France

Edgar Degas painted Édouard Manet and His Wife in the 1860s, but his friend was not a fan.

Manet and Degas Were Dear Friends—and Spirited Rivals

The complex relationship between the two French painters is the subject of a new exhibition in Paris

Parisians voted to ban for-rent electric scooters.

Parisians Vote to Ban For-Rent Electric Scooters

In a referendum on Sunday, city residents overwhelmingly opted to do away with the iconic mode of transportation

Claude Monet's 1874 portrait of his brother Léon

Claude Monet's Older Brother Helped Shape the Impressionist Movement

A new exhibition explores the legacy of Léon Monet, who taught Claude about color and purchased his art

Picasso in Place Ravignan in Montmartre in 1904

Why French Authorities Placed a Young Pablo Picasso Under Surveillance

Police suspected the 19-year-old Spanish expatriate of harboring anarchist views

An aerial view of the ongoing efforts to reconstruct Paris' Notre-Dame Cathedral, pictured in June 2021

The 2019 Notre-Dame Fire Revealed Iron Staples Holding the Cathedral Together

The Paris landmark is the first known Gothic cathedral to use iron in this way, researchers say

“Marie Antoinette,” a new series premiering in the United States on March 19, is the first major English-language television show to tell the French queen’s story.

Why Marie Antoinette's Reputation Changes With Each Generation

A new television series portrays the French queen as a feminist, drawing criticism from historians

The Source of the Lison (1864) by Gustave Courbet

Workers Stumble Upon Lost Courbet Painting in University Basement

After a years-long authentication process, “The Source of the Lison” goes on display in Philadelphia

The hazy quality of works like Turner's Rain, Steam and Speed (1844) was influenced by air pollution, a new study says.

Did Air Pollution Influence Famous Impressionist Painters?

Artists like Turner and Monet painted the smog they saw in London and Paris, a new study says

Archaeologists created replica stone points, then experimented with them by firing them at a goat carcass using different methods.

Archery May Have Arrived in Europe Thousands of Years Earlier Than Thought

New archaeological research suggests Homo sapiens used bows and arrows 54,000 years ago in present-day France

Two lucky visitors will spend the night inside the Palais Garnier, exploring the historic opera house and enjoying private tours and other perks.

Parisian Opera House That Inspired 'Phantom of the Opera' Becomes an Airbnb

For just one night, two travelers will spend the night in the Palais Garnier’s Box of Honor

Pierre-Auguste Renoir's Marine Guernsey (1883) is one of four paintings that the Musée d’Orsay will restitute to heirs of Ambroise Vollard.

French Court Orders Musée d’Orsay to Restitute Masterpieces Stolen During World War II

Descendants of art dealer Ambroise Vollard won a legal battle over works by Renoir, Cézanne and Gauguin

The Djidji Ayôkwé was kept at the Quai Branly Museum in Paris for about a century.

French Museum Will Return 'Talking Drum' to Ivory Coast

Colonial settlers seized the ten-foot-long wooden instrument in 1916

At the Paris World's Fair a powerful display of hand-drawn diagrams (above: Income and expenditure of 150 Negro families in Atlanta, Ga.,U.S. designed by W.E.B. Du Bois and his students) called attention to the unrecognized contributions of Black Americans. The fragile posters are being rotatated in and out of an exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum through May 2023.

How W.E.B. Du Bois Disrupted America’s Dominance at the World’s Fair

With bar graphs and pie charts, the sociologist and his Atlanta students demonstrated Black excellence in the face of widespread discrimination

A portrait of Anne d’Alégre, a 17th-century French noblewoman who masked her poor dentition with gold wire and an elephant ivory false tooth

What Secrets Lie Beneath This 17th-Century French Aristocrat's Smile?

New research suggests noblewoman Anne d’Alégre used gold wire to keep her decaying teeth in place

“People always liked and admired Colette, but after [World War I], with this need to consolidate French identity, Colette really becomes a classique,” says Kathleen Antonioli. 

Colette Revolutionized French Literature With Her Depictions of Female Desire

Born 150 years ago this week, the author was known for her incisive portrayals of women's everyday lives

Sister André, born Lucile Randon in 1904, died on January 17, 2023, at the age of 118.

World’s Oldest Known Person, a French Nun, Dies at 118

Sister André survived both world wars, the 1918 influenza pandemic and even a Covid-19 diagnosis at the age of 116

Hector Guimard, who gained acclaim from his work with the Paris Métro subway system, is the subject of an exhibition on view at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City.

Meet the Designer of the Fanciful Subway Entrances to the Paris Métro

The celebrated architect Hector Guimard was also a passionate advocate for workers’ rights, even as he honed his reputation in the business of luxury

Cézanne's Still Life With Bread and Eggs, housed at the Cincinnati Art Museum

For 158 Years, a Cézanne Portrait Hid Behind a Still Life of Bread and Eggs

While examining the painting, a museum employee had a hunch—and called for an X-ray

Archaeologists discovered the sarcophagi beneath the floor of the Notre-Dame cathedral's transept.

Unraveling the Secrets of the Sarcophagi Found Beneath Notre-Dame Cathedral

Archaeologists are learning more about the two men buried under the iconic Paris landmark

Egyptologist Zahi Hawass is leading a push to repatriate the Rosetta Stone, the Dendera Zodiac and the bust of Nefertiti to Egypt.

Who Gets to Tell the Story of Ancient Egypt?

On the eve of the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, some of the country's artifacts, from the Rosetta Stone to the bust of Nefertiti, remain overseas

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