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Stories from Christian Thorsberg

A black-and-white photograph from the 1910s of a girl named Gladys by Hooks Brothers Studio in Memphis

This Photography Studio Captured the Beauty of Black Life in the South. Soon Its Archive, Once Hidden Away, Will Have a New Museum Home

The Hooks brothers documented life and joy in Memphis during the 20th century. Their images will be put on public view when the Memphis Art Museum opens

David Drake’s 1857 ceramic jar is featured prominently in the museum’s redesigned 18th-century galleries ahead of its America at 250 celebration. 

By Signing His Name to Massive Jars, This Enslaved Artist Defied Literacy Bans in the South. Now, His Masterpiece Is on View With a Famed Paul Revere Bowl

Born into slavery around 1800, David Drake was a skilled ceramicist. His work will be on display at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston as the institution marks America’s 250th birthday

A rendering of Oscar Tuazon’s Eternal Flame for Scott Burton 

With a Beam of Light, the New York City AIDS Memorial Honors the Nearly Forgotten Legacy of This Great American Sculptor

A new sculpture draws on materials and ideas from Scott Burton’s artwork, which offered comfort in urban spaces. His final public series was a set of benches and lights on piers in Brooklyn

Nymphéas, Claude Monet, 1907 

When Claude Monet Planted Water Lilies, Inspiration Struck. An Upcoming Auction Will Test How Much Collectors Prize the Floral Masterpieces

The marquee painting from Monet’s “Nymphéas” series is expected to fetch more than $40 million at auction later this month

Gordon S. Wood was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama in 2011. 

Four Reasons You Should Know More About Gordon S. Wood, the Scholar of the American Revolution Who Died This Week at Age 92

The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, who wrote of the “radicalism” of the country’s founding, was killed in a car collision in a parking lot

The Dance of Death, a 16th-century artwork by an anonymous German artist

See the Human Body Morph Into Musical Instruments From Around the World at a New Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

A belly turns into a drum, hands mold into percussion tools and a face adorns a brass bell in this anatomical art history show

This drawing of a horse may have been Leonardo’s design for his planned equestrian monument.

500 Years Ago, Leonardo da Vinci’s Notebook Was Cut Up and Separated. Now, the Inventor’s Manuscripts and Drawings Are Reconstructed in an Online Archive

A new tool developed by Museo Galileo researchers has restored 50 pages from fragments excised centuries ago

A still from the famous YouTube video known as “Charlie Bit My Finger,” which is included in the British Film Institute’s new archive of significant online videos

Which Memes Deserve Digital Preservation? See the Online Videos the British Film Institute Selected for a New Archive

Viral videos, tutorials, vlogs and livestream snippets produced across decades offer insight into modern culture and communication, archivists say. This material could be lost without efforts to save it

Winston Churchill painting in Belgium, September 1946

Catch a Surprising Glimpse at WWII Leader Winston Churchill’s Pastime—Painting—at the First Major British Retrospective Since His Death

More than 50 canvases on view in London detail the prime minister’s quieter moments away from wars, speeches and politics

Liberty Lager is a brew inspired by Washington’s small beer recipe.

George Washington Recorded a Recipe for Beer While Leading a Militia. Thanks to the New York Public Library, You Can Imbibe That History This Summer

To celebrate America’s 250th birthday, the library partnered with a brewery to produce the founding father’s beer — and an updated version more pleasing to modern palates

The red fox, native to the United Kingdom, is among the six shortlisted mammals up for public vote to appear on new bank notes. 

Can a Hedgehog Replace Winston Churchill? See Which Animals May Soon Swap In for Historical Figures on British Pounds

Butterflies, dolphins and puffins are among the options the public will vote on to grace new bank notes

Comedian by Maurizio Cattelan

Someone Stole a Banana Duct-Taped to the Wall of a French Museum. One of Its Duplicates Fetched More Than $6 Million at Auction

This isn’t the first time the fruit at the center of the infamous “Comedian” art piece has been stolen or eaten

Joplin, Missouri, located along historic Route 66, is hosting the World Street Painting festival. This artwork is from a 2025 festival.

Asphalt Is the Canvas for This Year’s World Street Painting Festival in Joplin, Missouri, Which Honors 100 Years of Route 66

Immersive paintings, which function as massive optical illusions, pay tribute to the “Mother Road” and its influence on American culture

A rendering of the new Centre Pompidou Hanwha museum, called a “box of light,” in Seoul

Korean and French Culture Are Set to Rendezvous at a New Museum in Seoul for Modern and Contemporary Art

The Centre Pompidou Hanwha, the newest member of a growing global network of art museums, will debut with an exhibition on European cubism and Korean art

The new coin is one of five special quarter designs commemorating America's 250th birthday. 

See the New Quarter Honoring Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence That Enters Circulation Next Week, Ahead of America’s 250th Birthday

The design is one of several coin denominations, and the third of five new quarters, made specially for the country’s semiquincentennial

The sycamore tree before it was felled in 2023

How Do You Honor a Fallen Tree? In England, a Sound Sculpture Will Broadcast the ‘Voice’ of a Beloved Sycamore Felled Near Hadrian’s Wall

“The People’s Tree” will also incorporate the tree’s wood and archive recordings from the public in a series of community artworks

English Heritage volunteers finish work on a reconstruction of a 4,500-year-old Neolithic hall near Stonehenge. 

A 4,500-Year-Old Neolithic Hall Replica Rises at Stonehenge as Archaeologists and Volunteers Build With Prehistoric Tools and Techniques

The reconstruction of a prehistoric building, likely originally a place for winter feasts at the nearby Durrington Walls site, will serve as a learning space for students

Built roughly 4,600 years ago, the Great Pyramid of Giza has survived several significant earthquakes.

Ancient Egyptian Engineering Choices Helped the Great Pyramid of Giza Survive Earthquakes, New Research Finds

Researchers measured vibrations inside and around the pyramid to learn that the structure is surprisingly resilient against seismic tremors

An immunity necklace from the 50th season of “Survivor”

As ‘Survivor’ Finishes Its 50th Season, the Smithsonian Acquires the Sought-After Immunity Necklace and Other Props From the Iconic Reality TV Show

Items from the first and most recent seasons of the hit program will be added to the permanent collection of the National Museum of American History

The Plain of Jars is an archaeological site with thousands of stone jars in Laos.

A Discovered Trove of Bones and Teeth Yields New Clues to the Century-Old Mystery of ‘Death Jars’ in Laos

Scientists found bones of 37 people inside a giant stone jar at one of Southeast Asia’s most puzzling archaeological sites. The find suggests a multigenerational burial practice

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