Pictorial: Recent Episodes
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Quinn and Betty are two non-professional art enthusiasts who love art and want to learn more about it. They take turns researching interesting parts of art history and culture, and sharing those stories with each other. Hosted by Betty Chen and Quinn Rose.
Quinn and Betty examine deaccessioning (specifically in the context of museums selling art) and then get distracted by how hard getting rid of anything is.
An art historian recently discovered that a Mondrian painting has been hung upside down for decades. How does something like that happen, and what made them realize the mistake? Plus: Quinn tries to guess which way abstract paintings are supposed to be oriented.
After Lynn Goldsmith took photos of Prince in 1981, she gave Andy Warhol permission to make a silkscreen illustration. However, she had no idea that he made a series of illustrations, some of which have been licensed for thousands of dollars. Now she has a case in front of the Supreme Court that may shape the future of copyright.
Presidential portraits! Why are so many so boring and a few actually quite interesting? How does Pikachu fit in to this? Let's find out.
Well, there was a fun TikTok trend about everyone's favorite art pieces, but then the sound got taken down and all the videos are unavailable now, so you're going to have to take our word for it. I mean it's fine, we describe the videos and we link to all the art, but still. Rude.
Betty and Quinn return after a brief hiatus to discuss the life and work of JMW Turner... the father of Modernism?
Quinn walks Betty through the life, work, and hot takes of the iconic painter Keith Haring.
Betty walks Quinn through select pavilions and artworks at the 2022 Venice Biennale. This art show has everything: sculptures, paintings, deeply moving artist statements, a paper maze, dreams made out of milk(?)
A brief overview of Venice's biannual international art exhibition, but primarily the most scandalous controversies in its 127 year history.
Augusta Savage was a sculptor, teacher, and part of the Harlem Renaissance. While she was relatively unknown when she passed away, today she's been rediscovered and recognized for her work and for her mentorship to the next generation of artists.
What is the earliest art made by humans? Depends on what you mean by "earliest," "art," and "humans."
We discuss the Netflix mini-series _This Is A Robbery_, a documentary about the theft of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990. Featured topics include mobsters, Rembrandt's only seascape, and how easy it was to commit crimes in 1990.
After the recent vandalism Anna Leporskaya’s Three Figures, we decided to take a look at some other remarkable (and hilarious) museum incidents.
Thousands of years ago, the first emperor of China dictated the construction of thousands of life-sized terracotta soldiers in a hidden mausoleum. Fifty years ago, we found them.
Saturn Devouring His Son is a dark, disturbing painting made by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya, depicting horrific violence, never intended for the public eye. And it's a really funny meme.
Betty uses her nearly 10 years of gallery guide experience to teach Quinn strategies for how to engage with art without any contextual information; Quinn interprets some paintings through her experience of of horror movies, Americana, and delicious picnic food.
This episode we're talking about the contemporary artist Sarah Hatton. Her work focuses on reclaiming materials, the natural world, and investigating questions about human nature. Also, she's Canadian, so Betty's having a great week.
For our first episode of 2022, Betty is walking Quinn through a brief history of concert posters: the good, the bad, and the psychedelic.
In blatant exploitation of the responsibility of hosting our 50th episode, Quinn walks Betty through musicals about famous visual artists.
Betty tells Quinn all about the Florida Highwaymen, a group of African American landscape artists who sold paintings door-to-door and out of the trunks of their cars starting in the 1950s.
In October, the internet came together to laugh about an absurd-sounding art story: a Danish artist had pocketed $84,000 given to him by a museum and returned blank canvasses titled "Take the Money and Run." Today we discuss the Kunsten Museum, Jens Haaning, and what he's trying to do with this art piece.
We finish up our religious art mini-series with a look at the temples and sculptures of Hindu art!
In part three of our religious art mini-series, Quinn and Betty talk about the hamsa, Hiddur Mitzvah, and the paintings of Marc Chagall.
