A Long Look Podcast

Nov 01 2024 92 ep. 9 mins 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 in vivid detail what she sees and discovers when she slows down to look at a work of art for minutes instead of seconds. Then you’ll find out the history, mystery or controversy behind the work or the artist! Monthly episodes are only about 10 minutes. The show is for all art lovers—from beginners to longtime fans and the visually impaired. No jargon, just an easy-going, sometimes irreverent look at works in Washington DC's world-class museums. Slow down, see more, avoid the overwhelm!

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Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl by James Whistler

Nov 01 2024 13 mins

Welcome back! I hope you all had a great summer. We’ll be spending the rest of 2024 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, starting off with a stunning portrait of a red-headed Irish beauty that shocked London society. We’ll find out who she is and how she was much more than a pretty face. Then we’ll learn about the very mercurial artist she had to put up with, Jam

What's Ahead for A Long Look?

Oct 10 2024 1 mins

“A Long Look” returns with new episodes soon! Meanwhile, I've been looking down the road trying to figure out the future of the show and realized I've been doing all the talking for the past 7 years! So now, I'd like to hear from you. I’ve put together a short audience survey to find out your thoughts and experience with “A Long Look.” To be honest, I'm deciding whethe

American Art Finale

Jul 20 2024 2 mins

Well, we’ve reached the end of our brief tour of the Smithsonian American Art Museum! I hope you’ve enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun getting to share this unique place with you and introduce you to some artists you might not have heard of. I’ll tell you about the two-for-one experience of visiting the museum and its hidden gems. And I have...thoughts...about the stories it

Floating Clouds by Hisako Hibi

Jun 22 2024 9 mins

In today’s episode we look at “Floating Clouds” by Hisako Hibi, one of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans incarcerated in prison camps on the West Coast during WWII. Paintings like this served as the only visual record of life in the camps as well as a way for prisoners to deal with the harsh conditions. We’ll find out how she and her family were able to build a new li

Extended Ep: Happy Anniversary, Impressionism!

May 18 2024 28 mins

Just in time for your Memorial Day travels, here’s an extended episode celebrating the anniversary of Impressionism! We take another look at three of the originals: Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Berthe Morisot. Her painting “The Mother and Sister of the Artist” is featured in the upcoming blockbuster “Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment” opening Sept. 8 at the Nati

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