Channel Title: The Gaze Channel Description: Hi there! 👋🏻 I make videos about art, film and visual culture. Enjoy! 👀 <video> 💀 Who invented those famous Mexican skulls? Description: 💀 OLaAaAAaA. Take a little dive into the world of the iconic Calaveras, not just the Mexican symbol of the Día de los Muertos, but also a vibrant commentary on society, politics, and life itself. </video> <video> Why are there so many WEIRD FACES in art? Description: 🥴 ATTENTION WEIRD FACE LOVERS. The @kmska_museum in my lovely hometown of ✨Antwerp ✨ is hosting one of my favorite exhibitions of the year: ‘Turning Heads’.  They’ve put together a FANTASTIC collection of fascinating weird faces and trrrronies. Every single work in this video is on display. Rembrandt, Brueghel and Vermeer: they’re all there. 🥰 Highly recommended! ‘Turning Heads’ runs until 24 January 2024. Credits - Joos van Craesbeeck, The Smoker, c.1630, Musée du Louvre, Paris - Adriaen Brouwer, Youth Making a Face, c. 1632, The National Gallery of Art, Washington DC - Quinten Massijs, ‘The Ugly Duchess, 1513, The National Gallery, London - Louis-Léopold Boilly, Thirty Five Character Heads, 1825, MUba Eugène Leroy, Tourcoing - Philips Galle, Head of a Jester, 1560, Archive of North-Holland, Harlem - Follower of Jheronimus Bosch, The Bearing of the Cross, Museum for Fine Arts, Ghent - Quinten Massijs, The Martyrdom of Saint John, 1511, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp - Wenzel Hollar, Deformed Heads of a Laughing Man and a Woman with a Cap, 1645, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam - Anthony van Dyck, Twelve Head Studies of Men, C. 1620, RMN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre), Michel Urtado’ - Albrecht Dürer, Jesus among the Doctors, 1506, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid - Wenzel Hollar, Two Deformed Heads, 1645, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam - Adriaen Brouwer, The Bitter Potion, c. 1636, Städel Museum, Frankfurt - Rembrandt van Rijn, The Laughing Man, c. 1629, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam - Frans Hals, Laughing Boy, c 1625, Mauritshuis, Den Haag - Moses ter Borch, Portrait of Jan Fabus, c. 1660, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam - Pieter Brueghel the Younger, The Yawner, c. 1615, Royal Museums of Fine Art, Brussels - Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Head of a Peasant Woman, c. 1568, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, München - Rembrandt van Rijn, Self-Portrait in a Cap, c. 1630, Royal Library of Belgium, Brussels - Rembrandt van Rijn, An Old Man in Military Costume, 1631, The J. Paul Getty Museum - Johannes Vermeer, Girl with the Red Hat, c. 1665, Courtesy The National Gallery of Art, Washington DC - Cornelis de Vos, Portrait of Abraham Grapheus, 1620, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp </video> <video> 📷 The ICONIC PHOTO hidden in a drawer for years Description: 📸 American Gothic by Gordon Parks is one of the most iconic photographs of the 20th century, but the story behind it is just as powerful. In 1942, Gordon Parks became the first Black photographer hired by the Farm Security Administration (FSA), a government agency tasked with documenting the struggles of Americans during the Great Depression. Parks didn’t need to look far for inspiration. While working in Washington, D.C., he met Ella Watson, a janitor in the very building where the FSA was headquartered. Parks spent the summer documenting her life. The first photo Parks took of Watson was American Gothic, but when Parks showed the photograph to Stryker, the man that hired him at the FSA, it said publishing it “would get us all fired”. For years, the image remained hidden from public view. But in 1948, it finally surfaced, and it became a symbol of the civil rights movement. 🎞️ American Gothic, 1942 📷 Gordon Parks ©️ Gordon Parks Foundation Photos by Gordon Parks: © Gordon Parks Foundation. </video> <video> 🩰 This painting is hiding some deliciously dark secrets Description: 🩰 I LOVE paintings with hidden surprises. “The Swing” was painted around 1767 by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, one of the great French Rococo painters. 💃🏼 The patron that commissioned this work asked the artist: “I want you to paint my mistress on a swing, pushed by a bishop and to show me in a position where I can see her legs and more.” And Fragonard nailed it, apart from the bishop, which he replaced by a regular old man. ❄️ Throughout history “The Swing” has been referenced and parodied in poems, album artwork, contemporary art and even in Disney’s Frozen. </video> <video> 🖼️🤺 One of the FASTEST PAINTERS of all time Description: Meet Louis-Léopold Boilly (1761-1845), the fastest brush in 18th century Paris! 