Category: History

  • Discovery of Ancient Mayan City // What the Hell is “Deaccession?” // The Future of the Rosetta Stone // A Fake Vermeer!

    By Amara is a weekly art and history podcast hosted by Amara Andrew. Each week, we’ll take a quick look at the goings on in the art and history world.

    This week, we’re discussing the discovery of an Ancient Mayan city, what the hell is “Deaccession?,” the future of the Rosetta Stone, and a fake Vermeer!

    🎧 Subscribe on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts!

    MY MINIMALIST PODCAST KIT

    For links to all the tools I use to make my podcast happen, check out the post here!

    Who is Amara Andrew?

    Hi there! My name’s Amara and I’m a videographer, historian, illustrator, and creator living in Chicago.


  • This was the most expensive item at Betty White’s auction and it’s actually super surprising!

    Transcript

    There was an auction September 23-25, 2022 in Beverly Hills at Julian’s Auctions of Betty White’s stuff.

    Over 1,600 pieces from her life went up for auction. They have a whole list of everything, essentially like an inventory, with all the prices listed. You can view the whole list here.

    They included a variety of items from her very long life including things from her childhood, various paintings, and much of her things from her career in TV and film.

    The most expensive item that was sold at the auction was a Director’s Chair from the Golden Girls that sold for $76,800. Most of the items, from what I can see, sold in the range of $1,000-$3,000.

    Rest in peace, Betty White!

    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.


  • I genuinely can’t believe that this happened. Why would you destroy a Frida Kahlo artwork, or any artwork for that matter?! To say that I’m pissed is a MAJOR understatement.

    Transcript

    This one, I am very irritated with. I was debating about whether or not I should even discuss this because I do not want to give a platform to the piece of shit that did this.

    Someone is making an NFT art collection. It was done under the guise of setting a $10 million piece of Frida Kahlo artwork on fire. So, that means that the piece does not exist anymore. The NFTs that are being sold are the only link back to this piece of art.

    I am of the belief that art is an extension of someone’s culture, so if you destroy that artwork, you’re destroying someone’s identity and that culture.

    The NFTs cost 3 ETH each. Only 27 of them have sold. Also, the NFTs are so hideous, so it’s not like it’s a high-quality copy of the piece.

    This jerk-off is now being investigated by Mexican officials. I don’t know how this is going to go, exactly, because he actually incinerated this priceless piece of artwork in Miami. I have no idea how international law is going to work for this.

    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.


  • Is there a Future for NFTs and Crypto?!

    For the past few months, there has been a MASSIVE plummet in the NFT market…but what does that mean for the future of NFTs and crypto? 🤔

    Transcript

    I was blown away by this!

    I’ve been into NFTs for a while now. NFTs skyrocketed during COVID and for the year afterward, but now, apparently, the volume is down 97% since January 2022. That’s a lot!

    So, in January 2022, over $17 billion was traded on the NFT market. However, throughout 2022, that number has been decreasing.

    One of the interesting things about this, though, is that Ethereum was believed to, once they did the “Merge,” which was, essentially, ETH 2.0, that was supposed to make all transactions more eco-friendly.

    The thought was that, with the Merge, ETH was supposed to skyrocket. That did not happen, though. ETH stayed very much the same without any variation.

    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.


  • Plummeting NFT Market / $10 MILLION Frida Kahlo Art Destroyed / Betty White Auction / 7,000-Year Old Mystery

    By Amara is a weekly art and history podcast hosted by Amara Andrew. Each week, we’ll take a quick look at the goings on in the art and history world.

    This week, we’re discussing: the MASSIVE plummet in the NFT market & what that means for the future; a $10 million Frida Kahlo drawing destroyed; Betty White’s auction; and a 7,000-year-old mystery structure.

    Links mentioned in this episode:

    • My Spoopies NFT project – https://spoopies.com/
    • My Spoopies NFT project on Opensea – https://opensea.io/collection/spoopies
    • Betty White Auction Results – https://juliensauctions.com/auction-results?id=409

    MY MINIMALIST PODCAST KIT

    For links to all the tools I use to make my podcast happen, check out the post here!

    Who is Amara?

    Hi there! My name’s Amara and I’m a videographer, historian, illustrator, and creator living in Chicago.


  • Want a $100 million mini painting?!

    Want a miniature version of the famous painting, “Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte?” Well, it can be yours for just $100 million…

    Transcript

    There are a series of paintings that are going to be auctioned at Christie’s in November from the Paul G. Allen collection.

