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Arts & Culture / Art & Artists

Installation artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Together they built "Running Fence", a 24.5-mile fabric divide through Northern California.

Q and A: Christo and Jeanne-Claude

The artists discuss Running Fence, their 1976 fabric installation that ran through Northern California and subject of an upcoming Smithsonian exhibition

The only known image of Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg was uncovered in 1952 at the National Archives. It was taken by photographer Mathew Brady.

Gettysburg Address Displayed at Smithsonian

Lincoln’s timeless speech during the Civil War endures as a national treasure

NASA's Stardust capsule returned from a seven-year, three-billion-mile trip to collect dust from comet Wild 2.

Stardust Memories

Cosmic dust may reveal some of the uncovered secrets of our universe

Despite receiving critical acclaim, the Curtis film was a box office failure.

Around the Mall: Old Documentary on Western Tribes Restored

How a Film Helped Preserve a Native Culture

John Hodgman, the author of "More Information Than You Require," is a preeminent authority on fake trivia.

John Hodgman Gives “More Information Than You Require”

John Hodgman, best recognized as the “PC” in the Apple advertising campaign, discusses how humans distinguish fact from falsehood

Courtesy of Municipal Gallery in Lenbachhaus. Two riders before the red, 1911, woodblock, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.

Feeling Blue: Expressionist Art on Display in Munich

Visitors catch a glimpse of the groundbreaking, abstract art created bypreeminent 20th century expressionists

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Letters

Readers Respond to the September Issue

"Politicians made more sense when they relied on oracles and omens."

In Politics, Just Follow the Signs

Politicians made more sense when they relied on oracles and omens says Joe Queenan

Frank sought to compile "a spontaneous record of a man seeing this country for the first time." Indianapolis, 1956 is typically short on particulars but laden with symbols.

Robert Frank’s Curious Perspective

In his book The Americans, Robert Frank changed photography. Fifty years on, it still unsettles

Garden and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur.

What’s Up From the Smithsonian

Photographic keepsakes, garden paintings from the maharajahs and Fritz Scholder’s Indian identity on canvas

Portrait of country western singer Wanda Jackson from 1971.

Q and A: Wanda Jackson

In the 1950s, Wanda Jackson was one of the first women to record rock ‘n’ roll.

Michelle Delaney holding the original 1888 Kodak and Larry Bird holding a display of campaign buttons.

American History Museum: Pieces of Our Past

Smithsonian curators probe the meanings of telltale objects

Roy Lichtenstein, Modern Head, 1974/1989-1990.

Roy Lichtenstein: Making History

A well-known sculpture works its way back from 9/11 damage

Andy Warhol, Founding Collection, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh.

Warhol’s Pop Politics

Andy Warhol’s political portraits anticipated today’s blurred boundaries between public office and stardom

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Tadashi Kawamata Builds Tree Houses in New York City

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Photographer Chris Jordan Captures Over Consumption

Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers

Bernini’s Genius

The Baroque master animated 17th-century Rome with his astonishing sculpture and architecture

An Underwood's long-tongued bat feeds on Mucuna flowers while in flight.

Making History: Bats to the Rescue

Scientists discover insect-eating bats may help sustain forests

Bonnie Erickson with Statler in 1975.

The Woman Behind Miss Piggy

Muppet designer Bonnie Erickson on puppet storytelling and inspiration

"Spirits are taking up residence in the museum; nothing is as it seem, even in this photograph," says game director John Maccabee

Get Your Game On

At the Smithsonian American Art Museum, tech-savvy players gather clues in the alternate reality game “Ghosts of a Chance”

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