Listener Favorites--Number 1, Part 2: Was Van Gogh Accidentally Murdered? (Season 1, Episode 2)

You voted, and we listened! For the next couple of months, we’re replaying your top five favorite episodes of ArtCurious. Thanks to the many who voted! Up this week, it’s your top choice, our most popular episode ever— was Vincent van Gogh accidentally murdered?

Please note: when it was originally recorded, this episode was our our longest ever. We have since re-recorded it as a more user-friendly double episode, broken into two parts. So if you didn't hear last week's show, please go back and listen in now.

Our Book is Out!

It’s finally here! ArtCurious: Stories of the Unexpected, Slightly Odd, and Strangely Wonderful in Art History, from Penguin Books, is now available in a bookstore near you! It’s a new book filled with stories that have never been covered on this show, and some that have been greatly expanded from their original episodes, and even contains little sidebars with more of the weirdest stories in art history that you’ve been enjoying for these past four years on the ArtCurious Podcast. It’s been an utter joy to write, and I’m thrilled to share it with you. Please pick up a copy today, share the news with your friends and family, and enjoy our little book. My hope is that it is a fun read in our challenging times, and makes you think, as always, about art a little bit differently.

Episode #68: Katsushika Ōi (and Hokusai)

For most Americans, there’s a list of arts that they might be able to rattle off if pressed to name them off the top of their heads. Picasso. Michelangelo. Leonardo da Vinci. Name recognition does go a long way, but such lists also highlight what many of us don’t know-- a huge treasure trove of talented artists from decades or centuries past that might not be household names, but still have created incredible additions to the story of art. It’s not a surprise that many of these individuals represent the more diverse side of things, too-- women, people of color, different spheres of the social or sexual spectrum.

This season on the ArtCurious podcast, we’re covering the coolest artists you don’t know. This week: Katsushika Ōi (and her father, Hokusai).

Episode #67: The Coolest Artists You Don't Know: Romaine Brooks (Season 7, Episode 7)

For most Americans, there’s a list of arts that they might be able to rattle off if pressed to name them off the top of their heads. Picasso. Michelangelo. Leonardo da Vinci. Name recognition does go a long way, but such lists also highlight what many of us don’t know-- a huge treasure trove of talented artists from decades or centuries past that might not be household names, but still have created incredible additions to the story of art. It’s not a surprise that many of these individuals represent the more diverse side of things, too-- women, people of color, different spheres of the social or sexual spectrum.

This season on the ArtCurious podcast, we’re covering the coolest artists you don’t know. This week: Romaine Brooks.

Episode #66: The Coolest Artists You Don't Know: Henry Darger (Season 7, Episode 6)

For most Americans, there’s a list of arts that they might be able to rattle off if pressed to name them off the top of their heads. Picasso. Michelangelo. Leonardo da Vinci. Name recognition does go a long way, but such lists also highlight what many of us don’t know-- a huge treasure trove of talented artists from decades or centuries past that might not be household names, but still have created incredible additions to the story of art. It’s not a surprise that many of these individuals represent the more diverse side of things, too-- women, people of color, different spheres of the social or sexual spectrum.

This season on the ArtCurious podcast, we’re covering the coolest artists you don’t know. This week: Henry Darger.

Episode #65: The Coolest Artists You Don't Know: Edmonia Lewis (Season 7, Episode 5)

For most Americans, there’s a list of arts that they might be able to rattle off if pressed to name them off the top of their heads. Picasso. Michelangelo. Leonardo da Vinci. Name recognition does go a long way, but such lists also highlight what many of us don’t know-- a huge treasure trove of talented artists from decades or centuries past that might not be household names, but still have created incredible additions to the story of art. It’s not a surprise that many of these individuals represent the more diverse side of things, too-- women, people of color, different spheres of the social or sexual spectrum.

This season on the ArtCurious podcast, we’re covering the coolest artists you don’t know. This week: Edmonia Lewis.

Episode #64: The Coolest Artists You Don't Know: Rosa Bonheur (Season 7, Episode 4)

For most Americans, there’s a list of arts that they might be able to rattle off if pressed to name them off the top of their heads. Picasso. Michelangelo. Leonardo da Vinci. Name recognition does go a long way, but such lists also highlight what many of us don’t know-- a huge treasure trove of talented artists from decades or centuries past that might not be household names, but still have created incredible additions to the story of art. It’s not a surprise that many of these individuals represent the more diverse side of things, too-- women, people of color, different spheres of the social or sexual spectrum.

This season on the ArtCurious podcast, we’re covering the coolest artists you don’t know. This week: Rosa Bonheur.

Episode #63: The Coolest Artists You Don't Know: Henry O. Tanner (Season 7, Episode 3)

For most Americans, there’s a list of arts that they might be able to rattle off if pressed to name them off the top of their heads. Picasso. Michelangelo. Leonardo da Vinci. Name recognition does go a long way, but such lists also highlight what many of us don’t know-- a huge treasure trove of talented artists from decades or centuries past that might not be household names, but still have created incredible additions to the story of art. It’s not a surprise that many of these individuals represent the more diverse side of things, too-- women, people of color, different spheres of the social or sexual spectrum.

This season on the ArtCurious podcast, we’re covering the coolest artists you don’t know. This week: Henry O. Tanner.

BONUS: A HUGE Announcement from ArtCurious!

A wildly entertaining and surprisingly educational dive into art history as you’ve never seen it before, from an art curator and host of the beloved ArtCurious podcast

We’re all familiar with the works of Claude Monet, thanks in no small part to the ubiquitous reproductions of his water lilies on umbrellas, handbags, scarves, and dorm-room posters. But did you also know Monet and his cohort were trailblazing rebels whose works were originally deemed unbelievably ugly and vulgar? And while you probably know the tale of Vincent van Gogh’s suicide, you may not be aware that there’s pretty compelling evidence that the artist didn’t die from his own hand but was accidentally killed–or even murdered. Or how about the fact that one of Andy Warhol’s most enduring legacies involves Caroline Kennedy’s moldy birthday cake and a collection of toenail clippings?

ArtCurious is a colorful look at the world of art history, revealing some of the strangest, funniest, and most fascinating stories behind the world’s great artists and masterpieces. Through these and other incredible, weird, and wonderful tales, ArtCurious presents an engaging look at why art history is, and continues to be, a riveting and relevant world to explore.