Artists have used their tools not just to capture beauty and transcendence, but also the essence of what it means to be human.
In this episode, we learn from history’s greatest artists about loss, hope, the ugly, and the sublime.
What lessons can we take from these broken artists? What might their observations about the world tell us about God?
Meet our guest
Russ Ramsey is a returning guest to Undeceptions. He is an author, pastor, speaker, and art lover from Nashville, Tennessee. He’s written several books on God and art, and his latest is Van Gogh Has a Broken Heart: What Art Teaches Us About the Wonder and Struggle of Being Alive, published by Zondervan.
Links
Special thanks to our season sponsor Zondervan Academic. Get discounts on MasterLectures video courses and exclusive samples of their books at zondervanacademic.com/undeceptions
You can order a copy of Russ’s latest book here
A transcript of this episode is available here. Please note that due to software not all exchanges between guests will be completely accurate.
Extras
- Make sure you check out Russ’s Instagram, where he regularly shares reflections on different pieces of art
Here’s John and Buff, on a recent trip to the Art Institute of Chicago, with van Gogh himself in the background!
Albert Bierstadt was one of the pioneers of painting America’s majestic interior
Here’s ‘The Potato Eaters’, one of the lesser-known – but very moving – van Gogh works
To Read
- At the top of the show, we have a reading from art critic Walter Benjamin’s 1934 essay The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. Here’s the essay
- The theft of the Mona Lisa is one of the strangest stories in art history. Here’s a breakdown of it
- Artemisia Gentileschi is one of the most incredible artists that many people have never heard of. Read about her here
- Here’s a fascinating letter Vincent van Gogh wrote to his brother, Theo
- For further reading on the benefits of engaging with art, here’s a great piece by The Atlantic
To Watch
- It’s about time we had a Dr. Who clip in the show! Here’s the one you heard in the episode, where The Doctor meets van Gogh
- And here’s the clip you heard from At Eternity’s Gate, featuring Willem Dafoe as Vincent Van Gogh
- The idea of compressing art might seem sacrilegious to some, but the YouTube channel Great Art Explained offers some bight-sized insights into the world of art
To Listen
- Our episode The Artist is an essential companion listening for this episode – here it is, featuring the wonderful Makoto Fujimura
- Russ has done the rounds before when it comes to podcasting. Here he is talking about art and faith on The Dr. Lee Warren Podcast
- … and here he is giving a talk on how art reflects the creator for the C.S. Lewis Institute
… and finally
- If you want to write to the Mona Lisa, here’s a guide on how to do it
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