When critics hinted Maurice Prendergast was getting a little repetitive as he approached 50, he could’ve hung up his brushes. After all, he’d been pretty successful. Instead, he headed back to where it all began--Paris--and came away reinvigorated with “a new impulse,” as he called it.

Today’s episode takes us to the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington DC. We’ll find out how an idea that started with Congress just before the Depression led to an official modern art museum on the National Mall!

SHOW NOTES

“A Long Look” themes are "Easy" by Ron Gelinas https://youtu.be/2QGe6skVzSs and “At the Cafe with You” by Onion All Stars https://pixabay.com/users/onion_all_stars-33331904/

Episode music

“Scenes from Childhood, Op. 15 - IX. King of the Hobbyhorse” by Robert Schumman

Performed by Donald Betts.

“Children's Corner, L. 113 - III. Serenade of the doll” by Claude Debussy

Performed by Edward Rosser

Both courtesy of musopen.org

“Loopster” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Artwork information

Beach at Saint-Malo

https://iiif.si.edu/mirador/?manifest=https%3A%2F%2Fids.si.edu%2Fids%2Fmanifest%2FHMSG-HMSG-66.4131 (mirador zoom-in view)

https://hirshhorn.si.edu/collection/artwork/?edanUrl=edanmdm%3Ahmsg_66.4131

Prendergast info

https://www.theartstory.org/artist/prendergast-maurice/

https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.5270.html

Maurice Prendergast. Wattenmaker, Richard J, and National Museum of American Art. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1994.

https://archive.org/details/mauriceprenderga0000watt/page/n5/mode/2up

Maurice Prendergast : By the Sea. Homann, Joachim. Brunswick, Maine: Bowdoin college Museum of Art, 2013.

“The Early Art Education of Maurice Prendergast.” Glavin, Ellen. Archives of American Art Journal 33, no. 1 (1993): 2–12. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1557569. (JSTOR)

Hirshhorn info

https://hirshhorn.si.edu/explore/the-founding-donor/

https://hirshhorn.si.edu/about-us/

https://siarchives.si.edu/history/hirshhorn-museum-and-sculpture-garden

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden : The Collection. Brunet, Briana Feston, and Romare Bearden. Edited by Stéphane Aquin, Anne Reeve, and Sandy Guttman. New York: DelMonico Books, 2022.

Transcript available at https://alonglookpodcast.com/saint-malo/

So much better than Instagram! Pierre-Auguste Renoir invited 14 friends to lunch one summer--several lunches actually--and ended up creating this spectacular work of art.

In today’s episode we find out about this happy group and that beautiful riverside restaurant they’re clearly enjoying. And I’ll tell you a pretty funny story about how Duncan Phillips was able to get this stunner for his new modern art museum, the Phillips Collection in Washington DC.

SHOW NOTES

“A Long Look” themes are "Easy" by Ron Gelinas https://youtu.be/2QGe6skVzSs and “At the Cafe with You” by Onion All Stars https://pixabay.com/users/onion_all_stars-33331904/

Episode music
“Parisian” by Kevin MacLeod
https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/music.html
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

From Blue Dot Sessions:
“Via Verre” https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/306837

“Symphony 40 In G Minor” https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/306840

“Etude 9 Stefan” https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/306841

Artwork information
https://www.phillipscollection.org/collection/luncheon-boating-party

https://www.phillipscollection.org/event/2017-10-06-renoir-and-friends-luncheon-boating-party

“The Eye of Duncan Phillips: A collection in the making” by Duncan Philips and David W. Scott. 1999. Edited by Erika D. Passantino. Washington, DC: Phillips Collection in association with Yale University New Haven.

Sitters identified
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luncheon_of_the_Boating_Party

Holston papers
William H. Holston papers, 1915-1964. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Reel D-169 #1029-31

“Luncheon of the Boating Party” by Susan Vreeland
https://bookshop.org/p/books/luncheon-of-the-boating-party-susan-vreeland/11716075?ean=9780143113522&next=t

Maison Fournaise
https://www.maisonfournaise.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maison_Fournaise

Caillebotte episode
https://alonglookpodcast.com/08-skiffs-caillebotte

Transcript available at https://alonglookpodcast.com/boatingparty/

No bows and arrows, no hunting buffalo on horseback. Walter Ufer saw first-hand that Native Americans in the 1920s weren't the romanticized caricatures from the old Wild West shows.

In today's episode we're looking at “Callers” and find out how a city boy from Chicago ended up in Taos, NM and broke all the rules when it came to depicting his friends and neighbors as real people trying to balance the modern world with tradition.

