A solid gold toilet was once on display at a museum in New York. Over 100,000 people lined up to use it.
art
A modern art critic was…
A modern art critic was asked to review some of Adolf Hitler’s paintings without being told who painted them. He judged them to be “quite good” while also stating that the artist’s depiction of human figures in the paintings revealed his profound disinterest in people.
Based on da Vinci’s work…
Based on da Vinci’s work, there is evidence that the artist had strabismus: one eye is straight, while the other eye can drift. Some forms of strabismus are thought to facilitate artistic work by suppressing the deviating eye, which creates 2D monocular vision advantageous to painting and drawing.
Wifi Stone
Berlin-based media artist Aram Bartholl created a rather curious work: a 1.5-ton rock that doubles as a WiFi router and is powered by fire.
John Lennon stubbed a cigarette…
John Lennon stubbed a cigarette out on a Henri Matisse painting while drunk at the Playboy Mansion, causing the painting to increase in value from its $15m price.
From 1912 to 1948, painting…
From 1912 to 1948, painting was an Olympic event. In 1924, Jack Yeats, brother of the poet W. B. Yeats, took the silver: Ireland’s first-ever Olympic medal.
New Jersey’s Monet
Where most folks may see a commonplace gas station or crumbling building, New Jersey painter Doug Madill sees a work of art. We’re in love with his Impressionist vision of one of America’s most underrated places.
Le Bateau by Henri Matisse
Le Bateau (“The Boat”) by Henri Matisse, caused a minor stir when the Museum of Modern Art, New York, which housed it, hung the work upside-down for 47 days in 1961 until Genevieve Habert, a stockbroker, noticed the mistake and notified a guard.
Students at Oberlin College…
Students at Oberlin College can rent original paintings by Picasso, Monet, and Dalí (among others) to hang in their dorm rooms for $5 per semester. On top of the $5 each student has to cough up, only a minimal liability agreement is signed, although the full consequences for damaging a work are unknown to the renters.
There is the art movement called…
There is the art movement called Accidentalism, in which a portrait is painted first, and only after the work is done a person is looked for that looks like the one in the painting. There are still portraits that have not found a subject yet.