Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages

Ettore Sottsass was an Italian architect and designer who transformed the design landscape of the late 20th century by challenging the rigid functionalism of modernist architecture. Born in Austria and trained in Turin, Sottsass cultivated a philosophy centered on human joy and playful expression, values cemented during his time as a prisoner of war in World War II. After gai...

My guest this week is CJ Denton, author of a new novel called La Pittura. While his work is historical fiction, in preparation for the book, he conducted extensive research into the life of Artemisia Gentileschi, one of the most celebrated painters of the Italian Baroque era. We discussed her life and work particularly focusing on Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting...

Today I have a bonus episode in the feed. I originally planned to release my interview with Ryan T. Pozzi on Monday, but due to technical difficulties, I had to flip things around. Today, his new book, The Mess that Ma...

Eugène Delacroix stands as one of the defining figures of 19th-century French art and the leading pioneer of the Romantic movement. Rejecting the rigid, line-driven academic standards of Neoclassicism championed by contemporaries like Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Delacroix embraced raw emotion, expressive brushwork, and radiant color inspired by Peter Paul Rubens. From his ...

Joseph Ducreux (1735–1802) was an innovative French portrait painter known for defying the rigid conventions of 18th-century academic art. After training under masters such as Jean-Baptiste Greuze, Ducreux gained acclaim for his pastel work, miniatures, and precise observational likenesses. His talent earned him royal commissions, including a diplomatic assignment to Vienna t...