BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE – NOVEMBER 21, 2024: The latest issue features ‘Churchill’ – Is he still the greatest Briton?
Chose by our experts
The medieval murder mystery that’s yet to be solved
A bite-sized history of dogs
DW History and Culture (November 21, 2024): Discover the trailblazing spirit of Auguste Renoir, one of the founders of impressionism, whose canvases shattered centuries of artistic convention. In “Renoir – Portrait of Changing Times,” we see how Renoir took inspiration from the past, while transforming Parisian life undergoing societal change into timeless masterpieces.
Renoir’s impressionistic strokes capture the pulse of 1870s Paris, a city reeling from war and revolutionary change, whilst incorporating Rococo references. This documentary explores the genesis of Renoir’s vision, which melds tradition with the avant-garde. As his son later wrote, “Renoir loved fairy tales.
The everyday was like a fairy tale to him”. Like the fairytale world of Rococo Painting, Renoir’s impressionist works do not depict reality but create an alluring and beautiful fiction that still captures the imagination today.
The meritocracy isn’t working. We need something new. By David Brooks
Lucy Calkins was an education superstar. Now she’s cast as the reason a generation of students struggles to read. Can she reclaim her good name?
The National Gallery’s “Paris 1874” explores the movement’s dark origins.
Sotheby’s (November 17, 2024):In late September of 1925, Pablo Picasso, his wife Olga and their young son Paolo returned to Paris from their annual summer holiday in the South of France.
The summers were beginning to blend together for Picasso, who was tiring of the swell set he and Olga socialized with. The home they returned to at 23 rue la Boetie was a changed one. After lengthy negotiations, Picasso had acquired an additional floor of the building to be used as his studio.
He set about immediately modifying the space: removing doors from their hinges, bringing in his copious art supplies (and a limited amount of furniture) and stripping back most of the existing wallpaper. After years of jostling with his elegant and socially aspirational wife for space in their apartment on the floor below he relished a place to colonize as his own.
DW Travel (November 17, 2024): Even the artists of Romanticism loved the city of Heidelberg on the Neckar and painted the ruins of Heidelberg Castle.
Video timeline: 00:00 Intro 00:24 Heidelberg Castle 02:32 Philosopher’s Way 03:26 The Old Bridge
Today, it is tourists who post stunning photos of Heidelberg on social media. But are the castle and the city really as romantic as they appear? We conduct a reality check.
DW Documentary (November 15, 2024): The 17th century was the zenith of painting, in the Netherlands. In no other era were artists so productive. Never before had so many painters tried to make a living from their art. Demand was huge.
People from all walks of life began to enthusiastically collect paintings. New genres were born. And both the art market and the profession of art dealer emerged. Exceptional artists such as Rembrandt van Rijn, Jan Vermeer and Frans Hals created masterpieces that still inspire us today.
One reason for the cultural heyday and its glut of paintings was an enormous surplus of capital, generated by speculative money transactions and trade, which was also based on the exploitation of the colonies and the ideal conditions that shipping found in the Netherlands. The film traces a period in which art, too, became an economic factor. In a way, the 17th century can be seen as the origin of our current art system.
After all, this was when auction houses were first established, leading to emergence of professional art dealers and wealthy collectors. Art was democratized. This documentary film explores an era when business and art entered into a marriage for the first time. How did such an artistic flourishing come about? What art-historical innovations do we owe to this period? And what significance does it have for our view of art and our approach to art today?
Business Insider (November 15, 2024): The United States has had 60 presidential elections starting in 1789. New parties have come and gone, while new states expanded the electoral map.
Video timeline: 0:00 – Intro 0:28 – First Party System (1792-1824) 1:30 – Second Party System (1828-1854) 2:40 – Third Party System (1854-1895) 5:46 – The Early 1900s (Progressive Era) 7:14 – Fifth Party System – FDR/New Deal Coalition 9:48 – Sixth Party System (1964-present) 16:42 – Credits
Maps show us how each state has voted over time — and who have been the winners and losers along the way.
DW Travel (November 10, 2024): Here are 5 secrets hidden within France’s famous Versailles palace! At the beginning of the 17th century, the palace was just a small hunting lodge in the forest. But then came Louis XIV.
Video timeline: 00:00 Intro 00:24 Practical information for your visit 01:10 Secret #1 – a secret door 02:22 Secret #2 – hygiene at Versailles Palace 03:34 Secret #3 – a hidden office for secret diplomacy 04:16 Secret #4 – a private library 05:00 Secret #5 – a hidden room for chemical experiments
The so-called Sun King transformed it into a fairytale palace. Today, it attracts millions of visitors. We show you 5 things that you might not know yet about the Palace of Versailles.
Humanities Magazine (October 20, 2024): The Fall 2024 Issue features…
A major exhibition takes us inside the private, busy lives of women by Angelica Aboulhosn
A new digital project looks at the forgotten history of America’s submerged communities by Anna Webb
Boomers Daily 