1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:05,240 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey guys, I hope you enjoy these classic 3 00:00:05,280 --> 00:00:08,479 Speaker 1: episodes from the t D I h C Vault. I'm 4 00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:11,559 Speaker 1: currently researching a new crop of stories for next year, 5 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:14,600 Speaker 1: so be sure to join me again on January second, 6 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:19,200 Speaker 1: when we return with all new episodes. See you next week. 7 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:22,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to This Day in History Class from how Stuff 8 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:24,479 Speaker 1: Works dot com and from the desk of Stuff You 9 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:26,920 Speaker 1: Missed in History Class. It's the show where we explore 10 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:29,120 Speaker 1: the past one day at a time with a quick 11 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:36,160 Speaker 1: look at what happened today in history. Hello and welcome 12 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and it's December four. 13 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:43,519 Speaker 1: Ryan Art Maria Rilca was born Honest Day in eighteen 14 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:47,640 Speaker 1: seventy five. He was a poet, a novelist, and essayist. 15 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:51,320 Speaker 1: He primarily wrote in German and in French, but his 16 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: work has been translated into numerous other languages, and he's 17 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 1: become particularly studied and beloved in the English speaking world 18 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 1: in a way that's not really all that common among 19 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:08,039 Speaker 1: non English language poets. He was his parents only surviving child, 20 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:10,440 Speaker 1: and for a lot of his early life his mother 21 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 1: actually dressed him in skirts. She was trying to recover 22 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:15,640 Speaker 1: from the death of his older sister, who had died 23 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:19,200 Speaker 1: as a baby. His first formal education was at a 24 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:23,880 Speaker 1: military school, although it wasn't a particularly good fit for him. 25 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:26,560 Speaker 1: It wasn't just because of his temperament, which was not 26 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: well suited to being at a military school. It was 27 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 1: also because of his health. He had a series of 28 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:36,039 Speaker 1: chronic illnesses that affected him throughout his life. Health problems 29 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:39,040 Speaker 1: led to his being discharged from the second military school 30 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 1: that he attended. He went on to study philosophy and art, 31 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 1: and he wasn't a particularly good student. He moved from 32 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:51,160 Speaker 1: one university to another, not being all that engaged with 33 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:53,600 Speaker 1: the work that he was doing, and he also started 34 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:57,640 Speaker 1: writing when he was still a young man. His early work, though, 35 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: was really derivative of the writing of other poets, to 36 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: the point that some critics today don't really describe it 37 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:10,080 Speaker 1: as derivative. They describe it as plagiarized. But he started 38 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:13,480 Speaker 1: to reinvent himself when he was twenty two. Part of 39 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:16,960 Speaker 1: this was through a relationship with lou Andreas Salomy, who 40 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:20,080 Speaker 1: was a writer who was connected to numerous other writers. 41 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 1: She had a whole reputation for being a just astonishing woman. 42 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:29,400 Speaker 1: She was also married, but the relationship inspired him to 43 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: basically remake his whole life. At the age of twenty five, 44 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:36,280 Speaker 1: he married a sculptor named Clara Westof and they had 45 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: a child together. Although they didn't live together for very long, 46 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:43,280 Speaker 1: a lot of their marriage took place through letters, and 47 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:46,120 Speaker 1: he would later go on to describe marriage as two 48 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 1: people protecting one another's solitude. For a lot of his life, 49 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:55,120 Speaker 1: including during and before his marriage, he just moved continually. 50 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: At one point he lived in twenty five different places 51 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: over the span of five years. He learned numerous languages. 52 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:07,240 Speaker 1: He pursued passionate relationships with women in all of these places. 