Episode #29: The Monuments Men (Season 2, Episode 9)

Episode #29: The Monuments Men (Season 2, Episode 9)

Jennifer Dasal
SEASON 2: Eps. 21-31

Ah, Hollywood. Nothing goes further than a big celebrity-studded movie to grab your pop-culture attention and to inspire countless articles and think-pieces about a particular topic. A really solid blockbuster can raise a niche book to bestseller status or inspire hopeful imitators. And it can lead to a renewed interest in a certain time period or subject matter. In the case of the 2014 film, The Monuments Men, all of this was certainly true. With superstar George Clooney directing and acting alongside Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett and American treasure Bill Murray, among others, The Monuments Men was almost a guaranteed hit when it was released in February 2014. But if your knowledge of the incredible individuals known as The Monuments Men stems only from this movie--well, then, I’m sorry. And I say that with no disrespect to Mr. Clooney and his team, but honestly? This cinematic take is a well-meaning but saccharine mess. The real story of the men--and women--who risked their own lives to save thousands of works of art is far more fascinating, dangerous, and important, even today.

Episode #28: The Ghost Army (Season 2, Episode 8)

Episode #28: The Ghost Army (Season 2, Episode 8)

Jennifer Dasal
SEASON 2: Eps. 21-31

In a time where the arts are ever-undervalued, it is increasingly important for us not just to support the arts in our communities, but to look back through periods of history where artists were applauded for making a significant difference. And in the case of one very special American troop in the midst of World War Two, artists and creative types were tasked specifically with using their skills to preserve people. Art here became a life-saving force- literally. A force for good, even through multiple means of deception.

Episode #27: CURIOUS CALLBACK: What Happened to the Amber Room? (UPDATED Episode #8)

Episode #27: CURIOUS CALLBACK: What Happened to the Amber Room? (UPDATED Episode #8)

Jennifer Dasal
SEASON 2: Eps. 21-31

One of the most awe-inspiring sights in and around St. Petersburg, Russia, is the Catherine Palace, a rococo summer residence for the imperial family of yore. Up until World War II, The Catherine Palace housed something so incredible, so coveted, and so gorgeous that for hundreds of years, travelers fro all over the world flocked to admire it, referred to as the "Eighth Wonder of the World." And then, in the early 1940s with the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, this priceless creation was stolen. And to this day, it has still never been found.

What happened to the Amber Room?

Episode #26: Hitler's Führermuseum (Season 2, Episode 6)

Episode #26: Hitler's Führermuseum (Season 2, Episode 6)

Jennifer Dasal
SEASON 2: Eps. 21-31

One of the reasons that I decided to center this second season of the ArtCurious Podcast around art and World War Two is that there are so many different stories that we can tell about how art and war intersect-- especially and most critically during this war to end all wars. As I discussed in episode #21, the first of the season, it may seem on the surface that there aren’t many direct correlations between World War Two and the arts, but in fact, there were many very tangible connections-- and you can even say that there were physical connections between the two as well. Because while the lives of millions were in the balance during the run of the war, so were those of the visual arts as well. Thousands of paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints, once safely ensconced in homes or collections, were suddenly uprooted at the whim of one man, with one very particular museum in mind for them. Today, we’re digging into the story behind one of the most significant museums never built-- Hitler’s Führermuseum-- and was it really going to be as great as it purported to be?

Episode #25: The Draft, Doctrine, and The Duck (Season 2, Episode 5)

Episode #25: The Draft, Doctrine, and The Duck (Season 2, Episode 5)

Jennifer Dasal
SEASON 2: Eps. 21-31

When I was a kid growing up in the 1980s, one of my favorite things to do was watch old Mickey Mouse cartoons-- I loved seeing Mickey interact with Pluto and Goofy, and could probably have watched hours of these cartoons, if you let me. But one character especially stood out for me, and quickly became my favorite-- I loved the scrappy and grumpy Donald Duck. I still do. And while some of my best-loved episodes revolved around Donald’s skirmishes with Chip and Dale, or around the exploits of his nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie, I still remember seeing numerous cartoons featuring Donald as a soldier during World War Two. Looking back on my childhood, it seems funny and bizarre to me now that I was exposed to American World War Two propaganda. But it’s true-- and it happened with somewhat regularity for someone like me, who had consistent access to the Disney Channel. Of course, as a child, I didn’t really think much of it- it just seemed like yet another Donald Duck cartoon to me. But now, I look back and find myself really curious. How did the Walt Disney and his team, especially a blustery cartoon duck, get involved so specifically in wartime propaganda?

