Modern History

[image] You never know. This ordinary French farmhouse became a significant D-Day site. The de Vallavieille family’s farm, Brécourt Manor, was occupied by the Germans because of its strategic location for a concealed artillery position. The family was forced to live on the property

[image] Mysterious. Tiffany Studios Bronze and Turtleback Glass Tile Desk Lamp, crafted around 1910.

[image] When Winston Churchill visited the United States during Prohibition in 1932, he was issued a doctor's note authorizing the Prime Minister to drink an "indefinite" amount of alcohol for health reasons.

[image] This is how you turn eating dinner into a "gastronomical experience." 19th-century agate flatware.

[image] Marie Antoinette's personal theatre in Versailles.

[image] Surreal. Art Nouveau Pond Lily Table Lamp, made by Tiffany Studios around 1902-10

[image] Gothic Revival in all its splendour at Strawberry Hill House, England.

[image] A Stunning Art Nouveau wicker armchair from France around 1910.

[image] Beauty will save us. Trembleuse Art Nouveau Dragonfly crafted with Aquamarine, Diamond and Ruby. London, around 1900.

[image] Art Nouveau Liberty Bridge, designed by János Feketeházy and built for the late-19th-century Millennium World Exhibition, spanning the Danube river between Buda and Pest.

[image] Prague doesn't just have history - it lives in it. A city of cobblestone, secrets, and soaring gothic spires 🏰

[image] In 1518, residents of Strasbourg were struck by a bizarre and terrifying phenomenon now known as the Dancing Plague. Dozens (possibly hundreds) of people danced uncontrollably for days on end. Some reportedly collapsed from exhaustion, while others are said to have died from

[image] Art Nouveau Lamp cast in bronze from around the 1890s.

[image] "I hold a number of beliefs that have been repudiated by the liveliest intellects of our time. I believe that order is better than chaos, creation better than destruction. I prefer gentleness to violence, forgiveness to vendetta. On the whole I think that knowledge is preferable

[image] Remembering Captain Walter J. Huchthausen, killed in action in the final months of WWII. Before the war he was an American architect and educator. He served with the MFAA ("Monuments Men") unit, tasked with protecting cultural monuments and rescuing Nazi-looted art. He was

[image] A lovely display of Victorian-era cosmetics. There's just one catch. Used long enough, and they can be lethal. Victorian cosmetics sometimes contained toxic ingredients including lead, mercury, ammonia, and ... arsenic.

[text] Interesting Artist Fact: In 1986, Keith Haring opened the Pop Shop, a retail store in New York’s Soho neighborhood, to sell merchandise. The store offered shirts, posters, magnets, and buttons with his artwork on them.

[image] A Michigan woman is drawing admirers for a piece of American flag art that she created using 7,700 pennies. Kayla Dominique of Cement City says she needed to install a fireproof barrier wall behind her wood stove – and somehow got the idea that a wall full of pennies might work.

[text] Interesting Artist Fact: Before becoming synonymous with brilliance, Vincent van Gogh had a rough time. During one of his emotional lows, he reportedly tried to eat yellow paint because he thought the color symbolized happiness. Thankfully, he stuck to canvas afterward.

[text] Interesting Artist Fact: Artists used to paint with egg yolk. Powdered pigments were mixed with egg yolk and water or vinegar to improve the paint’s adherence. The technique went out of fashion around 600 years ago when oil paint was invented.

[text] Interesting Artist Fact: Rembrandt's early works are signed RHL (Rembrandus Hermanni Leydensis). He later switched to RHL-van-Rijn. Eventually, he signed his name simply as 'Rembrandt' for the majority of his career.

[text] Interesting Artist Fact: As a young boy, Pierre-Auguste Renoir took singing lessons with the local church choirmaster. He had a great talent for singing but due to his family's financial situation, was forced to quit.

[text] Interesting Artist Fact: The Mona Lisa was acquired by the French King Francis I after the death of Da Vinci in 1519. It is rumored that the king had offered to buy the painting but Leonardo had politely turned him down.

[text] Interesting Artist Fact: Once Albrecht Dürer had established his own reputation as an independent master, he soon developed a network of communication with Europe’s other prominent artists.

[text] Interesting Artist Fact: Janet Sobel's journey began with an unexpected challenge from her own son. When Sobel criticized her son's artwork, he handed her a brush and challenged her to do better. Sobel accepted and discovered a hidden talent for abstract expressionism.

[text] Interesting Artist Fact: Permission is required to paint an Aboriginal dreaming. Artists need permission to paint a particular story: Where ancient and important stories are concerned, and particularly those containing secret or sacred information, an artist must have permission

[text] Interesting Artist Fact: Wheein from the musical group Mamamoo once got her Mom’s Latin name tattooed on her…and had the spelling corrected. Originally, she got “Soppy” tattooed in different colors on her index finger. It wasn’t long until it was fixed to “Sophy!”

[text] Interesting Artist Fact: Murakami is considered the founder of the Superflat movement, a postmodern art movement that blends traditional Japanese aesthetics with contemporary pop culture imagery.

[text] Interesting Artist Fact: On June 18, 2006, Gustav Klimt’s Adele Bloch-Bauer I sold for $135 million, making it the highest priced painting in the world. Less than five months later, Jackson Pollock’s No. 5, 1948 fetched $140 million.

[text] Interesting Artist Fact: Joan Mir's parents originally wanted him to have a career in finance, so, after spending three years at business school, he secured a job as an accounting clerk.

[text] Interesting Artist Fact: In 1964, a Swedish art gallery displayed 4 paintings by unknown artist Pierre Brassau. Every single art critic praised the 'avant-garde work-except one, who said, 'only an ape could have done this"'...and he was right.

[text] Interesting Artist Fact: Glassblowers work with extremely heated glass, which can reach temperatures of above 2,000°F. It's the same temperature as lava from a volcano.

[text] Interesting Artist Fact: In 1949, Glamour Magazine commissioned Andy Warhol to illustrate shoes, and in the 50s, Israel Miller asked Warhol to work as a shoe designer for his company. Warhol’s love for shoes and feet continued throughout his life.

[text] Interesting Artist Fact: The word “art” is derived from the Latin word “ars,” which means “art, talent, or craft.” The word first appears in manuscripts from the 13th century.

[text] Interesting Artist Fact: Bob Ross once appeared on The Simpsons. In the episode "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo", Bob Ross makes a cameo appearance as one of Homer Simpson's friends.

[text] Interesting Artist Fact: Roy Lichtenstein was included in a group exhibition at Ten-Thirty Gallery in Cleveland, which is where he met his first wife Isabel Wilson, who was working as a gallery assistant there. They were wed in 1949 and divorced in 1967.

[text] Interesting Artist Fact: Kerala murals, one of the world’s finest art frescos that date 3500 years back were 100% eco-friendly.

[image] Beco do Batman street art & graffiti in Vila Madalena This artwork painted by Fernanda Luz and Wagner Loud represents the cover of a comic dating from 1939 featuring Batman and The Blue Beetle.

[text] Interesting Art Fact: Salvador Dalí painted one of his earliest known works, Landscape of Figures, in 1910, when he was about 6 years old. The oil-on-postcard work depicts a scene in his hometown of Catalonia and now hangs in the Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida.

[text] Interesting Artist Fact: Biomedical implants are body-friendly. Zirconia ceramic and hydroxyapatite ceramic have been used for making dental crowns, joint replacement, and bone transplants because of their compatibility and hardness.