The Renwick Reopens

The Renwick’s Curator-in-Charge On What It Means to Open Ourselves to Wonder

Before the renovation, Nicholas Bell asked nine artists to tour the building and think deeply about public spaces dedicated to art

Girl Behind Bottle (Jean Patchett) by Irving Penn, New York, 1949, printed 1978

A Major Retrospective of Photographer Irving Penn Includes Previously Unseen Works

At the Smithsonian American Art Museum, view works from the master photographer’s 70-year career

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Venice

The Beauty of Venice’s Everyday

Instagram photographer Alvise Giovannini discovers Venice beyond its iconic symbols and places

A spaghetti squash explodes with color. Maciek Jasik does not reveal his technique for making produce expel colorful smoke.

These Fruits Explode With Color. Literally.

Artist Maciek Jasik won’t share the secrets behind his work, but the mystery is part of the fun

Invisible, 1971, by Giovanni Anselmo

Playful Artworks at the Hirshhorn Get the Better of One Mystified Observer

A group of international mid-century artists built a number of kinetic experiments into their abstract art

The title of Gardner's photograph (taken with Timothy O'Sullivan) Field Where General Reynolds Fell, Gettysburg, July 1863 was added later to capitalize on the famous general's heroism.

Alexander Gardner Saw Himself as an Artist, Crafting the Image of War in All Its Brutality

The National Portrait Gallery’s new show on the Civil War photographer rediscovers the full significance of Gardner’s career

Pacchanta's Maria Merma Gonzalo practices weaving techniques that have changed little in 500 years.

In a Small Village High in the Peruvian Andes, Life Stories Are Written in Textiles

Through weaving, the women of Ausangate, Peru, pass down the traditions of their ancestors

Where the Nazis Hid $3.5 Billion of Stolen Art

In 1945, the Nazis hid their stolen art in a sealed salt mine. But when U.S. troops arrived, they found that the opening to the mine had been destroyed

Demonstrators express support for The Perfect Moment, an exhibition by Robert Mapplethrope that included nude and sexually graphic photos.

When Art Fought the Law and the Art Won

The Mapplethorpe obscenity trial changed perceptions of public funding of art and shaped the city of Cincinnati

“People who want to have fun,” Starr Hagenbring says. “These are fun, beautiful clothes. Seeing beautiful things makes you happy, and that’s what I do."

Wearing Your Art On Your Sleeve

These three artists come from a long tradition of creating wearable art. See many more at the Smithsonian’s upcoming Craft2Wear show this weekend

Edward Burtynsky, Oil Spill #10 Oil Slick at Rip Tide, Gulf of Mexico, June 24, 2010, chromogenic print

Age of Humans

This Stunning Contemporary Art Captures Terror, Wonder and Wit in the Anthropocene

Smithsonian art historian Joanna Marsh selects nine works that tell stories about life in the age of humans

Nine American Airports for Art Lovers

Your layover just got better

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The Innovative Spirit

This Interactive Installation Rains a Poem Down on Viewers

Artists Camille Utterback and Romy Achituv wrote the software that drives an artwork, in which onlookers catch letters falling on a large screen

Mouth (for L’Oréal), New York, 1986; printed 1992.

How Irving Penn Turned Fashion Photography Into a Fine Art

A new show at the Smithsonian American Art Museum looks back at a photo giant who blurred the lines

The Broad houses the contemporary art collection of philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad. The collection is valued at nearly two billion dollars.

The Big Names of Art (and a Bit of the Unexpected) Debut at the Broad Museum in L.A.

Housing one of the greatest collections of contemporary art in the world, this new landmark is ready for its close-up

Martha McDonald performs in the 2014 work The Lost Garden at The Woodlands in Philadelphia.

What Artist Martha McDonald Might Teach Us About a Nation Divided

This fall, a one-woman show staged in one of Washington, D.C.’s most historic buildings will recall the sorrow of the Civil War

That Time When Ansel Adams Posed for a Baseball Trading Card

In the 1970s, photographer Mike Mandel asked his famous colleagues to pose for a pack of baseball cards. The results are as amazing as you’d imagine

The Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company premiers its newest work, "We choose to go to the moon," at the Kennedy Center on September 19 and 20, 2015.

A Dancer and a Scientist Deliver a New Take on the Moon Walk

When modern dance collides with science and space history, the result can be a great leap forward

Animaris Percipiere, 2005.

The Strange, Giant “Beach Animals” That Are About to Invade America’s Shores

Artist Theo Jansen’s sculptures first became hits on YouTube. Now they’ve reached the shores of New England

Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner's address book, circa 1950-1956

What’s Inside Jackson Pollock’s Address Book?

A new exhibition reveals the intimate details inside the “little black books” of some of America’s great artists

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