🖼️ 🤺 </video> <video> 🔎👀 There's an easter egg in this masterpiece by JAN VAN EYCK Description: Jan Van Eyck was a sucker for detail. And he loved to leave his mark in his paintings. In 'Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele', he has hidden himself in the shield of Saint George. </video> <video> 🤯 The weird hidden eye in the SISTINE CHAPEL Description: 🤯 Michelangelo is the king of perspective (and hidden surprises). The part of the Sistine Chapel in Rome that shows Jonah chilling with his cherubs is pretty mind-blowing. 🖼️ Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, 1508 - 1512 👨🏻‍🎨 Michelangelo Buonarroti 📍 Vatican Museums, Rome Image credits: * Jonah, detail, Sistine Chapel ceiling, Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1508 - 1512, Vatican Museums, Rome * Jonah and the Whale, Folio from a Jami al-Tavarikh (Compendium of Chronicles), c. 1400, The Metropolitan Museum of Art * Jonah and the Whale, handmade ceramic plaque * Jonah and the Whale, Peter Lastman, 1621, Kunstpalast Düsseldorf </video> <video> 👀 📷 Behind the scenes of THE GREATEST STREET PHOTO ever Description: 👀 📷 Did Henri Cartier-Bresson get lucky? Yes, but it wasn’t just that, because he also dialed in the perfect settings on his camera, made sure it was in focus (which wasn’t easy) and most importantly: he knew when to push. Throughout his career, Cartier-Bresson proved that his timing and instinct was incredible. 🎞️ Behind Gare Saint-Lazare, 1932 📷 Henri Cartier-Bresson Script and voice-over: @matthijsvmierlo Editor: Anton Olbrechts Images: Henri Cartier-Bresson, Behind the Gare St Lazare, 1932, Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, Magnum Photos Henri Cartier-Bresson, Behind the Gare St Lazare negative, 1987 Henri Cartier-Bresson, Hyères, France, 1932, Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, Magnum Photos Henri Cartier-Bresson, Dessau, Germany, 1945, Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, Magnum Photos Henri Cartier-Bresson, Rue Mouffetard, Paris, 1954, Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, Magnum Photos Henri Cartier-Bresson, On the Banks of the Marne, France, 1938, Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, Magnum Photos Henri Cartier-Bresson, Simiane-la-Rotonde, France, 1969, Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, Magnum Photos Henri Cartier-Bresson, New York, 1959, Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, Magnum Photos Documentary footage: H. Cartier-Bresson: l’Amour Tout Court, Raphaël O’Byrne </video> <video> 🕳️💣 Why would you put a FRAME around an UGLY CRATER? Description: 🌤️🖼️ ‘Holes’ is one of the artworks at the Watou Arts Festival , a place where artists and poets showcase their work in and around this little Flemish village of Watou, near the French border. The interweaving of the quiet village and landscape with the art and poetry is pretty unique. I visited Watou and I loved it. 🕳️🎨 ‘Holes’ by Joris Vermassen is one of the artworks that left quite an impression on me. I talked to Joris at the beautiful castle ‘De Lovie’ and the story he tells with ‘Holes’ just works for me. Because war is often framed as something heroic or romantic, but it’s not. No fancy frame can change the fact that it’s just brutal and scary. Joris exposes this contrast between romance and brutality, and I think he really succeeded. Every painting also comes with a short story written by Joris, which gives these silent craters a personal touch. ❤️ The Watou Arts Festival runs throughout the summer. You can go see ‘Holes’ at the castle ‘De Lovie’. Check out www.kunstenfestivalwatou.be for more information. Highly recommended. Image credits: Cedric Verhelst Joris Vermassen Matthijs Van Mierlo/The Gaze City archive of Poperinge Reuters (Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy) </video> <video> 👀 💤 Which of these two are you? Description: ❤️ Cover art in the 40s and 50s its different. These little artworks by John Falter weren't made to be hung in a museum, but if you ask me, they belong in one. Together with many other great artists, Norman Rockwell and John Falter each contributed a ton of covers for the Saturday Evening Post. But they weren’t just selling magazines, they were capturing the essence of American life, creating little images that, if you look at them today, are oozing with nostalgia. Love it. 