The Lonely Palette

Tamar Avishai

Welcome to The Lonely Palette, the podcast that returns art history to the masses, one painting at a time. Each episode, host Tamar Avishai picks a painting du jour, interviews unsuspecting museum visitors in front of it, and then dives deeply into the object, the movement, the social context, and anything and everything else that will make it as neat to you as it is to her. For more information, visit thelonelypalette.com | Twitter @lonelypalette | Instagram @thelonelypalette.

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107 episodes
Updated June 23

Episodes107

Newest first

Oct 9, 2019 · 50 min
Bonus - Open Source, "The Bauhaus In Your House," ft. The Lonely Palette
The Lonely Palette is on break until November 2019, so every Wednesday in October, a different Hub & Spoke producer will take the host's chair to present an episode of their show that Tamar is especially fond of. Enjoy this month's podcast petri dish of art, culture, history, and society, and subscribe to any and all Hub & Spoke shows at www.hubspokeaudio.org. This week: Open Source with Christopher Lydon: "The Bauhaus in Your House," a conversation on art, architecture, and design with Tamar A
Aug 9, 2019 · 32 min
Bonus - Artists of Camberville interviews Tamar Avishai
On July 29, 2019 (the day after the birth of my son!), host and producer Danielle Monroe posted this interview we had recorded the week before for her podcast "Artists of Camberville." This was one of best conversations I've ever had about the origins of "The Lonely Palette" and the trials and tribulations of art-viewing, meaning-making, script-writing, audio podcasting about the visual, and, like, a little bit about The Bachelorette. Enjoy!
Jul 19, 2019 · 37 min
Ep. 40 - Frida Kahlo's "Dos Mujeres (Salvadora y Herminia)" (1928)
In which we go beneath the flowers, the unibrow, the broken body, and the shadow of her marriage, to reframe the fame of Frida Kahlo: the Cult Icon of Humanness.
Jun 7, 2019 · 31 min
Ep. 39 - Rembrandt van Rijn's "Portrait of Aeltje Uylenburgh" (1632)
It isn't 17th century Dutch art if we're not going so deeply into Rembrandt's soul and so close to the meticulous details of his virtuosic portraiture that we make the guards nervous.
Apr 5, 2019 · 22 min
TLP Interview with Dan Byers, Director of Harvard's Carpenter Center
Tamar met Dan when she was a worshipful high school freshman and he was (to her) an übercool junior who was not only the arts editor of Thoughtprints, the school's art/lit mag, but also spent his free time in the fine art studio, bending the charcoal like Beckmann. Now he's the Director of the Carpenter Center of Visual Arts at Harvard University, she's an art history podcaster, and they reconnected in the Busch-Reisinger galleries in front of Max Beckmann's "Self-Portrait in a Tuxedo" from 19
Mar 29, 2019 · 30 min
Ep. 38 - Wassily Kandinsky's "Untitled" (1922)
The later work of Russian ex-pat turned German Expressionist turned indispensable Bauhaus faculty member Wassily Kandinsky is a lot like the Bauhaus itself: a disparate collection of pieces parts that ends up assembling itself into a transparent, efficient, powerfully cohesive, form-follows-function whole. This episode was a collaboration with WBUR's Radio Open Source: check them out at radioopensource.org, and listen to their show on the Bauhaus Centennial on April 11, 2019 at 9:00pm EDT on 90
Mar 15, 2019 · 31 min
Ep. 37 - Ansel Adams' "The Tetons and Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming" (1942)
Let's explore America the Beautiful, the Complicated, and the Contradictory, where a purple mountain has no sense of its own majesty, through the lens of the quintessential dorm room poster photographer Ansel Adams.
Jan 31, 2019 · 40 min
Ep. 36 - Behold the Monkey
The fruits of the Second Annual Year-End Patreon Listener Challenge has us staring directly into the cold dead eyes of the beast! How could this restoration of a forgotten 19th century Spanish fresco have gotten so grotesquely botched, and what does it tell us about the challenges of art restoration, religious iconography, and iconoclasm? And more importantly, Jesus, why do you look like a shark?
Dec 16, 2018 · 19 min
TLP Interview with Cecilia Vicuña, Poet & Artist
On October 10, 2018, both the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Cecilia Vicuña herself were generous enough to give me the opportunity to take a few moments away from the installation of "Disappeared Quipu" and interview Vicuña. We talked about bridging the masculinity of Land Art and the femininity of Fiber Art, the origins of Vicuña's life as an artist, and how her own awareness has evolved throughout her career.
Dec 16, 2018 · 31 min
Ep. 35 - Cecilia Vicuña's "Disappeared Quipu" (2018)
Thick woolen knots, suspended from the ceiling, alive with projections and immersed in sound. You might not realize that Chilean artist Cecilia Vicuña has woven together your awareness of your own awareness, but maybe you just needed some help translating it.
Nov 15, 2018 · 41 min
Ep. 34 - Dance Dance Revolution
We're trying a little something different today: what happens when Disney scares the pants off you as a kid, and then, in mining the roots of your existential dread, you realize that Henri Matisse and Igor Stravinsky both had their pants scared off too, and that explains a whole heck of a lot about early 20th century modernism? Let's find out together.
Sep 14, 2018 · 30 min
Ep. 33 - Jean-Honoré Fragonard's "The Desired Moment" (c. 1770)
Powder those wigs and ungird those loins: today we're diving deep into the curves, pastels, and licentious yearnings of a ridiculously saucy little style known as Rococo.
Aug 29, 2018 · 29 min
Ep. 32 - René Magritte's "The Son of Man" (1964)
Ever have a day when you just feel a little... blocked? Well, sure as God made little green apples, Surrealist René Magritte feels you.
Jul 13, 2018 · 31 min
Ep. 31 - Hiroshi Sugimoto's "Byrd Theater, Richmond, 1993" (1993)
Trying to capture time in art is like trying to pin a wave upon the sand or hold a moonbeam in your hand. So leave it to Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto to do it so effectively by taking us to the Golden Age of Cinema.
May 31, 2018 · 25 min
Ep. 30 - Donatello's "Madonna of the Clouds" (c. 1425-1435)
Join the OG Ninja Turtle as he guides you into the Renaissance by way of an exquisite tour of heaven. See the images. Music Used: The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" Lobo Loco, "Piano Cora Theme" The Blue Dot Sessions, "UpUpUp and Over", "Slow Line Stomp", "Lakeside Path", "Perspiration", "Threads and Veils", "Moon Bicycle Theme" Joe Dassin, “Les Champs-Elysees" Support the show by becoming a patron or by just sending us a tip.
Apr 27, 2018 · 29 min
Ep. 29 - Egon Schiele's "Nude Self-Portrait" (1910)
Welcome to the cult of the punk: where the skin is flayed, the contortions are twisty, and the struggle is real. So why can't we get enough? See the images. Music used: The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"The Blue Dot Sessions, "Taoudella", "Fifteen Street", "Smooth Stone", "Scraper", "Then A Gambling Problem", "Warm Fingers", "Chrome and Wax" Support the show by becoming a patron or by just sending us a tip.
Mar 30, 2018 · 27 min
Ep. 28 - Yoko Ono's "Cut Piece" (1964)
Yoko Ono. You may have heard of her. She hooked up with that musician that time. Just under the wire, we end Women's History Month with a peek beneath Ono's art and reputation - and why we need to reconsider both. See the images. Music used: The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" The Blue Dot Sessions, "Plaster Combo", "Valantis", "Strange Dog Walk", "Hundred Mile", "Down at the Bank"" Joe Dassin, “Les Champs-Elysees" Support the show by becoming a patron or by just sending us a tip.
Mar 7, 2018 · 24 min
Ep. 27 - Roy Lichtenstein's "Ohhh... Alright..." (1964)
Can a comic strip be elevated to fine art? Or is Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein just plain dotty? See the images. Music used: The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" The Blue Dot Sessions, "Le Marais", "The Molerat", "Lemon and Melon", "Via Verre", "Lord Weasel", "Entrap" Joe Dassin, “Les Champs-Elysees" Support the show by becoming a patron or by just sending us a tip.
Feb 15, 2018 · 36 min
Bonus - Keepers of the Culture (Live Event at the PRX Podcast Garage)
In this special episode, we listen to the audio from the live event at the PRX Podcast Garage, "Keepers of the Culture: A Celebration of Meduna and Holmes," which I had the privilege of participating in at the end of January. In it I chat with collage artist Ekua Holmes, play her some audio I produced on her work, and then we listen to art historian Barry Gathier give the curator talk to end all curator talks on art, artists, viewers, and why we do what we do. Special thanks to PRX, the PRX Podcast Garage, and WGBH. Support the show by becoming a patron or by just sending us a tip.
Feb 15, 2018 · 37 min
Ep. 26 - C.M. Coolidge's "Dogs Playing Poker" (1903)
Your Listener Patreon Challenge has been accepted! And now, let's dive together into kitsch: the frequency low enough for us all to hear. See the images. Music used: The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" The Blue Dot Sessions, "Rose Ornamental," "Flattered," "Arizona Moon," "Laser Focus," "Alchemical," "Two in the Back," "Maisie Dreamer," "Gullwing Sailor," "Maldoc" Joe Dassin, “Les Champs-Elysees" Support the show by becoming a patron or by just sending us a tip.

