Art & Design

Phil Stanton (from left), Chris Wink and Matt Goldman are the founders of the theatrical performance troupe Blue Man Group.

Arts

Sacred, Sad And Salacious: With Many Meanings, What Is True Blue?

9:49pm November 12, 2014

by Mandalit del Barco

In medieval art, Virgin Mary was cloaked in blue. In Colonial America "blue laws" made it illegal to buy alcohol on Sunday. And more recently, irreverent blue humor made blue the most off-color color.

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Andy Warhol's Triple Elvis [Ferus Type] is set to be auctioned at Christie's, and expectations are high — but Warhol's estate won't see any of the money.

Arts
Economy

Famous Paintings Sell For Millions At Auction, But The Artist Gets Zero

2:02pm November 12, 2014

by Eric Molinsky

Unlike novelists and musicians, visual artists don't get royalties for their work. New legislation aims to fix this by taxing public sales, but auction houses Christie's and Sotheby's oppose the idea.

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'Grand Bargain' Will Help Save Detroit — And Its Art

8:11pm November 07, 2014

by Elizabeth Blair

A federal judge in Detroit ruled favorably on the city's "grand bargain" on Friday, approving the city's exit from Bankruptcy. We look at the role foundations played in bringing it about and the Foundation for Detroit's Future, which will be set up in the wake of the verdict.

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Arts

Sotheby's Has Record Auction With Works By Giacometti, Van Gogh

10:23am November 06, 2014

by Elizabeth Blair

On Tuesday night, Sotheby's brought in its highest total yet for a single auction: more than $422 million dollars. The record total owed a lot to the sale of two works — a Giacometti sculpture that went for $101 million and Van Gogh's "Still Life with Daisies and Poppies" fetched $61.8 million.

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Tourists take photos and listen to an audio tour in front of El Greco's 'The Disrobing of Christ' inside Toledo's cathedral.

400 Years After Death, El Greco Receives Celebration He Sought

6:44pm November 05, 2014

by Sean Carberry

The painter had mixed fortunes in life, but his works are receiving the royal treatment in Crete and Spain on the 400th anniversary of his death.

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Arts

'Ciao, Carpaccio!' Painter's Reputation No Longer Sliced Thin

2:25pm November 01, 2014

Jan Morris's new book is an ode to Renaissance painter Vittore Carpaccio. Yes, the thinly sliced meat is named after him. NPR's Scott Simon talks to Morris about her life, work and favorite painter.

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Baroness Aino Bodisco (far right) looks on as Beatrice Lodge is fitted in a debutante dress by fashion designer Oscar de la Renta in 1956.

Arts

Oscar De La Renta Was About Making Women Look And Feel Their Best

1:45pm October 21, 2014

by NPR Staff

His designs weren't experimental, says fashion critic Robin Givhan, but their popularity proved that there's still a place in our culture for fashion rooted in beauty, propriety and decorum.

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Arts

Fashion Icon Oscar De La Renta Dies At 82

10:18am October 21, 2014

by Chris Hopkins

De la Renta died Monday, according to a statement from his family. The Dominican designer was a ground-breaker in the industry.

Edgar Degas' Little Dancer Aged Fourteen is on display at the National Gallery of Art until Jan. 11.

Arts

'Little Dancer' Musical Imagines The Story Behind Degas' Mysterious Muse

11:31am October 20, 2014

by Susan Stamberg

Ballerina Marie Van Goethem started modeling for Edgar Degas around 1878 and inspired his statue Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. But history lost track of her after she left the Paris Opera.

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Mendelsund says his cover for Simone de Beauvoir's The Woman Destroyed "is as close as I've ever come to a jolie laide cover — and I love it for that reason."

Books
Arts

The Jacket Designer's Challenge: To Capture A Book By Its Cover

12:32pm October 17, 2014

Peter Mendelsund has designed hundreds of book covers, including two new ones of his own: Cover and What We See When We Read. He talks about his process and why "dead authors get the best" covers.

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