Art of History

Before Monet painted water lilies or Degas sketched ballerinas, a wave was crashing in from the East. In this episode, we explore how Japanese woodblock prints—especially Hokusai’s ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’—reshaped the way Western artists thought about space, subject, and form. From flattened perspective to everyday scenes, ukiyo-e wasn’t just decorative—it was revolutionary.

We’ll unpack the rise of Japonisme, its deep (and sometimes uneasy) influence on Impressionism, and how one iconic wave helped turn the tide of art history.

Today’s image: Katsushika Hokusai, ‘Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa o...

In this special episode, the host and producer of The Art of Crime, Gavin Whitehead, joins us to explore the fascinating life of Madame Tussaud.

Known for founding the world-renowned wax museum, Tussaud’s story intersects with the dramatic history of the French Revolution, art, and even true crime.

Tune in for a captivating discussion on how Tussaud’s legacy continues to captivate audiences today, and for more, be sure to check out The Art of Crime wherever you get your podcasts!

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In 1501, Lucrezia Borgia—daughter of the infamous Pope Alexander VI—briefly ruled the Vatican in his absence, a moment as shocking then as it is now. But how did she gain this rare position of power? And how does Frank Cadogan Cowper’s striking Pre-Raphaelite painting mirror our cultural perception of her?

Unravel the myths surrounding Lucrezia Borgia, explore the evolution of women’s roles in the Catholic Church, and examine how history, scandal, and art collide in depicting one of the Renaissance’s most enigmatic women.

Today's Image: Frank Cado...

Pieter Bruegel the Elder's Landscape with the Fall of Icarus reimagines Ovid's Metamorphoses, transforming the myth of Icarus into a meditation on human indifference and folly. This episode unpacks how Bruegel intertwines visual storytelling with contemporary Dutch and Flemish proverbs, reframing Icarus’ tragic fall as a subtle commentary on the world’s disregard for individual suffering.

Today’s artwork: Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus (c. 1560). Oil on canvas. Royal Museums of Fine Arts, Brussels.

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Inspired by The Rainbow Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I at Hatfield Park, an extravagant cake was recently unveiled by Emma Jayne Cake Design, for Cake International 2024. Learn the secrets of this enthralling portrait and its cake twin on today's art bite!

Today's works:

Emma Jayne Cake Design, "Elizabeth I" and Unknown Artist, Rainbow Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I (c. 1600-1603). Hatfield House, United Kingdom.

Witchcraft has captivated the imagination of society for centuries, and is today viewed as an enigmatic symbol of limitless power and feminine agency. But this wasn’t always the case. Through art, we can track how witches, once considered monstrous agents of the devil, have been recast as complex figures of mystery, strength, and even allure.

Today's Images: Martin Schongauer, ‘The Temptation of St. Anthony’ (c. 1470); Hans Baldung Grien, ‘The Sorceress’ (1510);  Francisco Goya, 'Witches’ Flight' (1798); Luis Ricardo Falero, 'Witches Going to Their Sabbath' (1878); and Albert Joseph Pénot, 'The Bat Woman' (1890).

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The story behind John Singer Sargent’s iconic painting, Portrait of Madame X, rarely focuses on on the life of its subject, Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau. A prominent Parisian socialite known for her striking beauty, Amélie's story before and after Sargent's portrait speaks volumes about attitudes towards women in the elite circles of Belle Époque Paris.

Today's artwork: John Singer Sargent, Portrait of Madame X (1884). Oil on Canvas. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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George Washington was many things: general, president, family man, and slaveholder. This giant of American history had a complex relationship with the enslaved—and often invisible—laborers who made his achievements possible. But through the art historical record, we can catch glimpses of these individuals and discover how they impacted Washington's life...and legacy.

Today's image: John Trumbull, George Washington (1780). Oil on Canvas. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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Artist and illustrator J.C. Leyendecker (1874-1951) helped shape modern American visual culture as the mind behind advertising campaigns like the legendary “Arrow Collar Man.” He was also responsible for countless covers for the Saturday Evening Post—one more, in fact, than Norman Rockwell. 

Modern biographers also hold that Leyendecker was a gay man. Critics are now asking themselves whether his sexuality permeated into some of his most iconic commercial illustrations. 

Today's Image: J.C. Leyendecker, “Record Time, Cool Summer Comfort,” (advertisement for Kuppenheimer menswear) (c. 1920). Oil on canvas. National Museum of American Illustration, Newport.

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I'm on vacation, and I hope you'll get some time away soon, too! Our featured podcast today is one that you'll 100% want to listen to on your summer travels: History Daily. 

