Aliens R Friends. Not Food.

Hidden Portraits: Marie Curie

Marie Curie was a Polish and naturalized-French scientist and two-time Nobel Laureate for her pioneering study of radioactivity.

She’s featured in the Art with Watson series, Hidden Portraits. 15 artists teamed up with Watson to discover and illuminate the unknown essence of seven of history’s greatest thinkers using data. 

What Watson thinks: After analyzing articles about Curie from the past and present, along with her autobiography and private writings, Watson discovered that she experienced more joy when she talked about her family compared to science, despite being perceived as a cold, albeit brilliant, scientist.

About the artwork: Truth Shines was inspired by the dichotomy between the public persona and the personal, lesser-known dimension of Curie, as revealed by Watson: the cold scientist vs. the loving woman. The blue test represents the words the public used to describe her, and the glowing red text is taken from actual words used in private writings between Curie and her family.