Betty and Quinn look at the art of the biggest religion in the world, Christianity. They cover pieces from catacomb paintings in the fourth century, to the iconic art of Michelangelo, to the surrealist interpretations of Salvador Dalí.
Quinn and Betty kick off a four-part mini-series on major religious art traditions with a peek into the history of Islamic art.
What do the Virgin Mary and the Blue Man Group have in common? Their association with ultramarine blue and its high tech sibling, International Klein Blue.
During World War II, hundreds of art experts and historians pushed for some protection and rescue of millions of art pieces and artifacts. In response, the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program was created. This week Quinn breaks down some of the most interesting stories and people from the book "The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History."
What's the relationship between a 19th century occult movement and the development of abstract art? A lot more than you might think!
Quinn and Betty return to Cyberfeminism by examining the experimental art pieces ALL NEW GEN, Cyberflesh Girlmonster, and Brandon.
In our first episode about Cyberfeminism, Quinn walks Betty through the history and principles behind this 90s art movement. Betty reveals her cyborg dreams.
Betty shares the style and history of lowbrow art, otherwise known as pop surrealism. They examine a unique version of Katy Perry, and Quinn has a cynical take on the underground-to-art-museum cycle.
How does a priceless piece of Nigerian art disappear, only to be found decades later in a London apartment? Honestly, we're still not quite sure, but Ben Enwonwu and his masterpiece portrait Tutu are fun to talk about anyway.
After bringing up his work in a few previous episodes, we finally dive into the Chinese contemporary artist Song Dong. Betty walks Quinn through several of his major pieces, including Waste Not and Communal Courtyard.
This week we're diving into the history of Playbill design, with diversions along the way into Pantone codes, gradients, and minimalist graphic design.
Not only does Quinn have no idea what NFTs are, she doesn't understand blockchain or cryptocurrency... at all. Today Betty's giving them a crash course on what Non-Fungible Tokens are, and what they have to do with someone setting a Banksy painting on fire and then selling it for $380,000.
Quinn found a book about internet art published in 2004, and she's really excited about it. Today we're talking about what defined the early net.art movement, and artists like jodi.org and Olia Lialina who pushed the boundaries of what online art could be in 1995.
This week, we're taking one step deeper into the study of abstract art by examining Piet Mondrian. What historical events, religious beliefs, and settings influenced him to develop his famous style of primary color blocks and black lines?
We've talked before about some abstract artists we like: but why is abstract art valued as fine art at all? We take a look at the patterns behind how abstract artists develop their unique styles and the deceptive complexity of their work.
Quinn and Betty dive into the life and work of Elisabetta Sirani, a groundbreaking Italian Baroque painter. Along the way, they discover that they will be dying soon due to lack of marriage, so that's exciting!
Betty and Quinn talk about the art exhibit they visited when they first met, Marta Minujín's Menusunda Reloaded, as well as other experiential art pieces.
_This episode was supposed to come out last week, which is why we reference it being the "last episode of 2020." Oops!_
We take a look at the work of contemporary multidisciplinary artist Hank Willis Thomas, especially his massive collaborative political art project For Freedoms.
To celebrate our one year anniversary(!!), we talk about the photography movement Pictorialism.
After the recent vote to change Mississippi's flag, we take a look at the principles of flag design and how we would rank various American and Canadian flags.
After briefly acknowledging the 2020 election, we talk about some fascinating campaign posters throughout American history and explore the development of the iconic Obama "Hope" poster.
As a follow-up to our last episode, we talk about some contemporary Indigenous artists, including Carl Beam and Dyani White Hawk.
We dive into a (very) brief history of Indigenous people in the United States and Canada in order to place contemporary Indigenous artists in context.
Quinn loves to talk about art that can be sent through the mail, and Betty has seen an exhibit about this at the Art Gallery of Ontario, so this just might be the quintessential Pictorial topic. We also look at some major markers in the history of mail as an art movement.
