A Long Look Podcast

Apr 20 2024 22

A Long Look Podcast artwork

Ever feel overwhelmed when you visit a museum? Discover a better way to connect with art! Join lifelong art lover and museum fan Karen Jackson as she shares what she sees and discovers while looking at a work of art for minutes instead of the usual 6-10 seconds. Each episode opens with a unique experience — a short, vivid description of a work from one of Washington DC's world-class museums. Then you’ll find out the history, mystery or controversy behind the work or the artist! Episodes are less than 15 minutes. No jargon, just an easy-going, sometimes irreverent look at art and the very human stories behind it. The descriptions also provide blind or visually impaired listeners a way to enjoy art.

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The South Ledges, Appledore by Childe Hassam

Apr 20 2024 11 mins

It’s starting to get warm out so the seaside’s on my mind! In the latest episode we visit Appledore on the Isles of Shoals with American painter Childe Hassam. This group of islands off the coast of New Hampshire and Maine was a long-time vacation fave for this Boston artist. We’ll find out how he fused the color and energy of artists like Claude Monet and Camille Pissaro

Man With the Cat by Cecilia Beaux

Mar 16 2024 10 mins

Henry Sturgis Drinker and Cecilia Beaux had a complicated history but that didn’t get in the way of Cecilia making him the subject of one of her best portraits. In today’s episode, we’ll find out how Henry was just one example of the lengths this renowned Gilded Age artist went to pursue her dream of an art career. And how her talent, hard work--and the help of a good fri

Confrontation by Hughie Lee-Smith

Feb 17 2024 12 mins

Putting ordinary people in odd, unsettling surroundings was the specialty of Hughie Lee-Smith. In today’s episode we look at his “Confrontation” from the Smithsonian American Art Museum. We’’ll find out how an encounter with Italian Surrealism and a forbidden childhood carnival forged a visual language he used to depict universal feelings of loneliness, separation, an

The Nativity by Petrus Christus

Dec 16 2023 12 mins

Merry Christmas! For this year’s holiday episode we're looking at this kind of unusual Nativity scene jammed packed with the detail those Northern European Renaissance artists just loved! We’ll find out how the birth of Christ went from early spring to late December, the story of the arch, and the mystery of the missing gold platter! SHOW NOTES “A Long Look” opening

Still Life with Peacock Pie by Pieter Claesz

Nov 18 2023 11 mins

Just in time for Thanksgiving, we take a look at this sumptuous feast by one of the stars of still-life painting, Pieter Claesz. We'll find out three hints that tell us who might have owned this fabulous artwork and the amazing connection between the Dutch and one of your favorite ballpark treats! If you want to follow along, you can find it here on the Gallery's site. SHOW NOT

Childhood by Thomas Cole

Oct 21 2023 11 mins

In today’s episode we’re looking at “Childhood” by Thomas Cole. It’s the first of a series of enormous paintings he did called “The Voyage of Life.” We’ll find out how Cole used this series to push the boundaries of landscape painting from just pretty pictures to something much more meaningful. And we’ll learn why the Gallery’s version isn’t the original!

Changes in the Air!

Oct 14 2023 2 mins

Autumn is a season of change, so it seemed like the perfect time to announce a few changes happening with the show! First, I've got new music! The current theme did the job when I started way back in 2017, but it’s time for a refresh so I went with a couple tunes that are welcoming and relaxed, but a little funky. I hope you like it! I've also updated the intro and am moving to

Two Women Drinking Coffee by Edouard Vuillard

Aug 27 2023 12 mins

This work by Edouard Vuillard reminds me of the old Magic Eye images that ran in the Sunday comics back in the ’90s. You’d be presented with a dense, colorful pattern and have to figure out what the hidden image was. I could never do it. In today’s episode we’ll find out how he and a group of young artists called the Nabis threw out the rules of traditional painting to

Ceres (Summer) by Antoine Watteau

Jul 20 2023 8 mins

Today's episode takes us back to the reign of the Sun King, Louis XIV, whose court was every bit as frothy as the clouds the harvest goddess Ceres is lounging on. We find out crabs are sometimes lobsters and how a penniless young man from the outskirts of Paris named Antoine Watteau ended up scoring a big commission from one of the most powerful men in the court. And why this pai

St. Francis at the Frick Collection

Jun 03 2023 12 mins

Meet St. Francis, who’s in the middle of receiving a…um…complicated divine visitation. This wealthy young party lover and man about town gave it all up to live a more meaningful life and lead others to embrace self-sacrifice, love nature, and encourage peace. In today’s episode we find out how his spiritual devotion led to this rather mixed blessing and why he’s one of t