Each weekday on History Daily, host Lindsay Graham (not the senator) takes you back in time to explore a momentous event that happened ‘on this day’ in history. 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...

The internet has been ablaze with hot takes on King Charles III's brand-new royal portrait by British artist Jonathan Yeo. Does it depict a strong, capable monarch? Or one who is overshadowed by the chaotic state of his institution and modern world?

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Adélaïde Labille-Guiard (1749–1803) rose from shopkeeper’s daughter to an official portraitist of the French royal court—only to have her achievements reduced to ash by the Revolution. While she defied societal barriers to build a remarkable artistic career, Adélaïde's legacy was long overshadowed by celebrated portraitist and memoirist Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun.

Today, we’re joined by Bridget Quinn, author of the first (!!) full biography of the trailblazing artist: Portrait of a Woman: Art, Rivalry, and Revolution in the Life of Adélaïde Labille-Guiard. Quinn offers a fascinating new perspective on the layers of Adélaïde’s li...

The Chevalier d'Éon (1728–1810) is known as a transgender icon, living the first half of their life as a man, and the second as a woman. Theirs is also a life that is remarkably documented in contemporary artwork. But how much can we conclusively determine about how the Chevalier viewed themselves from their portraits?

Today's Image(s): Alexandre-Auguste Robineau, The Fencing-Match between the Chevalier de Saint-George and the Chevalier d'Éon (c. 1787-9). Oil on canvas. Royal Collection Trust.

And: Thomas Stewart, Chevalier d'Éon, after Jean-Laurent Mosnier (1792). National Portrait Gallery.

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How did the daughter of an African ruler become goddaughter to Queen Victoria? A young black girl named Aina, later called Sarah Forbes Bonetta (1843–1880), began life in West Africa. But she would grow up to become a popular member of Victorian royal circles.

Today's Image: Hannah Uzor, Aina, Sarah Forbes Bonetta Davies (2020). Acrylic & fabric on canvas, 120x80 cm. Osborne House, United Kingdom.

Hannah Uzor on the English Heritage Podcast

Tour Scotland with me! | Tour Germany & Austria with me!

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With the tragic demise of Lady Jane Grey (1537-1554) serving as inspiration for countless works of art, it was hard to select just one to focus our attention on. But I did it, and in this episode, we dive into the short life of England’s Nine Days Queen.

Today's Image: Paul Delaroche, The Execution of Lady Jane Grey (1833). Oil on Canvas. National Gallery, London.

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Join me in traveling this year! Scotland Trip | Germany + Austria Trip

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Amanda is joined on the podcast for this special episode by Jennifer Higgie, author of The Other Side: A Story of Women in Art and the Spirit World. 

Uncover the role that spiritualism has played in art, particularly since the dawn of modernism, and delve into the biographies of some trailblazing female artists who were all influenced by the occult.

The first major work of art history to focus on women artists and their engagement with the spirit world, The Other Side is so much more than a retelling of art history. It is an e...

At age 42, a nun named Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) decided to heed the command—which she believed came from God—to write down that which she saw and heard. It just so happened that what she saw and heard were visions from Heaven, containing extraordinary sights and sounds that would capture the attention of Popes and Emperors alike for centuries to come.

Today's artwork: Hildegard von Bingen, Self-Portrait frontispiece from Scivias (1142-1152). Ink on parchment. Wiesbaden State Library.

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It may have been easy for Joséphine de Beauharnais (1763-1814) to scoff at the “extraordinary destiny” once promised to her by a fortune-teller. From the Island of Martinique, where she spent her girlhood, to the shadow of the guillotine, where she became a single mother, Josephine likely never would have predicted her remarkable rise to become “more than a queen”—until, that is, she met one Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821).

Today's Image: Sir David Wilkie, Joséphine and the Fortune-teller (1837). Oil on Canvas. National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh.

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Swiss painter Henry Fuseli (1741-1825) was the man behind one of art history’s most famous spooky paintings: ‘The Nightmare.’ But how much do you actually know about this dream-fuelled Gothic image?

Henry Fuseli, The Nightmare (1781). Oil on Canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan.

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Email: artofhistorypod@gmail.com

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Last seen in 1945, the Amber Room is the world’s most valuable missing piece of art, valued as highly as $500 million. Looted by the Nazis after Operation Barbarossa, this “Eighth Wonder of the World” once symbolized peace and unity. Today, it instead represents one of art history’s greatest mysteries.

Today's Artwork: The Amber Room. Catherine Palace/Tsarskoye Selo State Museum and Heritage Site.