53 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 1: Later on, he started writing poems about philosophy and God 54 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:16,600 Speaker 1: and beauty, using imagery to express his ideas. His writings 55 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 1: on God, though we should be clear, they're not so 56 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:23,280 Speaker 1: much about religion or a divine figure. They're more about 57 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:27,239 Speaker 1: God as a universal consciousness, or as a life force, 58 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:31,400 Speaker 1: or as a natural presence, not so much as a 59 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 1: divine being. He also had friendships and working relationships with 60 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 1: so many other philosophers and writers and poets. One of 61 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:43,720 Speaker 1: them was Auguste. Rodin, who was a major influence on 62 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:47,680 Speaker 1: his work. He also worked as Rodan secretary for a time, 63 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:52,360 Speaker 1: but was let go after Dan alleged that Rilco was 64 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 1: answering his letters without his permission. Bilka died of leukemia 65 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 1: on December twenty nine, six, and there's a story that 66 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:05,720 Speaker 1: he pricked his finger on a rose and that when 67 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 1: he did that, this led to an infection that hastened 68 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 1: his death. It's not totally clear whether that is a 69 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:15,720 Speaker 1: real event or apocryphal. After his death, though, he became 70 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:20,039 Speaker 1: hugely influential to poets and multiple languages, with some of 71 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: them naming him as the greatest poet of his age 72 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:27,000 Speaker 1: when it comes to English language readers, though only a 73 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:30,280 Speaker 1: few of his poems were really available in very good 74 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:35,240 Speaker 1: English language translations until the nineteen seventies. Instead, a lot 75 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: of the admiration for him comes from his prose, in 76 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:42,159 Speaker 1: particular the Letters to a Young Poet, which was a 77 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:47,400 Speaker 1: response to the aforesaid young poets request for advice because 78 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:49,960 Speaker 1: we're just about writing, though there were also really about life. 79 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:54,080 Speaker 1: Roca's reputation is one of being just a profoundly thoughtful 80 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:59,839 Speaker 1: and conscientious, introspective person, someone who really crafted himself into 81 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:01,880 Speaker 1: the person that he wanted to be, and in the 82 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:07,760 Speaker 1: process transformed himself into a remarkable poet, although he definitely 83 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:11,640 Speaker 1: has detractors, people who instead read him as a pretentious 84 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:16,800 Speaker 1: womanizer rather than a more intuitive and passionate soul. Thanks 85 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:19,080 Speaker 1: very much to Eaves Jeff Cope for her research work 86 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:21,760 Speaker 1: on today's show, and thanks to Casey Pigraham and Chandler 87 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:24,360 Speaker 1: Mays for their audio work. You can subscribe to the 88 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:27,279 Speaker 1: Stay in History Class on Apple podcast, Google Podcast, the 89 00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:30,240 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio app, and wherever else you get your podcasts, 90 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:33,080 Speaker 1: and you can tune in tomorrow for a mystery at 91 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:44,640 Speaker 1: sea that still persists till today. Welcome back. I'm your 92 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:47,640 Speaker 1: host Eves, and you're tuned into This Day in History Class, 93 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,839 Speaker 1: a show that takes history and squeezes it into bite 94 00:05:50,839 --> 00:06:00,960 Speaker 1: size stories. The day was December four eat. Luisa Cavell 95 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:04,240 Speaker 1: was born in England. Cavil was a nurse that known 96 00:06:04,279 --> 00:06:07,600 Speaker 1: for hiding Allied soldiers from Germans during World War One. 97 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:12,039 Speaker 1: Cavill was the oldest of four children. When she was young, 98 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:15,720 Speaker 1: Edith was educated at home, mostly by her father, who 99 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:19,400 Speaker 1: was the vicar in Swardeston, where she was born. She 100 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:22,480 Speaker 1: later went to boarding school, then worked as a governess 101 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 1: for an Essex family. Edith spent time traveling in Switzerland, 102 00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 1: Bavaria and Saxony, gaining an interest in hygiene and medicine, 103 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:35,360 Speaker 1: and Brussels. Cavil worked as a governess, but when her 104 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:37,920 Speaker 1: father got sick, she went back to England to care 105 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:42,159 Speaker 1: for him. Cavill soon began her nursing education and started 106 