Episode #24: American Propaganda Posters of WWII (Season 2, Episode 4)

Episode #24: American Propaganda Posters of WWII (Season 2, Episode 4)

Jennifer Dasal
SEASON 2: Eps. 21-31

If I was to choose the single most recognizable figure from World War Two for an average American to identify, I would ask you to picture a brunette with an arched eyebrow, her hair tied up neatly in a red-and-white polka-dot kerchief, flexing her right arm, baring her bicep, and fiercely making eye contact with the viewer. The words “We can do it!” blare in a dark blue word bubble over her head to confirm her determination. Yep. You know her. You love her. She’s colloquially referred to as “Rosie the Riveter,” even though the term is a misnomer here, and her image was created by illustrator J. Howard Miller in 1943 for the Westinghouse Electric corporation as a design to boost morale internally. Today, it is one of the most widely recognizable and widely disseminated images of the 20th century.

The funny thing about the “We Can Do It” poster is that its current ubiquity is in contrast with its actual usage back in the 1940s. It was only one of the posters printed for Westinghouse Electric’s morale-boosting campaign, each poster-- about 40 in all-- were only on display in the Westinghouse factories in Pittsburgh and in midwestern Cities for two weeks. Two weeks- that’s not a very long time to have a motivational poster up on display. This makes it almost an oddity, compared to other propaganda posters in the United States during the Second World War. And that’s not all-- it’s also one of the calmer and more positive, both in terms of message and in gender politics, than most-- because as we’re about to see, others were more graphic, more manipulative...and sometimes, far more terrifying.

On this episode, we're going to take on American World War Two propaganda posters: what they were, who created them, and how America was fighting the war via words and pictures, as well as manpower.

Episode #23: Combat Artists of WWII (Season 2, Episode 3)

Episode #23: Combat Artists of WWII (Season 2, Episode 3)

Jennifer Dasal
SEASON 2: Eps. 21-31

In the winter of 1945, a World War II infantryman for the United States would be supplied with gear that was to be carried and trekked from location to location, regardless of weather, ailment, or occurrence. All of this gear alone could easily weigh a good 50 to 60 pounds. Add on a rifle or pistol, bullets and any appropriate add-ons needed to maintain, clean, and restock a weapon, and you are talking a serious load to haul around. To a handful of these men, however, it wasn’t their guns, their helmets, or their first aid kits that were the most significant pieces of equipment that they transported to the battlefield. No- there was a more specialized tool of utter importance. As one soldier, Edward Reep, noted, quote, “I fought the war more furiously perhaps with my paintbrush than with my weapons.”

Today, we're discussing a group of dedicated and talented artists who threw themselves in the middle of war in order to capture the experience and create art about it.

Episode #22: Hitler the (Failed) Artist (Season 2, Episode 2)

Episode #22: Hitler the (Failed) Artist (Season 2, Episode 2)

Jennifer Dasal
SEASON 2: Eps. 21-31

In June 2015, an auction house in Nuremberg, Germany, made headlines for a group of 14 small works sold for a sum of around $450,000. But when it comes to art and art auctions, we have to face a truth: a grand total of four hundred and fifty thousand dollars, spread out over the sale of fourteen separate pieces of mediocre quality, at a small auction house in Europe? Really, that isn't a fantastic haul, and shouldn't have garnered too much media interest. And yet it was a big deal. Why? What was so great about them? Well, it actually wasn't about quality or greatness at all. It was more about notoriety, because the artist was one of the most abhorrent human beings in all of history. The artist was Adolf Hitler.

In this episode, we contemplate the way that fine art inspired, affected, and ultimately molded the man who would become the biggest architect of terror in the 20th century.

Episode #21: Season Prologue- The Relationship Between Art and War (Season 2, Episode 1)

Episode #21: Season Prologue- The Relationship Between Art and War (Season 2, Episode 1)

Jennifer Dasal
SEASON 2: Eps. 21-31

It was the most widespread war in history, involving the participation of more than one hundred million people from around the world, including the greatest powers across the globe: the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, China, Japan, Italy, and the Soviet Union. It affected life in myriad ways: economically, politically, industrially, scientifically, ideologically. And its reach was one of the most horrible. Between the deaths on the battlefield and the mass killings of civilians, an estimated 50 to 85 million fatalities occurred, making it the deadliest conflict in all of recorded human history. And yet, at the same time, it spurred on glimpses of positivity in the midst of this darkness: giving rise to the so-called Greatest Generation, and leading to advances in medicine and aviation, in information technology, and many other sectors.

This was World War Two. But what did the war have to do with art? And how are the effects of the war still being felt today?

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