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HENI Talks

About HENI Talks

HENI Talks is a non-commercial initiative dedicated to sharing insights about art history from authorities in the field, as part of a broader commitment to supporting art education and widening public access to art. Check out https://www.youtube.com/c/henitalks to learn more.

Through the lens of personal experience, anyone can find value and enjoyment in art

How to enjoy art: Ben Street

What connects the group of artists who we have come to know as Abstract Expressionists?

What is: Abstract Expressionism?

Why did Surrealism appeal to artists across the world?

Surrealism: Imagining A New World

Malevich's Black Square represents the paradigm shift which changed the direction of contemporary art

Kazimir Malevich, Black Square (1915)

witham shielf grid — In the early 19th century, a striking Celtic treasure was dredged-up from a river in Lincolnshire: The Witham Shield.

The Witham Shield

morris grid — Discover the radical politics of interior design in the Arts & Crafts movement.

William Morris, useful beauty in the home

taddei tondo grid — Michelangelo's art could be tender and lyrical, dwelling upon the inherent tensions of the human condition.

Michelangelo, Taddei Tondo

titian diana — Titian's works are his attempt to represent the unruly supernatural forces of the ancient world and the strife they inflict on human beings, which remain as relevant as ever.

Titian, Diana and Actaeon

Wedgwood created wares in his Stoke factories for both the masses and the aristocracy, whilst using his designs to support the most morally charged cause of his day – the abolition of slavery.

Josiah Wedgwood: Tycoon of Taste

omar victor diop — Diop uses his own body to restage charged moments in history in a quest for us to look at and learn from these events afresh.

Omar Victor Diop: Black subjects in the ...

Brasilia Grid — City planner Lùcio Costa’s graphic design for an ideal city was combined with architect Oscar Niemeyer’s artistic prowess and provocative use of concrete.

Building Brasília

persian painting grid — Explore the rich effects of a painting from an illustrated manuscript of the Shahnameh — or ‘Book of Kings’ — the national epic of Iran composed by poet Firdawsi around 1010.

Looking at Persian painting

zhengming grid — Wintry Trees is a hanging scroll produced by Wen Zhengming at a time of personal loss.

Wen Zhengming, Wintry Trees

brutalism grid — One might consider Brutalism as the ‘marmite’ of architectural history: it is a style that is systematically loathed and revered.

What is: brutalism?

Magdalene Odundo, Untitled (Vessel), 1997, red clay, 50.2 x 33 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — Ceramic is one of the most ubiquitous and ancient arts.

What is ceramic art?

thumb degenerate art — Explore the concept of ‘Degenerate Art’, a term adopted by the Nazi Party in 1920s Germany to describe art that did not conform to their ideal vision of the world.

What is: Degenerate Art?

Diallo grid — The life of Ayuba Suleiman Diallo, from modern-day Senegal, reveals some of the startling and uncomfortable truths behind the historic slave trade.

A Portrait of Humanity: The Compelling Story ...

Édouard Manet, A Bar at the Folies-Bergère, oil on canvas, 1882 (Courtauld Gallery, London) — Griselda Pollock unpacks some of the questions raised by Manet’s last masterpiece.

A Bar at the Folies-Bergère with Griselda ...

Benin ivory mask, HENI talks — This mask depicts the king’s mother, whose ruthless political prowess ensured that her son became king.

Benin ivory mask (Edo peoples)

Pisa Pulpit — Some distortions are deliberate. This pulpit has its critics, but it coheres in real life—just not in photos.

Giovanni Pisano, Pisa Pulpit