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:46,000 Speaker 1: gaining experience in hospital work. She worked in different hospitals 107 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:48,320 Speaker 1: in the London area, and she took jobs as a 108 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:53,919 Speaker 1: private nurse. Belgian surgeon Antoine Depage invited Cavil to Belgium 109 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:56,640 Speaker 1: to help with the direction of his new nursing school, 110 00:06:56,920 --> 00:06:59,720 Speaker 1: which would be influenced by the model developed by Florence 111 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:03,240 Speaker 1: Night and Gel. As an English trained nurse who was 112 00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:05,919 Speaker 1: fluent in French, Cavil foot the bill for who he 113 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:09,520 Speaker 1: was looking for. She became the director of nurse training 114 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 1: at the Birkendale Medical Institute and within a few years 115 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 1: was working as a nurse trainer at several hospitals and schools. 116 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:21,640 Speaker 1: Cavill also began publishing the nursing journal La Firmiere, but 117 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:25,120 Speaker 1: as the First World War began, Germany invaded Belgium and 118 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:28,560 Speaker 1: entered Brussels. Her clinic in nursing school were turned into 119 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: a Red Cross hospital. She cared for wounded German soldiers. 120 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:36,200 Speaker 1: When a couple of injured English soldiers ended up in 121 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 1: her clinic in November of nineteen fourteen, she hit them 122 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:43,200 Speaker 1: and helped them escape to the neutral Netherlands. As more 123 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: Allied soldiers began showing up at her clinic, she continued 124 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:49,280 Speaker 1: to shelter them and assist them and escaping to the Netherlands. 125 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:52,760 Speaker 1: Many of the soldiers she helped were British. In French, 126 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:56,240 Speaker 1: she began working with an underground network of people who 127 00:07:56,280 --> 00:08:00,960 Speaker 1: supplied the Allied soldiers with food, money, clothes, and fake documents. 128 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:04,760 Speaker 1: Soldiers were moved from location to location in the network, 129 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:09,440 Speaker 1: and Caval's clinic was one stop. The network also assisted 130 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:12,440 Speaker 1: French and Belgian men who were of military age that 131 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:16,920 Speaker 1: feared being imprisoned by the Germans. Caval's resistance work in 132 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:20,760 Speaker 1: harboring Allied soldiers and helping them escape was against German 133 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:24,520 Speaker 1: military law, but the system broke down when members of 134 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 1: the network were caught in linked to unlawful activity. CAVL 135 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:31,160 Speaker 1: was under suspicion and she was arrested on August fifth, 136 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:35,920 Speaker 1: nineteen fifteen. She spent weeks in solitary confinement and she 137 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 1: signed depositions admitting her guilt. She was charged with war 138 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:44,040 Speaker 1: treason and helping soldiers escape to Britain, which was at 139 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:47,320 Speaker 1: war with Germany. That meant she was aiding an enemy. 140 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:51,160 Speaker 1: Caval went on trial and was found guilty. She was 141 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:55,240 Speaker 1: sentenced to death and executed by firing squad on October twelve. 142 00:08:56,400 --> 00:09:00,120 Speaker 1: After her execution, Germany used her death to discourage resist it. 143 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:03,760 Speaker 1: The British, on the other hand, used her execution as 144 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:08,760 Speaker 1: propaganda to encourage enlistment in the British army. People around 145 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:11,360 Speaker 1: the world denounced that the Germans had executed a nurse 146 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:15,200 Speaker 1: and believe the punishment was too harsh. After the war 147 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:19,040 Speaker 1: was over, Calvill's remains were exhumed and transported to England. 148 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:22,600 Speaker 1: I'm Eave Jeff Coote, and hopefully you know a little 149 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:26,280 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. You can 150 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:29,760 Speaker 1: keep up with us on social media on Twitter, Facebook 151 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:34,560 Speaker 1: and Instagram at T d I h C podcast And 152 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:37,000 Speaker 1: if you would like to write me a letter, you 153 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:39,960 Speaker 1: can scan it, turn it into a PDF and send 154 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:42,760 Speaker 1: it to us via email at this Day at i 155 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:46,920 Speaker 1: heeart media dot com. Thanks again for listening, and we'll 156 00:09:46,920 --> 00:10:05,080 Speaker 1: see you tomorrow. Hello, and welcome to This Day in 157 