The Lonely Palette
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.
- Update frequency
- every 28 days
- Average duration
- 31 minutes
- Episodes
- 104
- Years Active
- 2016 - 2025
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.
See the images:
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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 fre…
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 tha…
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 photograp…
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…
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 …
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 aw…
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 an…
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.
See the Images:
http://www.t…
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.
See the images:
www.thelonelypalette.com/episodes/201…-of-man-1…
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…
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.
Music Used:
The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"
Lobo Loco, "Piano Cora Them…
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?
Music used:
The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bis…
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 re…
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?
Music used:
The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"
The Blue Dot Sessions, "Le Marais"…
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…
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.
Music used:
The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist D…
Ep. 25 - Mission: Mona Lisa
Our lady of the hour, muse of Dan Brown, satisfier of bucket lists, those eyes, that smile, La Gioconda, El Hefe. Just in time for the holidays, we bring you a super-sized episode on a super-sized lo…
Ep. 24 - Meditations on Mark Rothko
Whether you think Mark Rothko is the portal to spiritual transcendence or emotional-ambulance-chasing bunk, let's take the necessary time to explore his work without feeling like our souls are at sta…
Ep. 23 - Umberto Boccioni's "Unique Forms of Continuity in Space" (1913)
At the intersection of past and future sits a pack of hormonal dudes punching each other and making beautiful art.
Music used:
The Andrews Sisters, "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen"
Podington …