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Dr. Kathleen B. Jones joins us on the podcast to discuss not only her new book, CITIES OF WOMEN, but also to dive into the life of literary and artistic icon Christine de Pizan (1364/65-1431).

Listen to our conversation to hear how Christine became not only the first professional female writer in Europe, but also the first person in France to earn a living as a writer, period. Plus, we discuss the ins and outs of medieval manuscript-making, and the parallels between the obstacles faced by professional women in Christine's day and our own.

‘Cities of...

When historians first made the link between a book of hours at Trinity College, Cambridge and two others belonging to Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, they weren't just identifying who owned it. Yes, yes - the book was owned by Henry VIII's right-hand-man (for a time, at least): Thomas Cromwell. But this remarkable book has now become the only object from any 16th-century portrait to survive to this day.

What can such an item tell us about the man who owned it, his times, and what he wanted everyone who saw his portrait to know?

Divorced, beheaded, died... divorced...

A house connected to Anne of Cleves (1515-1557), Henry VIII's fourth wife, is currently on the market! Let's discuss the Grade I listed property and a tidbit of Anne's story in this Art Bite.

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Grant Wood (1891-1942) is probably best known for his double portrait depicting a man and woman on a farmstead - that icon of American painting, American Gothic. But his career encompassed so much more, and was marked by an uncanny ability to weave and deconstruct "American values"—whatever those are.

In The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, Wood builds us a dreamscape in which we can confront the fables and myths of our national identity head-on. And I'm bringing it to you just in time for Independence Day!

Today's ar...

I’m so excited to be bringing you the first of a NEW offering on the Art of History podcast! 🎉 

These “Art Bites,” as I’m calling them, will be a casual place to discuss pieces of news that pertain to topics we’ve either discussed on the show, or which activate my art history brain. 

Our first Art Bite is centered on an upcoming auction at Sotheby's, where a privately-owned portrait of Katherine Parr will go up for sale in July. Tune in to hear me geek out about the power display going on in this represe...

Mark Rothko (1903-1970) was at the forefront of a generation of American artists who revolutionized the scene, right down to the way we understand the very essence of the artistic process.

Even as he rejected both the label of Abstract Expressionism and even the idea that his paintings were technical masterpieces, he is nonetheless a “key protagonist” of the Abstract Expressionist movement and a fierce advocate for the artist’s freedom of expression.

Today's Image: Mark Rothko, ‘Untitled (Red over Dark Blue on Dark Gray)’ (1961). Oil on canvas. Berkeley Art Museum, University of California.

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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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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...

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 peo...

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

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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 (188...

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...

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 f...

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 a...

Tulipmania has stuck in our collective memory as one of the biggest economic calamities to ever strike the western world. The popular narrative holds that in 17th century Holland, ​​homes were mortgaged, reputations were ruined, and livelihoods were lost—all so that tulip bulbs could be bought at higher and higher prices. And when the “bubble” burst, chaos ensued.

In fact, the truth was far less sensational. But contemporary 17th-century artworks can shed some light on the real Tulip Fever, and perhaps give us some clues as to why Tulipmania continues to hold such power over our notions of...

Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte (1785-1879) was one of America’s first international celebrities and self-made women. But how did this Baltimore girl come to count royalty among her in-laws—a century or two before the likes of Wallis Simpson and Meghan Markle snagged their princes? The answer may lie in her unique triple-view portrait by Gilbert Stuart…or is that only part of Elizabeth’s story?

Today's Image: Gilbert Stuart, Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte (1804). Oil on canvas. Private collection.

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

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Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009) is considered one of American’s greatest modern artists. His works combine a regionalist simplicity with a surrealist view of the inner world. But without the people and places that inspired him and allowed him to channel his emotions onto the canvas, we might never have seen that inner world at all.

Let’s take a walk through the life of Andrew Wyeth, encountering the several muses that played an integral part in his creative process, as we endeavor to answer, “What is a muse?”

Today’s artwork: Andrew Wyeth, Christina’s World (1948...

Sandro Botticelli (c.1455-1510) is credited as the man behind some of the greatest mythological paintings in Western art history—a great feat, especially considering that we still don’t fully know the meaning behind his most ambitious work.

Primavera, or Spring (c. 1480) is brimming with allegorical puzzle pieces. Rather than using the Primavera to tell a story from the past, this week we’ll take a step into the painting itself in an effort to demystify what was once a prized possession of Florence’s Medici dynasty.

Today's Image: Sandro Botticelli, Primavera (Spring) (c. 1480). Tempera...