Whether it’s to remember the tragedy of December 7th, 1941, the day “that will live in infamy,” or to celebrate that 20th day in July, 1969, when mankind reached the moon, History Daily is there to tell you the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world—one day at a time.

So if you’re stuck in traffic, bored at work—wherever you are, listen to History Daily to remind yourself that something incredible happened to make that day historic. A co-production from award-winning podcasters Airship and Noiser.

Episodes: The Accident that Changed King Henry VIII and The Death of Queen Elizabeth I

Edmonia Lewis (1844-1907) was history’s first internationally recognized sculptor of African American and Native American descent, and (as you might expect!) a woman with a multifaceted life story.

Today's Image: Edmonia Lewis, Forever Free (The Morning of Liberty) (1867). Marble, 41.25 x 22 x 17 in. Howard University Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

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Ilya Repin (1844-1930) was one of Russia’s leading realist painters, known for his evocative portrayals of 19th-century working conditions. He was also known for his charged depictions of episodes from Russia’s past - such as an 1885 canvas showing Ivan the Terrible moments after striking his son and heir with a deadly blow. 

We’ll dive deep into this…unique father-son bond, and explore the motivations that led Repin to put this controversial image on display 300 years after the event in question took place.

Today's Image: Ilya Repin, Ivan the Terrible and his Son Ivan (1883-1885). Oil on Canvas, 78.5” x 100”. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

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Two things are true of history podcasts: Everyone loves a bit of Tudor History, and everyone loves a good ghost story. Today, we explore a bit of both!

When visiting Henry VIII’s magnificent Hampton Court Palace, it’s often the darker episodes from its past that get the best reactions. Using Tudor portraiture as our guide, let’s explore the origin of some of the Palace’s ghostly tales and the lives at the center of them.

Today's images:

Jane Seymour (unfinished), after Hans Holbein the Younger (1537). Oil on panel. National Portrait Gallery, London.

Jane Seymour, by Hans Holbein the Younger (1536/37). Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

Portrait of a Lady, perhaps Katherine Howard, by Hans Holbein the Younger. (ca. 1540). Watercolor on vellum laid on playing card (the 4 of Diamonds). Royal Collection Trust.

Effigy of Dame Sybil Penn, from Hampton Church

British School, The Family of Henry VIII (c.1545). Oil on canvas. Hampton Court Palace, Royal Collection Trust.

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This episode comes to you courtesy of Kyle Wood, host of an art podcast that fans of Art of History NEED to have on their radar.

Who ARTed brings you weekly art history for all ages. Whether you are cramming for your art history exam, trying to learn a few facts so you can sound smart at fashionable dinner parties, or just looking to hear something with a more positive tone, Kyle's got you covered. 

Be sure to subscribe to both Who ARTed and Art Smart, both Airwave Media Podcasts, for a weekly art history fix.

Thank you for letting me feature this episode on Han van Meegeren, Kyle. Art of History will return in its regular format, with TWO new episodes next month.

The late 1930s were a rough time in Europe. Nazis were on the rise, and museums began hiding their most treasured works or even shipping them off to safe locations. As all of these works were floating around in the art world and many pieces being hidden, Hans van Meegeren emerged as an art dealer with some lost Vermeers. As I explained in the previous episode about the Vermeer stolen from the Isabella Steward Gardner museum, there aren’t a lot of Vermeer paintings and much of his biography is unknown. There are some historians who believe Vermeer studied under an artist who was heavily influenced by Caravaggio.

Van Meegeren was celebrated for bringing the world the gift of these lost Caravaggio-influenced Vermeer paintings. The critics loved the paintings and they loved Van Meegeren for discovering these lost works. He sold them for huge amounts and over just a few years amassed a fortune of about $30 million in today’s money. The thing is Van Meegeren would sell to anyone with money, including the Nazis. Hermann Goering, Hitler's vice chancellor was an art lover. He particularly loved the Vermeer painting he got from Van Meegeren. In the 1940s, the allies came knocking to ask why Han van Meegeren was doing business with the Nazis. Now whatever they expected to hear as his response, I guarantee they were surprised. Van Meegeren declared that he deserved to be treated as a hero for his dealings with the Nazis because all of the works he sold them were fakes. He claimed that by selling and trading these forgeries he was able to get 137 authentic Dutch masterpieces from the Nazis. It was an interesting defense, that he was not a war criminal but simply a forger. It would be hard for anyone to feel sympathy for the victims of this crime but most found it too hard to believe.

You can find images of the work being discussed at www.WhoARTedPodcast.com and please leave a rating or review on your favorite podcast app. You might hear it read out on the show.

85 years ago, a groundbreaking art exhibition was held in Munich. It showcased the work of 120 artists, many of these internationally renowned modernists. The show was attended by one million people in its first six weeks.

But this landmark show, while one-of-a-kind, is not something to be celebrated. Entartete Kunst (‘Degenerate Art’) was organized at the behest of Adolf Hitler, under Joseph Goebbels' Ministry of Propaganda, to showcase works of art that “undermined” the ideals of the Nazi regime.

The term ‘degenerate’ is making a comeback in contemporary discussions of non-traditional art and culture. The sinister undertones associated with the term could easily be missed by this generation, but to label subversive art forms ‘degenerate’ is a dangerous act. Today on Art of History, we unpack how the term was weaponized, sometimes literally, against avant-garde artists in Hitler’s Reich.

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