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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Letters

Readers Respond to the February 2011 Issue

Leopold Mozart, right, boasted how well his daughter played the piano in a letter in 1764. She was quickly overshadowed by her brother Wolfgang.

Maria Anna Mozart: The Family’s First Prodigy

She was considered to be one of the finest pianists in Europe, until her younger brother Wolfgang came along

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Letters

Readers Respond to the January Issue

Paul Gauguin's Tahitian mistress Tehamana modeled for many of his South Seas works, including the lush Te Nave Nave Fenua (The Delightful Land), 1892.

Gauguin’s Bid for Glory

Of all the images created by the artist Paul Gauguin, none was more striking than the one he crafted for himself

Sculptor Alexander Calder is perhaps best known as the inventor of the mobile. View Portrait of the Arist as a Young Man and more at the Portrait Gallery.

What’s Up

Gene Krupa "stole Benny [Goodman]'s thunder," says Kennith Kimery, executive producer of the SMithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. "In the end that cost him his job."

Gene Krupa: a Drummer with Star Power

Rising to fame with the Benny Goodman band, Gene Krupa was the first superstar drummer

Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt, better known as Semiconductor, are developing a multimedia piece about volcanologists.

Semiconductor on Volcanic Inspiration

The British performance artists discuss how their research on volcanoes will inform their newest works

Scavenger hunts with mobile devices are a hit with teens.

Collaborations

"You didn't learn your history, you lived it," says Cornelia Bailey, who grew up on Sapelo.

Holding on to Gullah Culture

A Smithsonian curator visits a Georgia island to find stories of a shrinking community that has clung to its African traditions

Wayne Thiebaud may be best known for confections, but friends and critics point to his underappreciated depths.

Wayne Thiebaud Is Not a Pop Artist

He’s best known for his bright paintings of pastries and cakes, but they represent only a slice of the American master’s work

Visitors to the National Zoo might glimpse one or more of the seven lion cubs born there in August and September.

What’s Up

Bill Moggridge, director of the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, was the recipient of the 2010 Prince Philip Designers Prize.

Q and A with Bill Moggridge

The director of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum discusses the future of computing and design

Shanthi, a 34-year-old female, checks out the Zoo's new digs for Asian elephants.

Trail Blazing

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Letters

Journalist Cathleen McGuigan covers art, architecture, design and culture. Her latest piece for Smithsonian profiles artist Wayne Thiebaud.

Cathleen McGuigan on “Wayne Thiebaud Is Not a Pop Artist”

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