Art & Design

Global Trends Expected To Dominate Fashion Week

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:12:00 -0500

For the next eight days, designers from around the world will show off their fall collections on runways and online. NPR's Michel Martin checks in with Robin Givhan of Newsweek and The Daily Beast to discuss how globalization and technology are influencing runways and transforming the industry.

Cezanne Sold To Qatar For A Record Price

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 08:00:00 -0500

Last year, the oil-rich Gulf nation of Qatar quietly purchased a painting by Paul Cezanne for more than $250 million, the highest amount ever paid for a work of art. Rachel Martin talks with Alexandra Peers, who recently wrote about the sale in Vanity Fair.

Vintage View: 1920s Pacific Northwest In Color

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 09:00:00 -0500

Back in the day, the closest thing to Photoshop involved paint and a negative. These colorful lantern slides show Washington State like you've never seen it.

The Mona Lisa's Twin Painting Discovered

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:05:00 -0500

Conservators at Madrid's Museo del Prado recently discovered that a replica of the Mona Lisa might have been painted by one of Leonardo da Vinci's pupils. The find provides fresh insight into da Vinci's enigmatic masterpiece and studio practice.

In Italy, Art As A Window Into Modern Banking

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:01:00 -0500

With a nod to the current financial crisis in Europe, an Italian art exhibition looks at the often controversial role that banking played in expanding trade and helping usher in the Renaissance.

Film Noir: Weegee Was His Name; Murder Was His Game

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 05:53:00 -0500

He went by Weegee — as in ouija — because in the 1930s and '40s, the prescient photographer and his camera were often the first to show up at crime scenes.

Minnesota Festival On Ice Melts Art's Boundaries

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 05:47:00 -0500

Call it the Burning Man of the Midwest: a temporary city, built around artistic expression. On a frozen lake outside of Minneapolis, the ice shanties are filled with art and dance parties.

Pollock's Legend Still Splattered On Art World

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:55:00 -0500

Even a century since his birth, American "splatter artist" Jackson Pollock still provokes heated debate about the very definition of art. Was a man who placed a canvas on the floor and dripped paint straight from the can actually creating a work of art?

Ode To Ice

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:00:00 -0500

Discover the secret life of ice--what makes it cloudy or clear, why cracks form on ponds. Science Friday visited Queens ice sculptor Shintaro Okamoto in his studio and spoke with ice researcher Erland Schulson, of Dartmouth University, to find out why ice is an interesting subject for artists and scientists.

At The Louvre, A Rare Showcase For American Art

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:06:00 -0500

The iconic Paris museum has just four American paintings in its huge permanent collection. But a temporary new exhibit is putting the spotlight on early American art, featuring Thomas Cole's dramatic landscape paintings from the early 19th century.

In The Music Box, New Orleans Residents Hear Hope

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:03:00 -0500

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, it left behind a city full of destroyed homes. Now, artists have reclaimed one of the city's blighted properties in the 9th Ward — and turned it into a work of art and music.

Gender Controversy Stacks Up Against 'Lego Friends'

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

Lego introduced a new lineup of toys earlier this month meant to appeal to girls. But a petition posted on Change.org is calling on the toy maker to stop distinguishing between toys for girls and those for boys. So far, the petition has amassed over 47 thousand signatures. Host Michel Martin speaks with one of the sponsors of that petition, Bailey Shoemaker Richards.

The Charmed, Charming Life Of Rosamond Bernier

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:01:00 -0500

Some of My Lives is a lively chronicle of postwar Paris and the author's celebrated circle, a movable feast that included Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Gertrude Stein.

Righting The Wrong On MLK's Statue

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 08:00:00 -0500

"I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness." That sentence is inscribed on a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. in Washington, D.C. The problem? King never said those words, at least, not exactly. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has given the National Park Service a deadline to correct the inscription. Host Rachel Martin has more.

Speedy Toy Cars Blur The Boundaries Of Sculpture

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 05:56:00 -0500

Metropolis II is a giant model of a city with 1,200 colorful little cars zooming at lightning speed around it. The 10-foot-tall piece basically fills up a room, and accidents can happen at any time. Artist Chris Burden decided early in his career that "movement, performance in a certain sense, was the core of sculpture."

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