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Arts & Culture / Art & Artists

One of the larger pieces of Yapese stone money. Quarried in Palau, these giant coins were transported to Yap on flimsy outrigger canoes at considerable human cost – until O'Keefe took over their manufacturing.

David O’Keefe: The King of Hard Currency

The Irish American immigrant made a fortune by supplying the giant stone coins prized by Yap islanders

Since 1999, Richard and Judith Lang have found countless ways to turn their huge collection of beach debris into extraordinary art.

Making Beautiful Art out of Beach Plastic

Artists Judith and Richard Lang comb the California beaches, looking for trash for their captivating, yet unsettling work

Birdshot + jello

Law and Order: Jell-O Gelatin Unit

From drunk driving to acts of Cold War espionage, here’s a look at how Jell-O has sprung up in our criminal justice system

After 28 months, Vincenzo Perugia was arrested for the theft of the Mona Lisa. Shown here is the transfer of the painting from the Italian Ministry of Public Instruction to France.

Stolen: How the Mona Lisa Became the World’s Most Famous Painting

One hundred years ago, a heist by a worker at the Louvre secured Leonardo’s painting as an art world icon

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Letters

Readers Respond to the April Issue

Barbara Morgan's portrait of Martha Graham may be the most famous photo ever taken of an American dancer.

An Unforgettable Photo of Martha Graham

Barbara Morgan’s portrait of the iconic dancer helped move modern dance to center stage

Hu Jiusi's Orchid and Fungus-of-Immortality by a Torrent, 1838 and other works by Chinese painters at the Sackler Gallery until July 17.

What’s Up

The Peacock Room, named for the birds James McNeill Whistler painted on its shutters and walls, reflects the tension between the artist and his first significant patron.

Freer|Sackler: Reopens

The Story Behind the Peacock Room’s Princess

How a portrait sparked a battle between an artist–James McNeill Whistler—and his patron–Frederick R. Leyland

American artist George Ault had the ability in his paintings to take specific locations in Woodstock, New York, where he lived from 1937 until his death in 1948, and make them seem universal. Shown here is Ault's Daylight at Russell's Corners, 1944.

George Ault’s World

Structured with simple lines and vivid colors, the paintings of George Aultcaptured the chaotic 1940s in a unique way

See artist Preston Singletary's Raven Steals the Sun, 2008, at the American Indian's Heye Center in New York City until September 5.

What’s Up

Frederick Eugene Ives' photochromoscopy plates "are perhaps the first color photographs of San Francisco.

The 1906 San Francisco Quake in Color

Recently discovered photographs depict the aftermath of the devastating California earthquake in a new light

Sculptor Ousmane Sow creates pieces rooted in Africa and Europe.

A Larger-Than-Life Toussaint Louverture

The Haitian revolutionary joins the Smithsonian Museum of African Art’s collection

Alain Touwaide, a science historian in the botany department at the National Museum of Natural History, has devoted his career to unearthing lost knowledge.

What Secrets Do Ancient Medical Texts Hold?

The Smithsonian’s Alain Touwaide studies ancient books to identify medicines used thousands of years ago

Deciphering the universe is a "Grand Challenge." Shown here is Galaxy M100.

Synergies

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Letters

Born in Seville in 1599, Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez was the very embodiment of Spain's artistic golden age.

Velázquez: Embodiment of a Golden Age

The magic of Velázquez has influenced artists from his contemporaries to Manet and Picasso

Curator John Marciari discovered the Velázquez painting in a Yale storeroom and calls The Education of the Virgin "the most significant addition to the artist's work in a century or more."

A Velázquez in the Cellar?

Sorting through old canvases in a storeroom, a Yale curator discovered a painting believed to be by the Spanish master

See Helen Cordero's Storyteller figure is among the works in the "Small Spirits" exhibit at the American Indian Museum's Heye Center in New York until February 19, 2012.

What’s Up

Tom Mirenda helps maintain the nearly 8,000 orchids in the Smithsonian's collection.

Tom Mirenda on Orchids

The Natural History Museum’s orchid expert talks about the beloved flowers

The Smithsonian's renowned Orchid Collection numbers more than eight thousand plants.

Bloom Time at the Smithsonian

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