    I, personally, am most intrigued by a painting by Georges Seurat called “Le Poseuses Ensemble (petite version).” In this painting, you have 3 nude ladies, blah, blah, blah. It’s pointillism, beautiful, wonderful, whatever.

    There is a miniature version of “Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte” in the background! I live in Chicago, currently, and at the Art Institute of Chicago, “La Grande Jatte” is sort of like our “Mona Lisa.”

    Seeing “La Grande Jatte” in here is very cute. I don’t know why I very much love seeing it in this context.

    And, get this! Apparently this piece is estimated to sell for over $100 million!

    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.


  • A $1 BILLION art collection is for sale!

    This week on the podcast, we’re talking about a $1 BILLION ART COLLECTION that’s being sold at Christie’s this November!

    If you had a billion dollars, what art would you buy?

    Transcript

    There are a series of paintings that are going to be auctioned at Christie’s in November. These are all from the Paul G. Allen collection.

    Allen was the co-founder of Microsoft, so he has buckoo bucks, like money galore. He died in 2018, so now his massive art collection is being auctioned off.

    His collection spans 500 years of art. Artists included are: Jan Brueghel the Younger, Vincent van Gogh, Georges Seurat, Gustav Klimt, Jasper Johns, Georgia O’Keefe, Louise Bourgeois, and many, many others.

    This collection is also very interesting because it’s slated to sell for over $1 billion…a billion with a “b.” There are 150 artworks that will be sold.

    Allegedly, all the proceeds will be donated to philanthropy. That’s what Paul G. Allen had in his will, I guess, that he wanted all the proceeds to go to philanthropy.

    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.


  • This week, we’re talking about a $3.2 million piece of Keith Haring wall that was found in an art history professor’s office…

    Transcript

    Our “Something Borrowed” this week is, yet again, another piece of Keith Haring wall art.

    So, I covered a piece of wall art that was being taken from his childhood home that he drew right before he passed away in Episode 1, so go check it out.

    So, again, we’re looking at a series of “Radiant Babies,” which is his quintessential piece, like you know that that’s Keith Haring. So, he drew 5 of them on this piece of wall in 1981 when he went to Bard College.

    He was invited to Bard to speak about the merits of graffiti, or the ethics of graffiti. Not the merits, the ethics. So, he drew on the wall with Magic Marker.

    Apparently, an art history professor named Tom Wolf removed that section of wall from the building and had it in his office for almost 50 years. So, Wolf is retiring now, so plans are underway to find this section of wall a new home.

    And, according to Bard College, it’s going to be permanently on view at the school’s Center for Curatorial Studies thanks to a $3.2 million donation.

    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.


  • How do you feel about CBGB turning into an art gallery?

    Transcript

    If you are, at all, an original punk afficianado, or just give a shit about punk history, or even the history of New York City, you will have heard of CBGB.

    Amazing acts, like The Ramones, Iggy Pop, Sex Pistols, Blondie, like all these amazing acts passed through CBGB.

    The venue actually closed down in 2006 and it became, I think, like a John Varvatos shop or something weird like that, but now it’s becoming an art gallery.

    It’s going to be called Amanita. They’ll have their first gallery showing starting September 29th. Their first exhibition is going to be Leonardo Meoni. He does these really beautiful illustrations or paintings on velvet.

    They’re really beautiful and amazing, so if you’re in the New York City area, go check ’em out. Let me know how it is in the comments below. I’ll live vicariously through you until I can get there myself.

    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.


  • Was Nefertiti’s tomb just found?! A noted Egyptologist believes so!

    Transcript

    If you’ve watched any sort of documentaries about Ancient Egypt within the last 5, 10, maybe 20 years, you would have seen Zahi Hawass.

    He claims to have solved the mystery of where Nefertiti’s tomb is.

    So, according to Hawass, he and his team have DNA from 18th dynasty mummies. They also have 2 unnamed mummies in their care, right now, that they hope to be able to announce in October 2022 as the wife of King Tutankhamun and her mom, Nefertiti.

    Among many other reasons, there’s one primary reason why it’s been so difficult to locate Nefertiti. So, when her husband, Amenhotep IV, ascended to power, he, basically, did away with the entire traditional schema of what Egyptian society was like.

    Once he died, though, the traditional culture was brought back. The memory of Amenhotep IV and Nefertiti was, essentially, just erased. There was no evidence left of where they were laid to rest.

    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.