Betty and Quinn talk about the goals of museum architecture and share their favorite examples of creative buildings.
What do art museums look like during COVID-19? Quinn and Betty discuss their recent visits to art museums in their respective cities, the new safety measures in place, and some general tips on how to engage with art.
In the conclusion to a two-part series, Betty and Quinn look into the curator Chaédria LaBouvier and the racism she experienced at the Guggenheim.
In 2019, Chaédria LaBouvier curated the exhibit "Basquiat’s “Defacement”: The Untold Story" at the Guggenheim, centered around Basquiat's response to the 1983 murder of Michael Stewart. In part one of a two-part series, Quinn and Betty focus on Basquiat's work and how his art was presented in the exhibit.
Betty and Quinn dive into the Canadian art icon William Kurelek: his upbringing in a Ukrainian immigrant family, the mental illness that affected his life and art, and why he represents a part of Canada.
Ponders from the Accession podcast joins Quinn and Betty to talk all things art and design in Animal Crossing: Redd, the museum, custom clothes, and why we love this pastel world so much. Quinn shares some design short-cuts, Ponders explains the hopeful metaphor they've found in the game, and Betty is thoroughly convinced she needs to buy a Switch.
Powerful art museums are full of art and artifacts stolen from all over the world. Betty and Quinn examine some of the most famous stolen pieces of art that reside in the British Museum, looking at how they were looted and why the British Museum continues to hold them despite calls for repatriation.
Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera were an iconic, revolutionary, and troubled couple. Quinn and Betty dig into their history as a couple, Kahlo's visceral art depicting her experience, and their ongoing legacy.
Betty and Quinn discuss the famously anonymous graffiti artist Banksy. Is he overrated? Hypocritical? Brilliantly subversive? They puzzle out their thoughts on his complicated public image by examining several prominent events, including Dismaland and the 2018 shredding of one of his paintings.
Quinn and Betty talk to The Art Assignment's Sarah Urist Green about about her new book, "You Are an Artist: Assignments to Spark Creation." Along the way they discuss about why art history matters, translating contemporary artwork into accessible assignments, and how to get people out of their own heads and into the creative process.
Why do we like abstract squares so much? Betty and Quinn attempt to answer that question by examining color field painting and examples of rectangles throughout modern art history.
Quinn and Betty virtually visit the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Korea and explore the art exhibit features of Google Arts & Culture.
Betty and Quinn discuss the complicated life and work of the legendary contemporary Chinese artist Ai WeiWei.
What makes a video game artistic? Quinn and Betty talk about the history of the video game vs. art debate and their favorite artistic games.
Betty and Quinn take a break from philosophical questions and tell you all about their favorite art museums. Quinn talks a lot about things that aren't actually art museums, Betty talks a lot about buildings, both have tips on how to visit museums for free.
Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz are two of the most successful artists in United States history. Their relationship influenced not only their own work, but the American artistic community, for decades. Quinn and Betty talk about why they love O'Keeffe, the complicated dynamic between the two artists, and how their different lifestyles led to a fundamental clash.
When the age of art is linked to its value, the lines between art and history museums get blurred. Betty and Quinn discuss what the formal differences between art and history museums are, why objects are placed in one or another, and how cultural origin might affect those decisions.
Betty and Quinn focus in on the Ukrainian-French artist Sonia Delaunay, co-founder of the Orphism movement and brilliantly stylish designer.
Wealth and art have been linked practically since the first humans pressed their hands against a cave wall, but what does that relationship look like today? Betty and Quinn dive into the most expensive paintings ever sold, the way different generations buy art, and the almost comical number of ways art can be used for tax evasion.
Cheap souvenir or art piece? Betty and Quinn discuss "The World Exists To Be Put On A Postcard," a recent exhibit at the British Museum, and the broader use of this cheap and accessible medium as distribution for all kinds of artists.
Betty and Quinn jump into the first episode of Pictorial with a discussion of what art is, if computers can make it, and all the art that robots and humans have made together already.