🖼️ Sunday Gardening (oil on canvas) 👨🏻‍🎨 John Falter 📰 Saturday Evening Post, July 1st 1961 🎵 Music - “As Good as Any” by Alexandra Woodward - Andra Långgatan” by Pär #normanrockwell #vintageaesthetic #coverart #illustration Saturday Evening Post covers: Sunday Gardening, John Falter, 1961 Poker Game, John Falter, 1945 Stan the Man, John Falter, 1954 Lunch Counter, John Falter, 1946 Covered Bridge, John Falter, 1954 Eighteenth Hole, John Falter, 1955 Highway Blueprint, John Falter, 1959 Little Harry Helicopter, John Falter, 1953 Mr. Hesitant, John Falter, 1959 Nineteen Moist Commuters, John Falter, 1961 Joys of Summer, Norman Rockwell, 1940 Boy on High Dive, Norman Rockwell, 1947 Facts of Life, Norman Rockwell, 1951 Knothole Baseball, Norman Rockwell, 1958 Broken Beach Chair, John Hyde Phillips, 1939 Racing Spectator, Alfred Panepinto, 1937 Spring 1942, Grant Wood, 1942 Two Points, Ski Weld, 1942 </video> <video> 🧅 The weird story of VAN GOGH's onions Description: 🧅 This is a weird little story about Van Gogh and onions. 'Red Cabbage and Onions' used to be the title of a beautiful painting by Vincent Van Gogh, until a Dutch chef visited the Van Gogh Museum and noticed something weird about the painting. His discovery was hidden in plain sight for almost 100 years. The onions in the painting were actually... heads of garlic. Featured paintings:  * Still life with a plate of onions, Vincent Van Gogh , 1889 * Venetian Onion Seller, John Singer Sargent, 1880 * Onions, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1881 * The Red Onions, Matisse, 1906 * Red Cabbages and garlic, Vincent Van Gogh, 1887 </video> <video> 🐴 🇫🇷 NAPOLEON you liar! Description: 🐴 Napoleon you cheeky little dictator! #napoleon #napoleonbonaparte #jacqueslouisdavid #pauldelaroche #frenchrevolution #arthistory </video> <video> 💀🗡️ The meaning behind this weird painting by HIERONYMUS BOSCH Description: 🧐What the actual? Cutting the Stone by Hieronymus Bosch (ca. 1494) is weird and filled with symbolism. We don’t exactly know what it all means, but here are some theories. 💀 Drilling holes in skulls (trepanning) has been common throughout history, but performing one to remove a so-called "stone of madness" has never been common. However, it's been very often featured in drawings, plays and paintings. Why? Probably to make fun of man's limited medial knowledge. 🌷 As you may have noticed, the quack in Bosch's painting is not pulling a stone from the man’s head, but a flower (there’s also a flower on the table in front of the weird nun). This might symbolize folly or it might refer to money (as he’s after the man’s cash). This is also obvious from the dagger that seems to have pierced the man’s purse. 📚Some historians interpret the three odd characters as symbols for medicine (the quack), the church (the drunk monk) and science (the nun and her book), and their inability to understand the world. The headgear might also be a symbol for the fact that they have something between them and the heavens, which makes them disconnected from God. 🇳🇱 The text that’s surrounding the painting says “Meester snyt die keye ras. Myne name Is lubbert Das”. Which translates to “Master, cut the stone out, fast. My name is Lubbert Das.” Lubbert Das was a foolish character in Dutch literature. Whatever the exact meaning is, chances are that man’s stupidity is at the center of it all. 😅 </video> <video> The forgotten story of VAN GOGH and the postman Description: The story of Vincent and the postman is a hidden gem. A lesser known tale that hasn’t been told very often. And when I discovered it, I immediately fell in love with it. Because suddenly, it made so much sense why Vincent painted this man so often (6 times), and why he painted him with so much flourish. 00:00 I thought I knew Van Gogh 01:14 Van Gogh crash course 02:32 I found a story 03:34 The first portraits 06:18 The Roulin family 06:48 La Berceuse 08:12 The breakdown 10:36 The later portraits 13:29 Why Roulin was important SOURCES - Vincent van Gogh: the Letters, online archive, vangoghletters.org - The Vincent Van Gogh Atlas, Nienke Denekamp & René Van Blerk, Rubinstein, Van Gogh Museum - The Yellow House, Martin Gayford, 2007, Penguin Books - Van Gogh, The Complete Paintings, 1990, Taschen - Varnedoe, Kirk. “Joseph Roulin.” MoMA, vol. 4, no. 2, 2001, pp. 10–13. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4420555. - Miller, Stacy, et al. “Instructional Resources: Painting.” Art Education, vol. 42, no. 5, 1989, pp. 25–44. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3193175 - “Museum News.” MoMA, vol. 2, no. 2, 1989, pp. 3–3. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4381087. - The VGGallery, www.vggallery.com/misc/roulin/main.htm - Podcast excerpt: "Vincent van Gogh - In Our Time: Culture", BBC Radio 4 PAINTINGS by Van Gogh Drawing of “Het Steen” in Antwerp, 1886 Self Portrait With Glass, 1887, Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam Self Portrait, 1887, Art Institute of Chicago Café Table with Absinth, Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam Café Terrace at Night, 1888, Kröller-Müller Museum Otterlo Prisoners’ Round, after Gustave Doré, Pushkin Museum Moscow Almond Blossom, 1890, Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam Starry Night, 1889, MoMa New York Oleanders, 