Art History

  • Art History

    Picasso Sculpture

    EVANSVILLE, Ind.–A call from a New York art dealer about a glass sculpture by Pablo Picasso to a museum in Evansville, Ind., led the museum to search its holdings and unravel a bizarre mystery of a hidden treasure. •By Michael Wheatley, Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science Pablo Picasso’s Seated Woman with Red Hat, a fired-glass piece kept in storage nearly 50 years, was only recently discovered to be genuine. By Michael Wheatley, Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science Pablo Picasso’s Seated Woman with Red Hat, a fired-glass piece kept in storage nearly 50 years, was only recently discovered to be genuine. Arlan Ettinger, of the art broker/auctioneer…

  • Art History

    Dec 23, 1888: Van Gogh chops off ear

    On this day in 1888, Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, suffering from severe depression, cuts off the lower part of his left ear with a razor while staying in Arles, France. He later documented the event in a painting titled Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear. Today, Van Gogh is regarded as an artistic genius and his masterpieces sell for record-breaking prices; however, during his lifetime, he was a poster boy for tortured starving artists and sold only one painting. Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853, in the Netherlands. He had a difficult, nervous personality and worked unsuccessfully at an art gallery and then as a preacher among…