The Artist Series

Episode 49: Bridget Riley, or How to Make Your Eyeballs Do Jumping Jacks

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Bridget Riley is the rare artist who can make a flat, motionless surface feel like it just chugged an espresso and decided to jog directly across your retinas. If you have ever stared at a painting and thought, “Is this moving… or did I forget to drink water today?”, congratulations: you have entered the wonderfully … Read more

Episode 48: Yayoi Kusama, or How to Turn One Polka Dot Into an Entire Universe

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Some artists paint a landscape. Yayoi Kusama looked at a landscape and thought, “Yes, but what if it had 8,000 dots, a mirror, and the mild sensation of floating through space like a very stylish astronaut?” And somehow, she was right. Kusama is one of the most recognizable living artists on Earth. Not because she’s … Read more

Edvard Munch: Existential Angst in Pastels (And Other Ways to Ruin a Perfectly Good Afternoon)

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Edvard Munch (1863–1944) was a Norwegian painter and printmaker who basically looked at the human experience and said, “Wow. Bold choice. Terrifying though.” If you only know him for that scream, you are not wrong, but you are also missing the rest of his emotional catalog: grief, longing, jealousy, illness, love, dread, and that special … Read more

Episode 46: Egon Schiele and the Art of Making a Line Feel Like a Threat

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If you have ever looked at a drawing and thought, “Wow, that line has opinions,” congratulations: you are spiritually prepared for Egon Schiele. Schiele was an Austrian painter and draftsman who lived fast, drew faster, and made sure nobody in the room got too comfortable. Born in 1890 and gone by 1918, he managed to … Read more

Episode 45: Emilie Charmy, The Fauve Who Did Not Ask Permission

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If Fauvism was a loud dinner party where everyone showed up wearing colors that should not legally coexist, Emilie Charmy walked in, kicked a chair backward, sat down like a movie villain, and started painting anyway. She did not arrive to be “the woman version” of anything. She arrived to make work so confident and … Read more

Episode 44: Charles Camoin and the Mediterranean Glow-Up

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If Fauvism had a group chat, Charles Camoin would be the one sending pictures of sunlit harbors and saying, “No filter.” And then everyone else would reply, “That’s not a filter, that’s YOU using orange like it owes you money.” Camoin sits in a funny sweet spot in art history: he’s part of the original … Read more

Episode 43: Albert Marquet and the Art of Calm Chaos

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Albert Marquet is what happens when a bunch of early-1900s painters are throwing a color party, someone yells “MORE ORANGE,” and one guy quietly opens a window, looks at the river, and says, “What if we all just… relaxed.” He’s usually filed under Fauvism, because he absolutely was there when the Fauves were letting color … Read more

Othon Friesz: The Fauve Who Loved Chaos but Also Wanted a Bedtime Story

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If Fauvism is the art-world equivalent of turning the saturation slider up until your monitor begs for mercy, Othon Friesz is the guy who helped crank it… and then later decided, Actually, I would like my brushstrokes to have indoor voices sometimes. He is Episode 42 in our artist series, and he is proof that … Read more

Episode 41: Raoul Dufy, the Man Who Painted Like Sunshine Paid Rent

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If Fauvism had a “good vibes only” department, Raoul Dufy would have been the manager, the assistant manager, and the guy handing out complimentary lemonade at the door. Dufy shows up in art history right when painters are arguing (again) about what painting is “supposed” to do. Some artists are wrestling with the universe. Some … Read more