1888, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York The Bedroom, 1888, Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam Wheat Field with Cypresses, 1889, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York At Eternity’s Gate, 1890, Kröller Müller Museum, Otterlo Irises, 1890, Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam Boulevard de Clichy, 1887, Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam Wheat Field with Crows, 1890, Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam The Potato Eaters, 1885, Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam The Old Tower at Dusk, 1884, Private Collection Corner in Voyer-d’Argenson Park, 1887, Yale University Art Gallery Self Portrait as a Painter, 1888, Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam Self Portrait, 1889, Musée d’Orsay Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin, 1888, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin, 1888, Detroit Institute of Arts Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin, 1888, Kunstmuseum Winterthur Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin, 1889, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin, 1889, Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin, 1889, Museum of Modern Art, New York Snowy Landscape with Arles in the Background, 1888, private collection Landscape with Snow, 1888, Solomon R. Guggenheim, New York Almond Blossoms, 1888, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam The Langlois Bridge at Arles, 1888, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam The Night Café, 1888, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven The Yellow House, 1888, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam Mother Roulin with her Baby, 1888, Philadelphia Museum of Art Portrait of Armand Roulin, 1888, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam Portrait of Camille Roulin, 1888, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam Portrait of Madame Augustine Roulin, 1888, Private collection Baby Marcelle Roulin, 1888, Private collection La Berceuse, 1888, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo The Schoolboy (Camille Roulin), 1888, Sao Paolo Museum of Art Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, 1889, Courtauld Gallery London Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe, 1889, Kunsthaus Zürich La Berceuse, 1889, Metropolitan Museum of Art New York La Berceuse, 1889, Art Institute of Chicago La Berceuse, 1889, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston La Berceuse, 1889, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam Self-Portrait, 1889, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. Wheat Field with Cypresses, National Gallery, London Still Life: Vase with Pink Roses, 1890, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. Ward in the Hospital in Arles, 1889, private collection Garden of the Hospital in Arles, 1889, private collection OTHER PAINTINGS Night Café, Arles, Paul Gauguin, 1888, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow Self-Portrait with Portrait of Emile Bernard, Paul Gauguin, 1888, Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam MUSIC Piano Spirals, Boris Skalsky, licensed through Storyblocks Prescient, Howard Harper Barnes, Licensed through Epidemic Sounds Salvation, Johannes Bornlof, Licensed through Epidemic Sounds Valiant, Luar, https://soundcloud.com/luarbeats Puzzle of Complexity, Jo Wandrini, licensed through Epidemic Sounds In the Field, Raighes Factory, licensed through Storyblocks Sweet Lullabies, Mahlert, licensed through Epidemic Sounds Dying Wish, Humans Win, licensed through Storyblocks </video> <video> 🎶🦑 The CEPHALOPOD song Description: 🦑 Jean Baptiste Vérany (1800–1865) was obsessed with cephalopods. And honestly, can you blame him? He even discovered a few new species while researching these sea creatures. Plus, the guy could seriously draw. 📓 In 1851, Vérany published his book “Mediterranean molluscs”, packed with stunning chromolithographs, each rendered with several layers of colors and an incredible eye for detail. As if they’re about to swim off the page. 🐙 The novelist Victor Hugo was a fan, so he copied one of Vérany’s images and used it as the cover for his novel “The Toilers of the Sea”. While Vérany described the creatures as “incapable of harm,” Hugo saw tentacles and thought “perfect villain!” And so, the poor cephalopod got its bad rep. 📓 Mollusques méditeranéens: observès, decrits, figurès et chromolithographies 👨🏻‍🎨 Jean Baptiste Vérany 📍 Available online in the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Lyrics and video: The Gaze Beat by Mixla </video>

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Hi there! 👋🏻 I make videos about art, film and visual culture. Enjoy! 👀

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