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:09,520 Speaker 1: History class, a show that unveils history one day at 158 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:14,959 Speaker 1: a time. I'm Gabe Lousier, and today we're investigating how 159 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:17,880 Speaker 1: one of the most acclaimed art museums in the world 160 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:21,480 Speaker 1: made the rookie mistake of displaying a piece of art 161 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:32,800 Speaker 1: upside down. The day was December four, nineteen sixty one. 162 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:37,760 Speaker 1: The director of exhibitions at New York's Museum of Modern 163 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 1: Art realized that a picture had been hanging upside down 164 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:46,440 Speaker 1: for the past fifty seven days. The work in question 165 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:51,200 Speaker 1: was titled Le Bateaux, or The Boat. It had been 166 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:55,080 Speaker 1: made by Henri Matisse, one of the most influential French 167 00:10:55,160 --> 00:10:59,720 Speaker 1: artists of the twentieth century. Matisse died in nineteen fifty 168 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:01,960 Speaker 1: four are and by the end of his life his 169 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:06,559 Speaker 1: poor health had prevented him from painting. Rather than stop creating, 170 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:09,800 Speaker 1: the artist shifted his focus to the medium of paper 171 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:13,800 Speaker 1: cut collage. He would cut out pieces of paper and 172 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:18,240 Speaker 1: arrange them with gouache paint to create abstract scenes or 173 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:23,320 Speaker 1: designs composed of simple lines and shapes. This late career 174 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:26,400 Speaker 1: work was displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in 175 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:31,720 Speaker 1: an exhibition called the Last Works of Matisse Large Cut Gouoshes. 176 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:37,400 Speaker 1: The exhibition opened on October eighth, nineteen sixty one, and 177 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:40,880 Speaker 1: for nearly two months no one noticed that one of 178 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:44,560 Speaker 1: the key pieces had been hung the wrong way. In 179 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:48,880 Speaker 1: the museum's defense, lur Bateaux is a little confusing at 180 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:53,560 Speaker 1: first glance. Executed in nineteen fifty three, just a year 181 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:56,600 Speaker 1: before the artist's death, it depicts the image of a 182 00:11:56,679 --> 00:12:01,320 Speaker 1: blue boat sailing on curving purple waves, with clouds above it. 183 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:05,360 Speaker 1: The bottom half of the picture shows a stylized version 184 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:08,760 Speaker 1: of the boat and clouds to represent their reflections in 185 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:12,720 Speaker 1: the water. That symmetry is a big reason why the 186 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:16,559 Speaker 1: picture was hung upside down. Either way you look at it, 187 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:21,520 Speaker 1: the image looks almost the same. Lu Bateau was one 188 00:12:21,559 --> 00:12:25,440 Speaker 1: of forty gouage paper cuts brought over from Paris and 189 00:12:25,559 --> 00:12:28,400 Speaker 1: hung on the ground floor of the Museum of Modern Art. 190 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:32,080 Speaker 1: It was the only one to be hung incorrectly. In 191 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:35,520 Speaker 1: the error when unnoticed by the curators, the rest of 192 00:12:35,559 --> 00:12:40,120 Speaker 1: the museum staff, and even by Matisse's son, Pierre, who 193 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:44,080 Speaker 1: was himself an art dealer, all told more than a 194 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:48,720 Speaker 1: hundred and sixteen thousand visitors towards the exhibit and never 195 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:53,680 Speaker 1: caught the mistake. But one person did. Her name was 196 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:58,680 Speaker 1: Genevieve Aber, a Wall Street stockbroker and former resident of 197 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:03,120 Speaker 1: Paris who proved a bit more observant than most. She 198 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:06,920 Speaker 1: came to the Matiste show three times in total, and 199 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:09,800 Speaker 1: from her first visit she couldn't shake the feeling that 200 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:14,480 Speaker 1: something was off about le Bateaux. On her third visit, 201 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 1: she finally put her finger on the problem. She realized 202 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:20,360 Speaker 1: that the boat at the top of the image was 203 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:24,280 Speaker 1: less complex than the boat on the bottom. It didn't 204 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:28,359 Speaker 1: make sense that Matisse would make the reflection more defined 205 00:13:28,559 --> 00:13:32,240 Speaker 1: than the boat itself, which only left one option it 206 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:36,480 Speaker 1: had been installed upside down. Ah Bet bought a copy 207 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:40,360 Speaker 1: of the exhibition catalog and found that, sure enough, the 208 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:43,440 Speaker 1: image in the catalog didn't match the one on the wall. 209 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:47,320 Speaker 1: She took her proof to the nearest museum security guard, 210 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:51,240 Speaker 1: but he remained unconvinced, arguing that it was open to 211 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:55,920 Speaker 1: interpretation and also that maybe the catalog had been misprinted. 