Fine Art

Vision divine du 11 Mars 1948, is a series of eight drawings by Ivoirian artist Frédéric Bruly Bouabré. They depict a vision that Bouabré said he experienced that year: "seven colored suns" creating a "circle of beauty around their 'mother-sun.' " Thi

A vision of 7 suns led a self-taught Ivoirian artist to draw the everyday and the holy

3:13pm August 09, 2022

by Max Barnhart

The Museum of Modern Art shows the colorful works of Frédéric Bruly Bouabré, a prolific artist from the Ivory Coast who documented his Bété culture — and even created a pictograph language.

Lesia Khomenko, Max in the Army, 2022. Oil on canvas, 84.5 x 57.5 inches

The Ukrainian women who make art in the face of war

6:51am August 02, 2022

by Susan Stamberg

Activists as well as artists, these women are responding in paint, photographs and videos to the Russian invasion.

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Books
Arts

Encore: Artist Ai Weiwei on his father's exile and hopes for his own son

4:58pm August 01, 2022

In this encore presentation, NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks to artist Ai Weiwei about his memoir, 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows.

Arts

Artist Tunde Olaniran's 'Made a Universe' opens a portal at a Detroit museum

10:51am July 30, 2022

by Neda Ulaby

Musician and artist Tunde Olaniran is a rising star from Flint, Michigan whose exuberant work comments on serious issues such as environmental injustice and the carceral state.

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Arts

Encore: Whistler's Mother, meet Whistler's very, very close friend

4:27pm July 26, 2022

by Susan Stamberg

A dreamy woman in white painted by James McNeill Whistler is the center of a new show at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Arts

Remembering sculptor Claes Oldenburg, who made monumental everyday objects

2:29pm July 19, 2022

by Terry Gross

Works by the Swedish-born artist include an oversized rubber stamp in Cleveland, a clothespin in Philadelphia and a flashlight in Las Vegas. Oldenburg died July 18. Originally broadcast in 1992.

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The large-scale street art "Saw, Sawing" by Claes Oldenburg / Coosje Van Bruggen Sculpture is seen last year in Tokyo.

Arts

Claes Oldenburg, creator of Pop Art on a giant scale, has died at age 93

1:45pm July 18, 2022

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

The Swedish-born, New York City-based artist was famed for his gargantuan renditions of prosaic objects — a lipstick, a clothespin, a cherry perched on a spoon — installed as public art.

James McNeill Whistler's Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl, 1861–1863

Arts

Whistler's Mother, meet Whistler's very, very close friend at the National Gallery

1:31pm July 18, 2022

by Susan Stamberg

A dreamy woman in white painted by James McNeill Whistler is the center of a new show at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

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An X-ray image shows this previously unknown self-portrait of Vincent Van Gogh painted on the reverse side of his painting Head of a Peasant Woman.

A hidden self-portrait of Van Gogh has been discovered. Here's what you can see so far

1:44pm July 14, 2022

by Wynne Davis

As it prepared for an exhibit, the National Galleries of Scotland found a previously unknown self-portrait by Vincent Van Gogh, covered by glue and cardboard, on the back of another of his paintings.

This reconstruction of a marble archer shows the vivid colors that characterized Greek sculpture, and patterns that identify him as a fighter from Persia.

Arts

We know Greek statues weren't white. Now you can see them in color.

5:00am July 12, 2022

by Jennifer Vanasco

A new exhibit in New York shows what the statues ACTUALLY looked like.