SHOW NOTES
“A Long Look” themes are "Easy" by Ron Gelinas https://youtu.be/2QGe6skVzSs and “At the Cafe with You” by Onion All Stars https://pixabay.com/users/onion_all_stars-33331904/

Episode Music
“Free Guitar Riding Blues” and “Follow the Little Creek” by Loco Lobo. Courtesy of Free Music Archive
https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/completly-free/free-guitar-riding-blues-f-014

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/verona/follow-the-little-creek-faster-id-1386

“Clusticus the Mistaken” by Doctor Turtle. Courtesy of the artist
https://doctorturtle.bandcamp.com/album/free-turtle-archive-everything-cc-by-by-turtle

Artwork information
https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/callers-24394

Artist info
https://americanart.si.edu/artist/walter-ufer-4912

https://www.historynet.com/walter-ufer/?f

https://cometatomic.com/walter-ufer-a-remarkable-journey-through-art-and-activism/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Ufer

https://www.illinoisart.org/essays/walter-ufer#_ftn23

Ufer letter
https://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15324coll1/id/1930

Taos Artists Society
“The Taos Society of Artists : Masters & Masterworks” by Amy Scott (Internet Archive)
https://archive.org/details/taossocietyofart0000scot

Transcript available at https://alonglookpodcast.com/callers-ufer/

While I’m taking a break, I thought you might enjoy this encore presentation of a popular episode from 2019—the gorgeous Woman Holding a Balance at the National Gallery of Art. If you want to follow along, you can find it at alonglookpodcast.com/vermeer.

And make sure to stick around to the end for a special announcement!

SHOW NOTES

“A Long Look” themes are "Easy" by Ron Gelinas https://youtu.be/2QGe6skVzSs and “At the Cafe with You” by Onion All Stars https://pixabay.com/users/onion_all_stars-33331904/

Episode theme is “Caro Mio Ben in C Major” by Giuseppe Giordani, performed by Joel Meza.
https://soundcloud.com/joel-meza-1/caro-mio-ben-in-c-major

“Women Holding a Balance” information
https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.1236.html

https://www.nga.gov/collection/highlights/vermeer-woman-holding-a-balance.html

Vermeer information
https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.1951.html

“Essential Vermeer” website (extensive amount of info!)
https://www.essentialvermeer.com

Widener information
“Dutch Paintings at the National Gallery of Art: The Untold Stories behind the Acquisitions of the Rembrandts, Vermeers, and Other Treasures in the Collection” (audio)
https://www.nga.gov/global-site-search-page.html?searchterm=wheelock+audio

RECOMMENDED READING
“Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting” by Adriaan Waiboer, et al. Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland, 2017.

Exhibit brochure
https://www.nga.gov/content/dam/ngaweb/exhibitions/pdfs/2017/vermeer-brochurel.pdf

“Vermeer: Faith in Art” by Daniel Arasse

Transcript available at https://alonglookpodcast.com/encore-woman-balance-vermeer/

And you thought YOU were gonna have a lot of holiday company! Poor Mary, who’s only given birth a week or so ago, now faces this onslaught of unexpected visitors in today’s episode.

We’ll find out who exactly all those folks are, their connection to one of the most powerful families in Europe, and what’s up with the peacock. Pretty sure that wasn’t one of the animals at the Nativity...

SHOW NOTES

“A Long Look” themes are "Easy" by Ron Gelinas https://youtu.be/2QGe6skVzSs and “At the Cafe with You” by Onion All Stars https://pixabay.com/users/onion_all_stars-33331904/

Episode music
“Joy to the World” and “We Three Kings” performed by John Sayles
http://www.jsayles.com/familypages/holidaymusic.htm

“Mass for 4 Voices,” composed by William Byrd, performed by Ensemble Morale. Courtesy of musopen.org

https://musopen.org/music/44138-mass-for-4-voices

“Suite in F Major” composed by Michael Praetorius. Performed by Michel Rondeau. Courtesy of musopen.org

https://musopen.org/music/43633-suite-in-f-major

Artwork information
https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.41581.html

https://www.nga.gov/collection/highlights/angelico-lippi-the-adoration-of-the-magi.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoration_of_the_Magi_(Fra_Angelico_and_Filippo_Lippi)

https://www-jstor-org.dclibrary.idm.oclc.org/stable/20074684?seq=6 (JSTOR article, may need to log in through your library)

Magi gifts
https://uscatholic.org/articles/202212/why-did-the-magi-bring-jesus-gold-frankincense-and-myrrh

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/jesus-historical-jesus/why-did-the-magi-bring-gold-frankincense-and-myrrh/

Medici information
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Medici-family

Karen’s favorite illuminated manuscript
“The Hours of Catherine of Cleves” https://www.themorgan.org/collection/Hours-of-Catherine-of-Cleves

Recommended Reading:
“Fra Angelico” by Laurence Kanter and Pia Palladino. Published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Yale University Press, 2005. Pgs 278-283. Explains Magi’s visitation. (Free PDF)
https://cdn.sanity.io/files/cctd4ker/production/f9c70388da067f22ea0e43e5e512fb5f8d2b0d33.pdf

Transcript available at https://alonglookpodcast.com/adoration-magi-angelico-lippi/

Today’s episode is all about relaxing, taking a little break after a long year and before the holidays hit. So I offer you a quiet beach at the Jersey Shore in this serene painting by William Trost Richards.

We’ll find out how this Philadelphia-born artist embraced the idea of nature and art as keys to a better life and his connection to the Corcoran Gallery in Washington D.C.

Thomas Cole and the Corcoran are key parts of the story, so here are previous episodes about them: “A Pastoral Visit” tells the story of the founding of this influential museum and “The Voyage of Life: Childhood” is one of Cole’s dramatic allegorical paintings.

SHOW NOTES

“A Long Look” themes are "Easy" by Ron Gelinas https://youtu.be/2QGe6skVzSs and “At the Cafe with You” by Onion All Stars https://pixabay.com/users/onion_all_stars-33331904/

Episode Music
"Morning" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

“Database Of Problems, Rolodex Of Lies” by Doctor Turtle
https://doctorturtle.bandcamp.com/album/free-turtle-archive-everything-cc-by-by-turtle

Artwork information
https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.195170.html

William Trost Richards information
https://chrysler.org/exhibition/seascapes-by-william-trost-richards/

https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.2710.html

New York Times article on Richards
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/16/arts/design/william-trost-richards-at-national-academy-museum.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

“William Trost Richards: American Landscape & Marine Painter” by Linda S. Ferber
https://archive.org/embed/williamtrostrich0000ferb (archive.org)

“Niagara” by Frederic Edwin Church
https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.166436.html

Episode on the Corcoran Gallery
“A Pastoral Visit”

Episode on Thomas Cole
“The Voyage of Life: Childhood”

Transcript is available at https://alonglookpodcast.com/coast-new-jersey

Welcome back! I hope you all had a great summer. We’ll be spending the rest of 2024 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, starting off with a stunning portrait of a red-headed Irish beauty that shocked London society. We’ll find out who she is and how she was much more than a pretty face.

Then we’ll learn about the very mercurial artist she had to put up with, James McNeill Whistler and the chaos he caused in his own life and others!

SHOW NOTES
“A Long Look” opening and closing themes are by Ron Gelinas:
“Ascension” https://youtu.be/jGEdNSNkZoo and “Easy” https://youtu.be/2QGe6skVzSs

Episode music
“Chopin Waltz in A Minor, B. 150.” Performed by Aya Higuchi

String Quartet no. 2 in B minor - II. Minuetto moderato.” Composed by Joseph Miroslav Weber, Performed by Steves Bedroom Band. Courtesy of musopen.org

Artwork information
https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.12198.html

https://www.nga.gov/features/joanna-hiffernan-the-white-girl.html

https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.12198.html#relatedpages

https://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2022/woman-in-white.html

https://www.nga.gov/collection/highlights/whistler-symphony-in-white-no-1-the-white-girl.html

https://www.nga.gov/blog/how-whistler-painted-white-in-full-color.html

James McNeill Whistler info
https://www.theartstory.org/artist/whistler-james-abbott-mcneill

Joanna Hiffernan Bio
https://www.dib.ie/biography/hiffernan-joanna-jo-a9605

The Peacock Room
https://asia.si.edu/explore-art-culture/interactives/peacock-room/making-the-peacock-room/

Transcript available at https://alonglookpodcast.com/symphony-in-white/

“A Long Look” returns with new episodes soon! Meanwhile, I've been looking down the road trying to figure out the future of the show and realized I've been doing all the talking for the past 7 years! So now, I'd like to hear from you.

I’ve put together a short audience survey to find out your thoughts and experience with “A Long Look.” To be honest, I'm deciding whether or not to continue the show and your feedback will really help. You can find it at alonglookpodcast.com/survey and it shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes. It's a Google form but you DO NOT need a Goole account to fill it out. The deadline is Nov. 15. I look forward to hearing from you and thanks so much!

SHOW NOTES
“A Long Look” themes are "Easy" by Ron Gelinas https://youtu.be/2QGe6skVzSs and “At the Cafe with You” by Onion All Stars https://pixabay.com/users/onion_all_stars-33331904/