In this episode, Sarah and Sarah put on their detective hats to unravel the mysterious meanings behind Benjamin West’s painting, Helen Brought to Paris. https://theartattack.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/west-final.mp3 Our References: Raphael, John Adams, Charles Willson Peale, Gilbert Stuart Music: Allegro by Zimbalista…

After a considerable “summer” hiatus, the Art Attack is back! We kick off the new season with a gorgeous piece by Barbara Hepworth. Hepworth is considered to have been one of the first truly abstract sculptors and the piece, entitled Merryn, is a great example of her work. But more importantly, this little sculpture has us all hot and bothered. Lis…

After visiting Ai WeiWei’s sculpture Fragments, the Sarahs keep the conversation going with a trip to the E Street Cinema for a viewing of the film Never Sorry, by Alison Klayman. The documentary paints a fascinating portrait of the dissident chinese artist, exploring his life, his artistic process, and his activism. The Boston Globe calls Never So…

In this episode, the Sarahs visit Ai Weiwei’s sculpture Fragments, at the Sackler Gallery. The sculpture is constructed of pieces of ironwood salvaged from Qing dynasty temples that have been razed in recent years to make way for new development. Fragments, and Ai’s Zodiac Heads at the Hirshhorn, are on display in advance of a retrospective of the …

In which a bird lands on a statue. Also, the Sarahs take one for the team, getting to the bottom of exactly why we are so “meh” about this sculpture by Marino Marini. (Or, in Sarah C’s Italian translation, Marino! Marini!) Listen to this episode so that the next time you see a sculpture you don’t like, you can ignore it with a clear conscience. Thi…

In this special episode, we attend the opening of the Tryst Cafe at the Phillips Collection, and use the occasion to check out Brazilian artist Sandra Cinto’s eight panel piece One Day After the Rain, which can be seen in the new space. We also talk with Constantine Stavropoulos, owner of Tryst, about his new outpost and the role of art in his cafe…

In which Sarah C and Sarah D are thwarted in their valiant effort to see some street art. But we have a good conversation about it anyway! The piece is (was) Gadhafi Loves Leeza by Mr. CRO, aka Ray Noland. Noland is a Chicago-based street artist whose pieces provide playful and biting takes on figures from the headlines. Check out Noland’s website,…

In which the Sarahs get caught up in the romance of an intimate moment on a Venice street, as captured by John Singer Sargent. The painting is at the National Gallery of Art. https://theartattack.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/sargent-final-cut.mp3 Music: Nessun Dorma by Giacomo Puccini, performed by Rafael Villegas…