The Object

Latest Episodes:

Finding Fanny: The Model Who Disappeared Jul 31, 2023

Show notes

She was one of the most recognizable women in the world, her long copper hair filling painting after painting, even if few people knew her name: Cornforth. Model, muse, and mistress to the most influential artists of the Victorian era, she still had to fight for everything she got. Until, in the end, she lost the one thing she could count on for sure: herself. You can see in this 1868 painting, "I know a maiden fair to see," in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/83645/i-know-a-maiden-fair-to-see-charles-edward-perugini You can see the photograph mentioned in this episode--of , posing beside a mirror--here: http://www.rossettiarchive.org/docs/sa223.rap.html

Making Monet: The Invention of Genius Jul 03, 2023

Show notes

He rose from scorn and poverty to become one of the most beloved and wealthy artists in history—the original rebel with a cause, dedicated to showing the world a new way of seeing. But what if Claude Monet's real cause was...Claude Monet? What if his rise was fueled by marketing, myth, and money? Can we still love him anyway?

Dangerous Liaisons: What Happened to the First Gay Art Star? Jun 05, 2023

Show notes

Simeon Solomon—bold, dashing, and openly gay —is a rising star in the Victorian art world when a scandal in 1873 supposedly forces him into obscurity, a cautionary tale for fans like Oscar Wilde. But the truth is more complicated and only now coming to light, revealing the fate of this forgotten figure as both more tragic and more inspiring.

You can see an “allegorical self-portrait” here, from the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

You can see his haunting masterwork “Love in Autumn” here.

How to Break the World May 01, 2023

Show notes

Truth, beauty, transcendence. For millennia, people think they know the rules of great art. Then, in the 1950s, a guy named Bob breaks every one of them, declaring car tires and Coke bottles and entirely blank canvases part of his art--and, in turn, being declared the greatest artist of his time. As war gives way to optimism, is Robert Rauschenberg offering a weary world a new way of seeing, or is he simply, entertainingly, lucratively bamboozling it? Here, you can see Rauschenberg's 1970 exhibition at Gallery 12, atop Dayton's department store in Minneapolis: https://www.rauschenbergfoundation.org/art/archive/currents-daytons-gallery-12 Here's an iconic print, commissioned but ultimately rejected by Time magazine in 1969, acquired the following year by the Minneapolis Institute of Art when the museum held a major retrospective of his prints: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/7519/signs-robert-rauschenberg And here's a boat hauling Rauschenberg's work across Venice for the 1964 Biennale: https://www.rauschenbergfoundation.org/art/archive/32nd-venice-biennale

Revealing History: The Naked and the Nude Apr 03, 2023

Show notes

As long as humans have made art, they have made art of naked humans. But why? From Greek gods romping in the buff to saints au naturel to modern “bathing beauties,” it’s the surprising story of a phenomenon as misunderstood as it is ubiquitous. You can see one of Matisse's reclining nudes, mentioned in this episode and a great ab workout, here: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/1888/large-seated-nude-henri-matisse And a photo of the real thing in studio here: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/4502/henri-matisse-brassai The scandalous Caillebotte nude on a couch here: https://collections.artsmia.org/search/Caillebotte One of many Saint Sebastians here: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/47994/saint-sebastian-martin-schongauer And last but certainly not least, Dürer's winking image of men at the bath: https://collections.artsmia.org/search/Durer%20bath

Breaking Good: The Department of Missing Limbs Mar 06, 2023

Show notes

The first episode of Season 5 is a story as old as life itself: things fall apart. But what really happened to all those ancient statues missing arms, legs, heads, and other appendages? How have we come to treat them as normal--a normal way of seeing the classical age, like paintings of the Renaissance or black-and-white photos of the 1900s? Have they shaped a perception of the past as more remote, mysterious, and, well, broken than it really was? See some of the battered artworks mentioned in this episode, including the Tiber muse: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/1280/the-tiber-muse-graeco-roman A Graeco-Roman torso: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/8483/torso-graeco-roman An ancient Egyptian figure: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/1346/striding-figure-ancient-egyptian And the Venus de Milo: https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010277627

Encore episode: The Black Musketeer: A Swashbuckling Tale of Race and Revenge Feb 27, 2023

Show notes

Season 5 of The Object begins Monday, March 6! Until then, enjoy this encore presentation of "The Black Musketeer," first broadcast in May 2022. The man behind "The Three Musketeers" and "The Count of Monte Cristo" was one of the richest, most popular authors in the world—an adventurous celebrity who could fight as well as write. But many of Alexandre Dumas’ readers today don’t know that he was Black—or that his best story may have been his own. A portrait of Alexandre Dumas, widely reproduced in his day, was recently acquired by the Minneapolis Institute of Art: collections.artsmia.org/art/142671/po…eugene-giraud Another portrait of Dumas in Mia’s collection—younger, dashing, looking a little like Prince: collections.artsmia.org/art/54426/por…hille-deveria

Bonus episode: When a Kiss is Just a Kiss Feb 06, 2023

Show notes

In 1950, Robert Doisneau takes one of the most iconic photographs of Paris—a young couple kissing on the street—that eventually becomes a global symbol of romance, spontaneity, joie de vivre. But the real story is only now coming to light, a story about the world as it is and the world as we wish it to be. You can see the photograph in question here, in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, but be sure to listen before you buy a ticket to Paris: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/11815/le-baiser-du-trottoir-robert-doisneau

Do You Feel Lucky? A Bonus Episode for the New Year Jan 19, 2023

Show notes

Many people dream of finding a masterpiece in the attic, a closet, or a thrift store. In 2007, it happened to a church in a small town, and the story behind the painting is just as curious. It's a special bonus episode to start the new year with good vibes and a question: do you feel lucky? What would you do? Maybe you should listen to find out. You can see the painting mentioned in this episode, "Christus Consolator," in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/104894/christus-consolator-ary-scheffer

A Christmas Fable: The Sinner and the Saint Dec 19, 2022

Show notes

In 1650, a less-than-holy artist is hired to paint a religious mystery even the pope isn't totally sure about. It's just one part of the Church's plan to counter its enemies with guns, inquisitions, and art, but the mystery—and the artist—will become increasingly popular as a new world threatens to end the old. You can see the grand artwork mentioned in the show here, in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/1613/the-immaculate-conception-with-saints-francis-of-assisi-and-anthony-of-padua-giovanni-benedetto-castiglione

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected