Art Slice - A Palatable Serving of Art History

Watch the video version here: https://youtu.be/gK2OcbuE7Oo

When the dazzling German actress Maria Lani arrived in Paris in the late 1920s, her presence set the art world abuzz. She quickly recruited over fifty artists—including Pierre Bonnard, Jean Cocteau, Marc Chagall, André Derain, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso (he said no), Man Ray, Georges-Henri Rouault, Fernand Léger, and Suzanne Valadon—to depict her in paintings, photographs, and sculptures for an upcoming film.

There was just one problem: "Maria Lani" was a construct. She wasn’t a famous actress—she wasn’t even "Maria Lani." So what did she plan to do with all these artworks?

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When Maria Lani disappeared along with the pieces, rumors spread that she had stolen the works and sold them to unsuspecting collectors in the United States. Was this the art heist of the century? Or was something else going on?

We sit down with Author and Illustrator - Jonathan Lackman and Zachary J. Pinson - to uncover the truth—and discuss The Woman with Fifty Faces, a stunning new graphic novel from Fantagraphics that explores the enigmatic life of this maligned figure.

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VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/0_9up1-1b2U

Mary Cassatt, known for her paintings of women and babies (then and now), made a surprising move to accept a mural commission for the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893.

This gig was a big deal, especially if you were a younger artist- it could be a career-making move. But when Mary, decades into her own art career, first received the invitation . . .

well, here’s what she had to say:

“When the committee offered it to me to do, at first I was horrified, but gradually I began to think it would be great fun to do something I had never done before and as the bare idea of such a thing put (Cassatt's best frenemy) Degas into a rage and he did not spare every criticism he could think of, I got my spirit up and said I would not give up the idea for anything.”

So . . . maybe a little spite inspired this mural? 

Spite and...a surprising reimagining of the story of Eve.  

Unfortunately, this mural has been lost to the sands of time...and we're (maybe, foolishly) diving in with the only surviving grainy black and white photos to guide us.

Special thanks to Klaire Lockheart! https://www.instagram.com/klairelockheart

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✅ MUSIC FROM THIS EPISODE:

Holinzacc0 - "Yesterday"

https://holiznacc0.bandcamp.com/album/lofi-and-chill

Blear Moon - "Fortitude"

https://blearmoon.bandcamp.com/album/love-in-ruins

Holinzacc0 - "First Snow"

https://holiznacc0.bandcamp.com/album/winter-lo-fi-2

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We highly recommend watching this one if possible as Violeta Parra’s works are so breathtaking and impactful:

➩ ➪ ➩ ➪ https://youtu.be/g0vESB_nKvE

This month, we dive into Violeta Parra’s (1917-1967) multifaceted legacy with her biographer, Ericka Verba.

You can find Ericka’s book, “Thanks to Life” on her website: www.erickaverba.com as well as more Violeta Parra resources.

Violeta’s artistic journey has many parallels to Frida Kahlo’s: both artists began painting while bedridden; drew from their personal experience with the folk arts of their country, Frida in Mexico and Violeta in Chile.

They both lived and worked during a time when their respective countries were at a crossroads and made it their mission to capture the folk culture of their countries:

Frida with a paint brush and Violeta through song, poem, painting and arpilleras (embroidery).

And while most of us have only heard of Frida Kahlo, both artists achieved international fame in their lifetime and their legacies continue to this day.

Violeta Parra became the first Latin American artist (period) to have a solo exhibition at the Louvre in Paris in 1964 at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs.

And more recently, her arpilleras were featured in the 2022 Venice Biennale “Milk of Dreams” which also featured some Art Slice favorites like Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo and Dorothea Tanning, to name a few.

While she was putting her own twist on this traditional folk medium during her lifetime, arpilleras took on a much different meaning under the brutal, US-backed Pinochet dictatorship several years (1973-1990) after her sudden death (suicide) in 1967:

They became a protest symbol and tool of resistance against the regime for Chilean women, as well as a way for them to grieve their disappeared loved ones.

But before arpilleras, Violeta had become internationally known for her music. When she began her artistic career, she started with painting.

Her paintings explore deep emotions and personal experiences. The planes of color and vague interiors really mind us of Richard Diebenkorn and Florine Stettheimer.

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WATCH THE EP HERE: https://youtu.be/9Y4po7xiX5o

We’re back with the 2nd dose of our CREATURE DOUBLE FEATURE series, featuring the mysterious 1944 lithograph “Whodunit?” by artist, illustrator, printmaker and children’s book author: Wanda Gág!

We also discuss her work bringing German fairy tale energy to children’s literature in “Millions of Cats” from 1928.

In this episode, we discover Wanda Gag’s life lesson through her winding, warping, wonky, and wobbling images of interiors and landscapes.

Wanda was raised in a Bohemian community of German immigrants in New Ulm, Minnesota, in a house built and designed from scratch in the Queen Anne style by her artist father, Anton Gag. 

Wanda’s story really is that of a modern fairytale involving a magical childhood, German Märchen, creative energy, (unfortunately) tragedy, and a coming of age lesson we can all glean from: life is what you make it and despite the forces telling you otherwise, it CAN be full of whimsy and creativity.

Her struggle as a young artist doing commercial work to stay afloat while attending the Art Students League in NYC NYC reminded us a lot of Dorothea Tanning’s story - finding yourself working odd jobs like ‘lamp shading’ for Wanda or serving canapes to men in suits dressed in hula skirt like Dorothea.

The grind is part of being an artist, or really most of us, in the modern world and we found Wanda’s story not only relatable but extremely relevant to our times.

As we learned more about her ethos and way of working, we found that she and Charles Burchfield, another Art Slice fav (ep 12) have SO MUCH in common: their works come from hours of observation of their subjects, beit the mundane indoors or sublime outdoors, and their results complement one another, yin and yang, if you will.

Topics include Howard, non-euclidian fun, Russell’s version of “Kiss the Girl”, dog stables, bedazzled witch boots, and grey soup. 

MUSIC:

"FIRE WALK WITH ME" by Kenobit - kenobit.bandcamp.com

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ᓚᘏᗢ Special thanks to the folks at the Wanda Gag House - click here to learn more ᗢᘏᓗ

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Our SCARY releases continue . . . well, RE-RUN in this case. 

WATCH HERE: https://youtu.be/hYONIhxxKUQ

In celebration of our new 2025 Creature Double Feature episodes, we went back to the vault and added VISUALS to our Creature Feature episode with Japanese printmaker Hokusai (1760-1849) and Celtic Spook School alum Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh (1864-1933) and their terrifying contributions to spooky art history.

Both works were inspired by female protagonists who were WRONGED: one from ancient Japanese folklore and the other via the imagination of a fascist Italian playwright.

Real talk: this was one of our favorite episodes we recorded years ago! Hope you enjoy it, NEW EPISODE OUT SOON. <3 Russell + Stephanie

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