Watch the video version here: https://youtu.be/gK2OcbuE7Oo

When the dazzling German actress Maria Lani arrived in Paris in the late 1920s, her presence set the art world abuzz. She quickly recruited over fifty artists—including Pierre Bonnard, Jean Cocteau, Marc Chagall, André Derain, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso (he said no), Man Ray, Georges-Henri Rouault, Fernand Léger, and Suzanne Valadon—to depict her in paintings, photographs, and sculptures for an upcoming film.

There was just one problem: "Maria Lani" was a construct. She wasn’t a famous actress—she wasn’t even "Maria Lani." So what did she plan to do with all these artworks?

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When Maria Lani disappeared along with the pieces, rumors spread that she had stolen the works and sold them to unsuspecting collectors in the United States. Was this the art heist of the century? Or was something else going on?

We sit down with Author and Illustrator - Jonathan Lackman and Zachary J. Pinson - to uncover the truth—and discuss The Woman with Fifty Faces, a stunning new graphic novel from Fantagraphics that explores the enigmatic life of this maligned figure.

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https://marialani.com/

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VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/0_9up1-1b2U

Mary Cassatt, known for her paintings of women and babies (then and now), made a surprising move to accept a mural commission for the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893.

This gig was a big deal, especially if you were a younger artist- it could be a career-making move. But when Mary, decades into her own art career, first received the invitation . . .

well, here’s what she had to say:

“When the committee offered it to me to do, at first I was horrified, but gradually I began to think it would be great fun to do something I had never done before and as the bare idea of such a thing put (Cassatt's best frenemy) Degas into a rage and he did not spare every criticism he could think of, I got my spirit up and said I would not give up the idea for anything.”

So . . . maybe a little spite inspired this mural? 

Spite and...a surprising reimagining of the story of Eve.  

Unfortunately, this mural has been lost to the sands of time...and we're (maybe, foolishly) diving in with the only surviving grainy black and white photos to guide us.

Special thanks to Klaire Lockheart! https://www.instagram.com/klairelockheart

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✅ MUSIC FROM THIS EPISODE:

Holinzacc0 - "Yesterday"

https://holiznacc0.bandcamp.com/album/lofi-and-chill

Blear Moon - "Fortitude"

https://blearmoon.bandcamp.com/album/love-in-ruins

Holinzacc0 - "First Snow"

https://holiznacc0.bandcamp.com/album/winter-lo-fi-2

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We highly recommend watching this one if possible as Violeta Parra’s works are so breathtaking and impactful:

➩ ➪ ➩ ➪ https://youtu.be/g0vESB_nKvE

This month, we dive into Violeta Parra’s (1917-1967) multifaceted legacy with her biographer, Ericka Verba.

You can find Ericka’s book, “Thanks to Life” on her website: www.erickaverba.com as well as more Violeta Parra resources.

Violeta’s artistic journey has many parallels to Frida Kahlo’s: both artists began painting while bedridden; drew from their personal experience with the folk arts of their country, Frida in Mexico and Violeta in Chile.

They both lived and worked during a time when their respective countries were at a crossroads and made it their mission to capture the folk culture of their countries:

Frida with a paint brush and Violeta through song, poem, painting and arpilleras (embroidery).

And while most of us have only heard of Frida Kahlo, both artists achieved international fame in their lifetime and their legacies continue to this day.

Violeta Parra became the first Latin American artist (period) to have a solo exhibition at the Louvre in Paris in 1964 at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs.

And more recently, her arpilleras were featured in the 2022 Venice Biennale “Milk of Dreams” which also featured some Art Slice favorites like Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo and Dorothea Tanning, to name a few.

While she was putting her own twist on this traditional folk medium during her lifetime, arpilleras took on a much different meaning under the brutal, US-backed Pinochet dictatorship several years (1973-1990) after her sudden death (suicide) in 1967:

They became a protest symbol and tool of resistance against the regime for Chilean women, as well as a way for them to grieve their disappeared loved ones.

But before arpilleras, Violeta had become internationally known for her music. When she began her artistic career, she started with painting.

Her paintings explore deep emotions and personal experiences. The planes of color and vague interiors really mind us of Richard Diebenkorn and Florine Stettheimer.

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MAGIC MIND helped fuel our noggins during the making of this episode -to give your brain some choice fuel, use ARTSLICEJUNE for 50% off your order HERE:

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WATCH THE EP HERE: https://youtu.be/9Y4po7xiX5o

We’re back with the 2nd dose of our CREATURE DOUBLE FEATURE series, featuring the mysterious 1944 lithograph “Whodunit?” by artist, illustrator, printmaker and children’s book author: Wanda Gág!

