Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages

Victor Vasarely was a Hungarian-French artist known for his innovative style and contributions to the Op Art movement. One of Vasarely's most famous works is "Zebra," created in 1937. This painting showcases his ability to create optical illusions through the use of black and white stripes. When viewed from a distance, the stripes appear to vibrate and create a sense of movement. This technique, known as the "Vasarely effect," became a hallmark of his style. The Zebra painting is considered to be the first Op Art painting.

This is an encore presentation. Every January/February, I release daily episodes to refresh everyone's memory on the 64 artists and artworks that will be included in my Arts Madness Tournament held in March. While most of these daily episodes will be reruns, I will continue publishing new episodes on Mondays. 

Check out my other podcasts  Fun Facts Daily | Art Smart | Rainbow Puppy Science Lab

Who ARTed is an Airwave Media Podcast. If you are interested in advertising on this or any other Airwave Media show, email: [email protected]
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Bridget Riley, born in London in 1931, is a prominent figure in the Op Art movement. Early life experiences, including wartime evacuation to Cornwall and exposure to nature's patterns, influenced her artistic sensibilities. Her style evolved with influences from Seurat, Pollock, and Balla. Riley's breakthrough came in the 1960s with black and white geometric paintings like "Fall" and "Current," which created illusions of movement and depth. Her work gained international recognition through exhibitions like "The Responsive Eye" at MoMA. Riley's exploration of color and form continues to challenge viewers' perceptions and solidify her place in art history. A key work, "Movement in Squares" (1961), exemplifies her innovative use of simple elements to produce dynamic optical effects, marking a pivotal moment in Op Art and influencing various fields beyond fine art.

This is an encore presentation. Every January/February, I release daily episodes to refresh everyone's memory on the 64 artists and artworks that will be included in my Arts Madness Tournament held in March. While most of these daily episodes will be reruns, I will continue publishing new episodes on Mondays. 

Check out my other podcasts  Fun Facts Daily | Art Smart | Rainbow Puppy Science Lab

Who ARTed is an Airwave Media Podcast. If you are interested in advertising on this or any other Airwave Media show, email: [email protected]
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Modernists said, “form follows function” focusing on how people will use a space, but Gehry focuses on how people will react to the space. His goal is to inspire, to make them feel. He talks about the challenge of creating feeling with inert materials. He says it is the movement that brings out a feeling.

With his design in Bilbao, Spain, rather than simply designing a building to house a collection of some of the world’s most beautiful and inspiring art, Gehry made the building itself a work of art that inspires awe and wonder.

The Guggenheim Bilbao is one of the required artworks for AP Art History. Check out my Spotify playlist, ⁠AP Art History Cram Session⁠ to learn about other artists and artworks from that curriculum.

This is an encore presentation. Every January/February, I release daily episodes to refresh everyone's memory on the 64 artists and artworks that will be included in my Arts Madness Tournament held in March. While most of these daily episodes will be reruns, I will continue publishing new episodes on Mondays. 

Check out my other podcasts  Fun Facts Daily | Art Smart | Rainbow Puppy Science Lab

Who ARTed is an Airwave Media Podcast. If you are interested in advertising on this or any other Airwave Media show, email: [email protected]
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Deesis mosaic, located in the South Gallery of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey, is a monumental work of Byzantine art dating back to approximately 1261 CE. Created during the Palaeologan Renaissance, a period of cultural and artistic rebirth following the Byzantine recapture of Constantinople, the mosaic represents a departure from the rigid, stylized forms typical of earlier Byzantine art. The term "Deesis" translates to "prayer" or "supplication," reflecting the composition's theme: Jesus Christ is flanked by the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist, both of whom are depicted in poses of intercession, pleading for mercy on behalf of humanity.

The mosaic is a marvel of optical engineering. Byzantine mosaicists used thousands of tiny glass and stone cubes, known as tesserae, many as small as a grain of rice for delicate features like skin tones. These tiles were often angled to catch and reflect light from nearby windows and candles, creating a shimmering effect that gave the figures a sense of life and movement. The artist's use of complementary colors for shading, such as greens and olives mixed with pinks, achieved a vibrant, lifelike flesh tone that anticipated techniques used by Renaissance artists centuries later. Although the bottom half of the mosaic was lost to time and water damage, the surviving upper portion remains a profound testament to the emotional depth and technical sophistication of 13th-century Byzantine craftsmanship.
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Frank Lloyd Wright was one of America's most famous and influential architects. He famously said, "No house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill. Belonging to it. Hill and house should live together each the happier for the other." It was this emphasis on unity between the construction and the surrounding landscape that made Falling Water such a breathtaking design.

Related Episodes:

⁠Frank Lloyd Wright | Falling Water (full episode)⁠

This is an encore presentation. Every January/February, I release daily episodes to refresh everyone's memory on the 64 artists and artworks that will be included in my Arts Madness Tournament held in March. While most of these daily episodes will be reruns, I will continue publishing new episodes on Mondays. 

Check out my other podcasts  Fun Facts Daily | Art Smart | Rainbow Puppy Science Lab

Who ARTed is an Airwave Media Podcast. If you are interested in advertising on this or any other Airwave Media show, email: [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices