Many people dream of finding a masterpiece in the attic, a closet, or a thrift store. In 2007, it happened to a church in a small town, and the story behind the painting is just as curious. It's a special bonus episode to start the new year with good vibes and a question: do you feel lucky? What would you do? Maybe you should listen to find out. 

You can see the painting mentioned in this episode, "Christus Consolator," in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/104894/christus-consolator-ary-scheffer

Do You Feel Lucky? A Bonus Episode for the New Year

Truth, beauty, transcendence. For millennia, people think they know the rules of great art. Then, in the 1950s, a guy named Bob breaks every one of them, declaring car tires and Coke bottles and entirely blank canvases part of his art--and, in turn, being declared the greatest artist of his time. As war gives way to optimism, is Robert Rauschenberg offering a weary world a new way of seeing, or is he simply, entertainingly, lucratively bamboozling it?

Here, you can see Rauschenberg's 1970 exhibition at Gallery 12, atop Dayton's department store in Minneapolis: https://www.rauschenbergfoundation.org/art/archive/currents-daytons-gallery-12

Here's an iconic print, commissioned but ultimately rejected by Time magazine in 1969, acquired the following year by the Minneapolis Institute of Art when the museum held a major retrospective of his prints: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/7519/signs-robert-rauschenberg

And here's a boat hauling Rauschenberg's work across Venice for the 1964 Biennale: https://www.rauschenbergfoundation.org/art/archive/32nd-venice-biennale

How to Break the World

In 1942—years before becoming the first Black photographer for Life magazine, the director of Shaft, and a style icon the New York Times will hail as the “godfather of cool”—Gordon Parks is a young, ambitious photographer in Washington, D.C., struggling to document the injustice he’s found in the nation’s capital. Until, one day, he meets Ella Watson. Illustrating her life in photographs changes both of them, putting Parks on the path to fame and Watson in the minds of Americans as the heroic figure in one of the most iconic images of the century—known simply as Government Charwoman.

You can see the best-known photo from this series, American Gothic, here: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/100557/american-gothic-gordon-parks 

You can see more photos from the series here: https://www.loc.gov/collections/fsa-owi-black-and-white-negatives/articles-and-essays/documenting-america/ella-watson-united-states-government-charwoman/

American Epic: Looking for Ella Watson

In the 1920s, the sculptural image of Shiva Nataraja--the Hindu god Shiva as the cosmic dancer, ensuring the cycle of life--suddenly becomes a museum must-have. As India strives for independence, the image comes to symbolize something of the nascent nation itself.

Lord of the Dance: An Indian Icon Goes Global

Long ago, when everyone but your dog was a potential assassin, you needed to protect yourself by any means necessary. Starting with poison-proof silverware. A surprising story of art, myth, and the dangerous world that was.

How to Stop an Assassin

How has the design of the car shaped the world as we know it? 

Join Brendan Cormier, curator of 'Cars: Accelerating the Modern World', as he tells us how the exhibition was developed, whilst revealing key objects and the stories behind them. From a historic desire for speed, to mass manufacturing and the impact of so many cars on the roads today, find out what valuable lessons the car holds for the wider world of design. 

See the objects featured in this talk, on our website: 

Take a further look inside the exhibition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jVY1qFEiXY
https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/cars

Inside the 'Cars: Accelerating the Modern World' exhibition | Brendan Cormier

"The Object" podcast explores the surprising, true stories behind museum objects with wit and curiosity. An object's view of us. Hosted by Tim Gihring, produced by the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

American Epic: Looking for Ella Watson

The Object

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