Smart News Arts & Culture

A 300-thread count sari woven out of a hybrid Dhaka muslin thread

How Modern Researchers Are Trying to Recreate a Long-Lost Fabric

Dhaka muslin was immensely popular for millennia, but the secrets of its creation faded from memory by the early 20th century

L to R: Anna, the eldest van Gogh sister; Elisabeth, or Lies; and Willemien, the youngest, who was better known as Wil

New Book Details the Lives of Vincent van Gogh's Sisters Through Their Letters

The missives reveal that the Impressionist artist's family paid for his younger sibling's medical care by selling 17 of his paintings

An undated view of the Seven Hills of Bonn by Josephine Butler, who campaigned for sex workers' rights and pushed Parliament to raise the age of consent

Pioneering Victorian Suffragist's Unseen Watercolor Paintings Are Up for Sale

Seven landscape scenes by 19th-century British social reformer Josephine Butler are headed to the auction block

Fourteen contemporary artists collaborated to create a real-life version of the 1947 picture book.

Step Into the Pages of 'Goodnight Moon' With This Enchanting Exhibition

On view at Fort Makers in NYC, the show features 14 artists' reimagined interpretations of objects from the beloved children's book

Hunter-gatherers in what is now Russia likely viewed the wooden sculpture as an artwork imbued with ritual significance.

New Research

This Wooden Sculpture Is Twice as Old as Stonehenge and the Pyramids

New findings about the 12,500-year-old Shigir Idol have major implications for the study of prehistory

Yayoi Kusama with recent works in Tokyo, 2016

Trove of Early Yayoi Kusama Works to Go on Public View for the First Time

The Japanese artist gifted the pieces, which will be exhibited ahead of a May auction, to her doctor as thanks for free medical care

The 74-foot-tall slab will be installed at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

The Newseum's Iconic First Amendment Tablet Is Headed to Philadelphia

Weighing in at 50 tons, the marble slab previously adorned the facade of the now-shuttered journalism museum in D.C.

A 1932 facsimile of the first issue of the Emancipator, published on April 30, 1820

History of Now

New Project Reimagines the U.S.' First Antislavery Newspaper, the 'Emancipator'

A joint initiative from Boston University and the "Boston Globe" revamps a 19th-century abolitionist publication for 21st-century research about race

During World War II, the United States government incarcerated some 120,000 Japanese Americans, including the Uno family spotlighted in the documentary series.

Education During Coronavirus

Watch 150 Years of Asian American History Unfold in This Documentary

The five-part PBS series chronicles the community's story through archival footage, interviews

At the new exhibition at the Mauritshuis in The Hague, scent dispensers will let viewers smell scents associated with the paintings.

Don't Just Look at These Paintings—Smell Them Too, Says New Dutch Exhibition

"Scent dispensers" will emit odors fragrant and foul to evoke 17th-century Europe

Much of the Apostle Santiago Church burned to the ground in a March 7 fire.

Fire at 16th-Century Mexican Church Prompts Debate Over How to Protect Cultural Heritage

Critics argue that a lack of preservation funding contributed to the devastating loss

Ruth Bader Ginsburg would have celebrated her 88th birthday on March 15, 2021.

A New Sculpture in Brooklyn Honors Ruth Bader Ginsburg

The statue, unveiled to coincide with Women's History Month, is dedicated to the late Supreme Court justice

The team used DNA analysis to determine the brothers' hair and eye color. Top: Spytihněv I and bottom: Vratislav I

Art Meets Science

3-D Reconstructions Reveal the Faces of Two Medieval Dukes

Researchers used a variety of techniques to visualize what Czech rulers Spytihněv I and Vratislav I might have looked like

The insect, which is barely visible to the naked eye, was probably dead by the time it landed on van Gogh's canvas.

Cool Finds

How Did This Grasshopper End Up Trapped in a Vincent van Gogh Painting?

New research offers insights on "Olive Trees" (1889), including the story of the hapless insect trapped on its thickly painted surface

The amulet probably dates to the fifth or sixth century B.C.

Cool Finds

Eleven-Year-Old Boy Discovers Ancient Fertility Amulet in Israeli Desert

The 2,500-year-old ceramic figurine was likely created to provide protection and promote conception

Beeple's Everydays: The First 5000 Days, a non-fungible token, or an entirely digital work, will go up for auction at Christie's later this month.

Entirely Digital Artwork Sells for Record-Breaking $69 Million

The sale marks the third-highest auction price achieved by a living artist

Staff hang a work by Rachel Ruysch in the Amsterdam museum's Gallery of Honour on March 8, 2021.

For the First Time in Its 200-Year History, the Rijksmuseum Features Women Artists in 'Gallery of Honour'

The Amsterdam institution is spotlighting works by Dutch Golden Age painters Judith Leyster, Gesina ter Borch and Rachel Ruysch

The National Park Service predicts that peak bloom will take place between April 2 and 5.

Virtually Celebrate Peak Bloom With Ten Fun Facts About Cherry Blossoms

This year's National Cherry Blossom Festival will feature a mix of in-person and online events

Frida Kahlo, Still Life, 1951, oil on masonite

Five Rarely Seen Frida Kahlo Artworks United for Dallas Exhibition

The show features lesser-known paintings and drawings, most of which date to the end of the iconic Mexican artist's life

Tattoo by early Japanese tattoo artist K. Akamatsu, ca. 1910s

Explore 200 Years of Tattoo History With This New Book

Celebrated tattoo artist Henk Schiffmacher shows off designs from around the world in images from his private collection

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