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Arts & Culture / Art & Artists

Former Air Force pilot Brian Shul calls the super-fast SR-71 Blackbird "the most remarkable airplane of the 20th century."

The Ultimate Spy Plane

The SR-71 Blackbird, now featured in the Transformers movie sequel, was faster than a rifle bullet and flew 16 miles above the earth

The National Museum of African American History and Culture (concept model) will "sing for all of us."

From the Castle: ‘Forever’ Institutions

Libraries, universities and museums are especially important in uncertain times

Hailing from the Democratic Republic of Congo, António Ole and Aimé Mpane have created multimedia installations on view at the National Museum of African Art through August 2.

Across Africa, Finding Common Ground in Their Art

António Ole and Aimé Mpane came together to converse through artwork in a new insallation at the National Museum of African Art

Girls, Barbies, Harlem, 1970.

Harlem Transformed: the Photos of Camilo José Vergara

For decades, the photographer has documented the physical and cultural changes in Harlem and other American urban communities

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From the Castle: Lincoln Login

The Smithsonian Connections project gives Lincoln learners the opportunity for interaction with curators, historians and scholars

Walead Beshty's Six Color Curl, 2008.

What’s Up

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Letters

Readers Respond to the April Issue

Baseball at Night by Russian-born Morris Kantor depicts a dusty contest in West Nyack, New York, that might induce nostalgia in some viewers today.

1934: The Art of the New Deal

An exhibition of Depression-era paintings by federally-funded artists provides a hopeful view of life during economic travails

Amy Adams stands next to the Lockheed Vega 5B which was flown by Amelia Earhart on two history-making flights in 1932.

Q and A: Amy Adams

The actress discusses her role as aviatrix Amelia Earhart, filming at the Smithsonian and the magic of museums

The Wright brothers inaugurated the aerial age with the world's first successful flights of a powered heavier-than-air flying machine.

Bringing the Wright Flyer to Life

In a movie first, curators and filmmakers collaborated to animate artifacts for Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Jonathan Singer's Botanica Magnifica has earned a spot in the National Museum of Natural History's rare book room.

Flowers Writ Large

With his Botanica Magnifica, podiatrist-turned-photographer Jonathan Singer captures flowers on the grandest of scales

Old Pennsylvania Farm in Winter, Arthur E. Cederquist, 1934.

What’s the Deal about New Deal Art?

As the first of the New Deal acts that funded public art projects with federal money, the PWAP produced more than 15,000 works of art in just six months

Rare Halo Display: A Portrait of Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver Portrait Unveiled

At the National Portrait Gallery, artist David Lenz pays tribute to a champion for the intellectually disabled

A Steichen photograph of two gowns by Madeleine Vionnet reflects the ease of movement for which Vionnet was known. The name of the model in white is unrecorded; Marion Morehouse, in black, was one of the photographer's favorite models.

Edward Steichen: In Vogue

A painter by training, Edward Steichen changed fashion photography forever

Abraham Lincoln's pocket watch contains an unexpected inscription from Confederate President Jeff Davis.

What’s Up

Suits like these worn in 1966 by Buzz Aldrin and Jim Lovell (right) were made to resist the extreme conditions of space travel for only a short period.

After Space, Saving Suits, Boots and Gloves

The spacesuits that kept U.S. astronauts alive now owe their survival to one woman

The world's largest snake—42 feet long and weighing 2,500 pounds—turned up in a Colombian jungle.

From the Castle: Big Snakes

Scientists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute publish their amazing find of Titanoboa, the world’s largest snake

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Letters

Readers Respond to the March Issue

Owen Edwards is a freelance writer who writes the "Object at Hand" column in Smithsonian magazine.

Owen Edwards on “In Vogue”

The many colors of bell peppers.

Food and Think: Why Are There No Blue Foods?

Foods of every color carry different nutritional benefits, and even carry psychological side effects for your diet

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