The Lonely Palette

Bonus - Open Source, "The Bauhaus In Your House," ft. The Lonely Palette

Bonus - Artists of Camberville interviews Tamar Avishai

Ep. 40 - Frida Kahlo's "Dos Mujeres (Salvadora y Herminia)" (1928)

Ep. 39 - Rembrandt van Rijn's "Portrait of Aeltje Uylenburgh" (1632)

TLP Interview with Dan Byers, Director of Harvard's Carpenter Center

Ep. 38 - Wassily Kandinsky's "Untitled" (1922)

Ep. 37 - Ansel Adams' "The Tetons and Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming" (1942)

Ep. 36 - Behold the Monkey

TLP Interview with Cecilia Vicuña, Poet & Artist

Ep. 35 - Cecilia Vicuña's "Disappeared Quipu" (2018)

Ep. 34 - Dance Dance Revolution

Ep. 33 - Jean-Honoré Fragonard's "The Desired Moment" (c. 1770)

Ep. 32 - René Magritte's "The Son of Man" (1964)

Ep. 31 - Hiroshi Sugimoto's "Byrd Theater, Richmond, 1993" (1993)

Ep. 30 - Donatello's "Madonna of the Clouds" (c. 1425-1435)

Ep. 29 - Egon Schiele's "Nude Self-Portrait" (1910)

Ep. 28 - Yoko Ono's "Cut Piece" (1964)

Ep. 27 - Roy Lichtenstein's "Ohhh... Alright..." (1964)

Bonus - Keepers of the Culture (Live Event at the PRX Podcast Garage)

Ep. 26 - C.M. Coolidge's "Dogs Playing Poker" (1903)