The Object

The Ghost of Hokusai

New episode! It is the stuff of legend, how Claude Monet discovers Japanese art in the late 1800s and becomes one of the most famous artists in the world. But one influence is as real as he is mysterious. The artist behind the "great wave" and hundreds of other iconic images. The artist who calls himself Hokusai (at least for a time), and only becomes more powerful after he's gone.
You can see art by both Monet and Hokusai, side by side, in the show "Hokusai / Monet" on view at the Minneapolis Institute of Art through August 10.

Encore episode: The Making of Monet

If you snagged tickets to the next live taping of The Object, with Dessa, on May 11—nice work! They're now sold out. In the meantime, enjoy this encore presentation of one of our most popular episodes ever. He was 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 from scorn and poverty to become one of the most beloved and wealthy artists in history was fueled by myth and marketing? Can we love him anyway?
You can see Monet's work, well, almost everywhere. But you can see it now, in conversation with the art of Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai, at Mia: https://new.artsmia.org/exhibition/hokusai-monet

Can You Hear Me Now?

Big news! It’s the first episode of Season 7 AND tickets are now available for the next live taping of The Object podcast, featuring musical guest Dessa, quizzes, curator conversation, and storytelling on Sunday, May 11, at 2 p.m. at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. All about surrealism, humor in art, and Mia’s beloved Aphrodisiac Telephone by Salvador Dalí—on his 121st birthday! It’s “Your Lobster is Ringing!,” the second and biggest edition yet of The Object LIVE! Tickets are FREE but limited. Reserve your seats now by going to the tickets page on the Mia website or follow this link: https://tickets.artsmia.org/events/0193e565-7c1c-d9d9-1b45-09cd98f22f2c
And now, today’s episode:
Nick Cave is a young Black art professor in Chicago when, in the 1990s, he makes his first “Soundsuit.” A kind of musical armor, born of pain and pride and self-preservation. He’s now made more than five hundred, adding to the long and fascinating history of going incognito to truly be oneself. A powerful story of the lengths we all go to be both seen and heard.
You can see a soundsuit from 2010 in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/111576/soundsuit-nick-cave
(Listen for a rare "performance" of the Mia soundsuit in this episode.)
Or in the “Giants” exhibition of art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys, now on view at Mia: https://new.artsmia.org

Encore episode: Yard Show: The World According to Joe

The seventh season of The Object begins March 24!
Today, an encore presentation of an episode about Joe Minter and the "yard show" artists of Alabama. Thirty-five years ago, Joe Minter received a vision. Soon, his half-acre property outside Birmingham, Alabama, began to fill with sculpture—reflections on everything from slavery to 9/11 to climate change—fashioned out of junk: car parts, toys, industrial detritus, gizmos of all sorts. An elaborate example of the Southern Black tradition of the yard show, with Minter as its genial showman. Now, it's among the last of its kind, and as museums and collectors come calling, the race is on to determine the fate of Minter’s art and how to think about it.
You can see Minter's art in Alabama, of course, and at the Minneapolis Institute of Art: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/132218/voyage-in-chains-joe-minter

Encore episode: Love Among the Ruins

Season 7 of The Object starts March 24! Here, a special episode from the archives about Love and Art in capital letters.
When the young Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani moves to Paris, in the early 1900s, he soon meets a very talented (and very married) Russian poet. What happens when Love and Art come together, as the rest of the world is falling apart?
You can see one of Modigliani’s iconic Head sculptures, in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, here: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/1502/head-amedeo-modigliani
(Spoiler alert) You can see a close-up of the secret fossil discussed on the show here.

The Object LIVE! Manet Touché!

This first-ever live show of The Object podcast (recorded at the Minneapolis Institute of Art on January 23, 2025) features music and storytelling celebrating French painter Édouard Manet and his Impressionist friends and frenemies (yes you, Monet). Watch for more live shows coming soon!
You can see one of Manet's portraits, as discussed on the show, in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art: The Smoker. 

Fly Me to the Sun: A Bonus New Year Episode

Most of us know the Icarus myth, of the young man who soars too close to the sun—or at least we think we do. But there's more to the story. And at various times in history, the takeaway has changed. As a new year begins, it's worth revisiting the classic tale: how high, or how low, do you want to go?
You can see several takes on the Icarus story in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art here: https://collections.artsmia.org/search/icarus
And one of the more famous, curious depictions here: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/draper-the-lament-for-icarus-n01679

Cold Comfort: The Ghosts of Winters Past

For our final episode of Season 6, it’s an ode to winter. A winter of frozen London rivers and snowy Japanese villages—the kind we rarely have anymore if we ever really did. A winter of art and literature, of pure and plentiful snow—a “wintry mix” we can all appreciate.
A standout winter painting (and recent addition to Mia’s collection) is this Winter Landscape by the Finnish painter David Johannes Niemelä, from 1919: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/145286/winter-landscape-david-johannes-niemelae
If you need a refresher on the Little Ice Age or its art, almost surreal in both its recency and its sights, here’s the quick and icy: https://fiveminutehistory.com/20-amazing-winter-paintings-from-the-little-ice-age/

Yes, We Can-Can: How the Moulin Rouge Made Us Modern

When the Moulin Rouge opens in Paris, in 1889—a faux windmill spinning over the entrance, a two-story elephant opening to reveal an orchestra inside—the world is changing quickly. The first film comes out that same day. Electric lights are enlivening the night. The old Victorian morals are being challenged, perhaps nowhere moreso than at this new bohemian cabaret where rich and poor are coming together around the high-kicking can-can and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec is the absinthe-drinking artist-in-residence—a flash of freedom and romance that will resonate in the popular imagination long after the moment dissolves in war, crackdowns, and heartbreak.
You can see one of Toulouse-Lautrec's best-known paintings, "At the Moulin Rouge," now in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago and currently on view at Mia: https://new.artsmia.org/exhibition/at-the-moulin-rouge

Bonus episode: Talking Wanda Gág with Lizzi Ginsberg

Lizzi Ginsberg is the Chicago-based writer and researcher who guest-hosted our recent episode on Wanda Gág, the Minnesota-raised artist who went on to fame and some fortune in New York writing and illustrating quirky, beloved books like "Millions of Cats." Here, Ginsberg shares what drew her to Gág and the charming, sometimes tragic story of a woman deliberately both behind and ahead of her time.
You can see some of Gág’s work in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art here: https://collections.artsmia.org/search/Wanda%20Gag