Lisa Michaux explores Art Podcasts-Arnolfini Portrait
by Lisa Michaux, Tastemaker in Residence
Art Historian Lisa Michaux explores Art Podcasts to add culture to your life, whether you are sheltering at home or venturing out into the world.
Image: Arnolfini Portrait (1434) by Arnolfini Portrait (Collection of the National Gallery of Art, London)
Are you tired of spending all your time looking at screens yet still want some juicy art history to counteract episodes of Tiger King?? Museums around the world have been amazingly creative getting their collections online, but sometimes the last thing we want is more time staring at our phone or laptop. During my time sheltering at home I’ve been listening to a variety of art-centric podcasts that allow me to create the images in my mind while I organize junk drawers, weed the garden, and work on that pesky puzzle.
As a trained art historian and former museum curator, I am familiar with most of the art works being discussed. But when I wasn’t and when I just wanted a refresher, I found that it expanded my experience if I took a moment and reacquainted myself with the pieces in question before listening. I thought I would share my findings with Spirited Table® readers.
Over the summer we will explore a range of podcasts, but will begin with the Art Detective episode on the Arnolfini Portrait, Jan van Eyck’s famous painting held at the National Gallery, London.
Art Detective with Dr. Janina Ramirez
Dr. Ramirez’s Art Detective covers a vast range of art in the 70+ episodes of the podcast. Her passion for all types of painting, sculpture, and architecture shines through as she searches for the hidden meanings and secrets embedded in her topic. Each episode features a different guest and the two discuss the weekly subject. I loved that she embraced an interdisciplinary methodology and invited actors, artists, historians, and writers to find different ways of interpreting the works. The thought-provoking conversations cover art from prehistoric cave paintings to modern sculpture giving listeners much to explore.
In the episode on the Arnolfini Portrait, Dr. Ramirez partners with fashion historian Amber Butchart and the two focus on the clothing and details of this intriguing portrait. If you have taken even a cursory art history class in college, you have probably seen Jan van Eyck’s painting and wondered if the woman is pregnant (she’s not), what is with Arolfini’s crazy hat, and what exactly is going on here?? This is the painting that has launched a thousand theories and our hosts explore the ways the portrait is a conspicuous display of wealth—it made me think of a highly curated Instagram post that tags all the designers being worn! Our hosts get very excited about the woman’s elaborate green dress and discuss the episode Butchart did recreating the garment for her BBC program, A Stitch in Time. I found the episode on YouTube, and if you can bear a little screen time, it is a fun exploration into the role of textiles during this era.
A Stitch in Time: Arnolfini Portrait
If I spend my time listening to a podcast, my goal is to learn something new or expand my understanding of a subject, and this episode definitely accomplished that for me. If you’d like to delve deeper, please explore the National Gallery’s website linked below for more theories about The Arnolfini Portrait. Enjoy, and I will be back next month with a podcast that explores Vermeer’s Girl with Pearl Earring.
Click for National Gallery video!