We also discuss her work bringing German fairy tale energy to children’s literature in “Millions of Cats” from 1928.

In this episode, we discover Wanda Gag’s life lesson through her winding, warping, wonky, and wobbling images of interiors and landscapes.

Wanda was raised in a Bohemian community of German immigrants in New Ulm, Minnesota, in a house built and designed from scratch in the Queen Anne style by her artist father, Anton Gag. 

Wanda’s story really is that of a modern fairytale involving a magical childhood, German Märchen, creative energy, (unfortunately) tragedy, and a coming of age lesson we can all glean from: life is what you make it and despite the forces telling you otherwise, it CAN be full of whimsy and creativity.

Her struggle as a young artist doing commercial work to stay afloat while attending the Art Students League in NYC NYC reminded us a lot of Dorothea Tanning’s story - finding yourself working odd jobs like ‘lamp shading’ for Wanda or serving canapes to men in suits dressed in hula skirt like Dorothea.

The grind is part of being an artist, or really most of us, in the modern world and we found Wanda’s story not only relatable but extremely relevant to our times.

As we learned more about her ethos and way of working, we found that she and Charles Burchfield, another Art Slice fav (ep 12) have SO MUCH in common: their works come from hours of observation of their subjects, beit the mundane indoors or sublime outdoors, and their results complement one another, yin and yang, if you will.

Topics include Howard, non-euclidian fun, Russell’s version of “Kiss the Girl”, dog stables, bedazzled witch boots, and grey soup. 

MUSIC:

"FIRE WALK WITH ME" by Kenobit - kenobit.bandcamp.com

Magic Mind helped fuel our noggins during the making of this episode - to give your brain some choice fuel, use ARTSLICE20 for 20-48% off your order!

ᓚᘏᗢ Special thanks to the folks at the Wanda Gag House - click here to learn more ᗢᘏᓗ

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Our SCARY releases continue . . . well, RE-RUN in this case. 

WATCH HERE: https://youtu.be/hYONIhxxKUQ

In celebration of our new 2025 Creature Double Feature episodes, we went back to the vault and added VISUALS to our Creature Feature episode with Japanese printmaker Hokusai (1760-1849) and Celtic Spook School alum Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh (1864-1933) and their terrifying contributions to spooky art history.

Both works were inspired by female protagonists who were WRONGED: one from ancient Japanese folklore and the other via the imagination of a fascist Italian playwright.

Real talk: this was one of our favorite episodes we recorded years ago! Hope you enjoy it, NEW EPISODE OUT SOON. <3 Russell + Stephanie

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Video version ⟶ https://youtu.be/NpOsfts4sgU

We are back with another edition of our CREATURE DOUBLE FEATURE where we discuss TWO different artworks by TWO different artists and compare what makes them so terrifying!

Usually, we are able to squeeze them into one episode but not this time!

And we kick off our 2025 CDF edition with illustrator, painter, and stained glasser Harry Clarke (1889-1931).

Harry hailed from Dublin, Ireland and grew up during the Celtic Revival.

Harry was just as popular for his book illustrations during the Golden Age of gift-books as well as his other-wordly religious stained glass in churches.

While his masterpiece is the Geneva Window, a breathtaking example of Harry’s skill and mastery of stained glass, we will be focusing on an illustration from the book of Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allen Poe (1919, 1923).

Yes, horror-ific Edgar. Allan.Poe. 

The work in question is that of “King Pest” from 1919, a story about two drunken sailors bumbling about a 19th century plague-stricken London.

Sounds chill but the combo of grim and gory Poe plus Harry’s scary talent of visualizing such tales will give you the heebie-jeebies (not all speaking from experience 👀).

Click PLAY if you dare and get ready to be HARRY-FIED!

Topics include E-Girl socks, El Chavo del Ocho, island getaways, pampooties, Derry Girls, Guinness, TB vaccines and much, much more!

Song: "Yesterday" by Holiznacc0 https://holiznacc0.bandcamp.com/track/yesterday

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Listeners, we are excited to share a very special interview with Orna Tsultem, curator and art historian of Mongolian art, where we dive into the origins of Mongol Zurag, the art of resistance.

We cover A LOT of images in this one so we highly recommend watching when you have the time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QchXwHybmfk&ab_channel=ArtSlicePod

You can also follow along here: https://www.artslicepod.com/episodes/mongol-zurag-art-of-resistance

In this episode, we discuss the origins of Mongol Zurag which began as benign secular painting, which was a significant change from the traditional Buddhist thangka paintings.

After Mongolia became a Soviet satellite state, Mongol Zurag, slowly but surely, became the voice of resistance from Mongolian artists looking to rediscover their cultural heritage.

The Mongol Zurag style continues today and the Mongolian artists’ message which most of us can relate to in the year 2025 living under neo-liberalism and capital greed.

You can learn more about Mongolian Art here:

https://www.artmongolia.org/

MUSIC:

Yesterday Album - Lofi And Chill Artist - HoliznaCC0 https://holiznacc0.bandcamp.com/album...

01 Album - 2013

Toyota Corolla Artist - 2003 Toyota Corolla https://hanahata.bandcamp.com/album/2...

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To watch ➬ mosey on over here ➬ : https://youtu.be/3H3ittr_RNY

We present a very special bonus interview with Emily A. Beeny, Chief Curator at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco about the Mary Cassatt At Work exhibition.

Since her day, Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) has been known for her paintings of bébés and upper class women but there’s another layer - a radical one - that has been overlooked until now.

Join us as we discuss how this new exhibition explores the idea of labor surrounding Cassatt’s studio practice as well as her radical subject matter: the bébés being cared for by, more often than not, nannies, nurse-maids, governesses etc. 

Our conversation with Emily revolves around Cassatt's “A Goodnight Hug” a pastel from 1880.

Topics include the artist as laborer, shedding light on domestic work, her and Cassatt’s involvement in women’s suffrage in the US.

The exhibition closes January 26th, 2025 - don’t miss it!!

You can learn more about the exhibition here:

https://www.famsf.org/exhibitions/mary-cassatt

MUSIC: HoliznaCC0 - “First Snow” 

https://holiznacc0.bandcamp.com/

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WATCH THE VIDEO VERSION HERE (and if you do please like, subscribe, and comment - we are trying to get our videos some traction): https://youtu.be/vQZ0yMxdfuE

¡ ¡ W E ‘ R E B A C K, Y ’ A L L ! !

This time getting lost in the weird and wonderful world of painter, photographer and printmaker Yasuo Kuniyoshi’s early works (Part 1) that feature wonky landscapes populated by dream logic, lumpy babies, curvaceous women, angular farm animals, and Japanese folk tales as well as American folk influences.

Yas’ early works became an amalgamation of his lifelong journey of self-identity, expertly blending sentimental past memories, like that of Japanese folktale Momotaro, with present feelings of fear and isolation due to the growing racism and tension he was experiencing on the daily.

As an Asian American immigrant, and like many other Nikkei, Yas found himself trapped somewhere in the middle - considered neither Japanese nor American enough - as relations between the US and Japan escalated. 

We discuss “Little Joe with Cow” 1923, “Bad Dream” 1924, and “Self-Portrait as Golf Player” 1927. 

Topics include shedding your husk, Weezer dance-a-thons, dual cup-holder LaZ boys, censoring comics and mermaids . . . and so much more!!

Music:

"A flower blooms in complete darkness"

From the album: "Visions, Prophecies, and Night Terrors" by The Hathaway Family Plot

Check out the album on Spotify or Bandcamp

https://thehathawayfamilyplot.bandcamp.com/album/visions-prophecies-and-night-terrors

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Watch the video version here (if you do - please like, subscribe, and comment as we are trying to get our videos more recognition): https://youtu.be/YN-jTDR2spY

¡ ¡ W E ‘ R E B A C K, Y ’ A L L ! !

and diving into the origins of La Catrina, the quintessential skelicon of Day of the Dead. Over the past 100ish years, her image has transcended borders, becoming synonymous with sugar skulls, Frida Kahlo, the Virgin of Guadalupe and even Santa Muerte.

From her first incarnation by Mexican printmaker Jose Guadalupe Posada in 1910 as “Calavera Garbancera” (Chick-Pea Calavera) print, all the way back to early depictions of (and actual) skulls found in Aztec and Mayan tzompantli; Her rediscovery and re-imagining by the Mexican Muralists in the early 20th century, even making a cameo in the larger than life mural by Diego Rivera in 1947 “Sueño de una tarde dominical en la Alameda Central” or “A Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park” and finally, the continuing rise of La Catrina’s visage in the present day.

We also discuss Europe’s Memento Mori moment in Hans Holbein the Younger’s “The Ambassadors” from 1533 as well as Francisco Goya’s Los Caprichos influence on Posada’s “Calavera de los Patinadores” or “Street-cleaning Calavera” from c.1900 and “Calavera Oaxaqueña” or “The Oaxacan Calavera” c.1910.

Topics include renegade saints, is Tim McCraw dead?, hybrid deities, Franceyness, psychedelic skulls, really just lots and lots and lots of skulls . . .

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