212 00:13:56,600 --> 00:14:00,080 Speaker 1: He told her quote, you don't know what's up, and 213 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:03,360 Speaker 1: you don't know what's down, and neither do we. We 214 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:07,840 Speaker 1: can't be responsible for the printers, as you might imagine, 215 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:12,080 Speaker 1: Albert wasn't satisfied with that response, so she made her 216 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:14,680 Speaker 1: way to the next guard, who directed her to the 217 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:19,960 Speaker 1: information desk. However, since it was Sunday evening, the curatorial 218 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:24,120 Speaker 1: staff wasn't available to speak with her. Rather than return 219 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:27,960 Speaker 1: for a fourth visit, Albert decided to voice her complaint 220 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:32,280 Speaker 1: to The New York Times The next day, on December four, 221 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:37,200 Speaker 1: the paper called Monroe Wheeler, the museum's director of exhibitions, 222 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:41,880 Speaker 1: and gave him the bad news. He was understandably embarrassed, 223 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:45,640 Speaker 1: and when asked what had led to the error, he replied, quote, 224 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:51,600 Speaker 1: just carelessness. Of course, that carelessness wasn't all his own. 225 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:56,800 Speaker 1: Alicia Legg had been the assistant curator responsible for the installation, 226 00:14:57,200 --> 00:14:59,560 Speaker 1: so it was her call on how to hang the picture, 227 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,840 Speaker 1: though of course Wheeler had final approval. Leg told The 228 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:06,920 Speaker 1: New York Times that the confusion had less to do 229 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:09,480 Speaker 1: with the front of the picture than with what was 230 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:12,920 Speaker 1: on the back of it. The reverse side had labels 231 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:17,280 Speaker 1: from previous exhibitions that were put on upside down as 232 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:20,600 Speaker 1: well as deep screw holes which suggested it had been 233 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:24,760 Speaker 1: shown upside down before. When Wheeler ordered the picture to 234 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:28,040 Speaker 1: be re hung, he and leg took a closer look 235 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:32,200 Speaker 1: and found fainter less noticeable screw holes on the correct 236 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:35,920 Speaker 1: side of the frame. The mistake had been fixed within 237 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:40,760 Speaker 1: two hours of Wheeler being notified, but unfortunately very few 238 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:44,760 Speaker 1: people got to see the correction. The exhibition was set 239 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:48,640 Speaker 1: to close that very day, which means that Le Batau 240 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:53,080 Speaker 1: was only displayed correctly for a few hours before it 241 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:57,000 Speaker 1: and the rest of the exhibit was taken down. The 242 00:15:57,080 --> 00:15:59,720 Speaker 1: New York Times ran a story on the blunder of 243 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:02,920 Speaker 1: the next day, much to the museum's chagrin. I'm sure 244 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:07,760 Speaker 1: when Pierre Matisse heard the news, he said quote, Mrs 245 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:12,280 Speaker 1: Abt should be given a medal. Although she never got one, 246 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 1: she'd be happy to know that Lrbata is now part 247 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 1: of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art, 248 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:25,160 Speaker 1: where it hangs at last, right side up. I'm Gabe Louzier, 249 00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:28,440 Speaker 1: and hopefully you now know a little more about art 250 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:32,560 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. If you want to 251 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:36,000 Speaker 1: keep up with the show, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, 252 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:39,960 Speaker 1: and Instagram at t d I HC Show, and if 253 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:42,920 Speaker 1: you have any comments or suggestions, you can send them 254 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:47,480 Speaker 1: my way at this Day at i heart media dot com. 255 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:50,520 Speaker 1: Thanks as always to Chandler Mays for producing the show, 256 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: and thanks to you for listening. I'll see you back 257 00:16:53,640 --> 00:17:01,280 Speaker 1: here again tomorrow for another day in History class m M. 258 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:09,200 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the iHeart 259 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:11,719 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 260 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:12,399 Speaker 1: favorite shows.