The Object

Almost Famous: The Man Who Would Be Rembrandt

Rembrandt and Lievens were friends and foes, two of the most promising artists of the Dutch Golden Age. But like Mozart and Salieri, one is remembered as an all-time great, the other is mostly forgotten. Only now is the true story of Rembrandt’s rival being told--a story of ego and admiration, tragedy and triumph, forgery and greed. And it’s rewriting everything we know about the master and the nature of genius.
You can see one of Rembrandt's etchings made after his rival's original here: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/55345/the-second-oriental-head-rembrandt-harmensz-van-rijn
Here you can see Rembrandt's reworking of his image of Christ presented for judgement, after suffering the wrath of the Church: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/115357/christ-presented-to-the-people-rembrandt-harmensz-van-rijn

For Real: The Matter of Black Lives

When Gordon Parks becomes the first Black photographer at LIFE magazine, in 1949, he’s determined to show the full measure of Black lives in America. Whether the magazine, and the rest of America, is ready or not.
You can see "American Gothic," Parks’ photograph of Ella Watson that is featured in this episode, in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/100557/american-gothic-gordon-parks
You can see a variety of other work by Parks, who began his career in Minnesota, here: https://collections.artsmia.org/search/artist:%22Gordon%20Parks%22

A Photographer in Hitler’s Bath

When World War II begins, Lee Miller is one of the most sought-after women in the world--a celebrated model, an irresistible muse, and an emerging photographer in her own right. So why does she trade the high life for the front line, risking everything to become the only female photojournalist allowed in combat?

Stealing Beauty: The Stolen Horses of Venice

In the early 1800s, the four famous bronze horses of Venice are restored to their place atop St. Mark's Basilica, after a long and humiliating absence. But when American artist Charles Caryl Coleman arrives in Venice, in the 1870s, his celebrated painting of the horses exposes some clues to their real origins. A story of empire and theft, and a betrayal that forever changed the world.
You can see the painting by Coleman, The Bronze Horses of San Marco, in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/2607/the-bronze-horses-of-san-marco-charles-caryl-coleman
This episode features a clip from the podcast Curious Objects, from Antiques magazine. Listen to more at https://www.themagazineantiques.com/podcast/

Revenge of the Artist

Mademoiselle Lange is the first celebrity actress in France, as famous for her lovers as her looks. But when the French Revolution roils the country, she is forced to fight for her life, and meets her match in a rising artist who is commissioned to paint her portrait. A picture that will upend both their lives--and the art world--in dramatic fashion.
You can see the scandalous portrait mentioned in this episode, "Portrait of Mlle. Lange as Danae," here in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/1727/portrait-of-mlle-lange-as-danae-anne-louis-girodet-de-roussy-trioson

Life After Life: The Psychic Sculptor

In 1852, Harriet Hosmer packs her pistol, her anatomy degree, and two pictures of a sculpture she made and moves to Rome. There, among other “emancipated women” in the expat colony, she becomes one of the world’s most famous artists. But it’s the spirit world that truly calls to her, the realm of the dead that she channels through clairvoyance and seances. So what happens when she answers?
You can see her remarkably tender sculpture of Medusa, referenced in this episode, in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/81074/medusa-harriet-goodhue-hosmer
Learn more about “Supernatural America,” the exhibition organized by the Minneapolis Institute of Art and featuring Hosmer’s Medusa, opening June 2021 at the Toledo Museum of Art:
https://new.artsmia.org/exhibition/supernatural-america-the-paranormal-in-american-art

Lost and Found: The Miracle of Saint Frida

When Frida Kahlo dies, in 1954, she is soon forgotten. And then, suddenly, she seems to be everywhere: on magnets, puzzles, underwear, flip-flops. How did this remarkable artist become an international icon, an emoji, a figure of fervid devotion? And what does she mean to those who believe?
You can see Yasumasa Morimura's "An Inner Dialogue with Frida Kahlo," mentioned in the show, in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/109149/an-inner-dialogue-with-frida-kahlo-morimura-yasumasa
Have you heard Frida Kahlo talk? Neither has anyone else--not since she died, in 1954. Unless it turns out that this is actually her, on a recording surfaced a couple years ago by the National Sound Library of Mexico: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjTA2Dd8U9o

Secrets of the Veiled Lady

They are illusions, no more real than someone being sawed in half onstage. Yet the veiled ladies that Raffaelle Monti sculpts in the 1800s are very real to him. Poignant symbols of an identity he’s forced to conceal, even as they make him famous. To launch Season 3, it’s a story of pride and prejudice and dreams just out of reach.
Here you can see Monti’s Veiled Lady, c. 1860, in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/12092/veiled-lady-raffaelo-monti

Bonus episode: Love Among the Ruins

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 art and love come together, as the rest of the world is falling apart?
You can see one of Modigliani’s iconic Head sculptures here, from the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art: 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: https://new.artsmia.org/stories/art-secrets-the-starfish-in-her-face/

Bonus episode: A New Year’s to Remember

As the page finally turns on 2020, enjoy this bonus episode on the New Year's illustrations made by Winslow Homer for Harper's Weekly magazine in 1869. At a moment surprisingly similar to our own, the American artist captured something of the feeling then, even as his life--and art history--was about to change forever.
You can see the illustrations in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art here: https://collections.artsmia.org/search/new%20year's%20homer