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Arts & Culture / Art & Artists

Artist Andrew Wyeth at the age of 66

Wyeth’s World

In the wake of his death, controversy still surrounds painter Andrew Wyeth’s stature as a major American artist

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Forging its Own Future

Dedicated metalsmiths help a Memphis museum revive a lost American art form

In 1919 Marcel Duchamp penciled a mustache and goatee on a print of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and inscribed the work "L.H.O.O.Q." Spelled out in French these letters form a risqué pun: Elle a chaud au cul, or "She has hot pants." Intentionally disrespectful, Duchamp's defacement was meant to express the Dadaists' rejection of both artistic and cultural authority.

Switzerland

A Brief History of Dada

The irreverent, rowdy revolution set the trajectory of 20th-century art

James McNeill Whistler's palette, c. 1888-90.

Refined Palette

Scholars say this 19th-century artifact could have belonged to the celebrated American painter

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My Cold War Hang-Up

How I learned to stop worrying and make peace with my nuclear phone

Munich, Germany

Bone Voyage

On assignment with Europe’s most peripatetic canine

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The Power of Prayer

A news photographer in India captures a devotional moment that goes back a thousand years

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Edvard Munch: Beyond The Scream

Though the Norwegian artist is known for a single image, he was one of the most prolific, innovative and influential figures in modern art

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Have Canine, Will Travel

Our fur-flung correspondents in dogged pursuit

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Austria

Mozart: In Search of the Roots of Genius

On the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth, the author scours Salzburg and Vienna for traces of the master’s mischievous spirit

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Time Traveler

Smithsonian gets a new publisher

A Mount Rushmore of stardom: Gable (left) cracks a joke at the photographers expense with friends Heflin, Cooper and Stewart.

Grab a Drink With Hollywood’s Stars

To photographer Slim Aarons, the biggest stars were auld acquaintances

The Overture to Tannhäuser: The Artist's Mother and Sister, 1868, Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

Cézanne

The man who changed the landscape of art

Most of the flash equipment was custom-built, but Link (left) and his assistant George Thom also used miners' headlamps while they were setting up shots after dark.

The Big Picture

A well-planned single image yells the story of 20th-century transportation

In most Akan states, gold-ornamented sandals identify a ruler. It is taboo for a chief to walk barefoot; to do so, followers believed, would invite disaster.

West African Gold: Out of the Ordinary

The inventive goldwork and royal regalia of Ghana’s Akan people —on display in a new exhibition— are drawn, strikingly, from daily life

A prodigy who played for President Kennedy at age 7, Ma (in 1988) is no snob, performing Bach to pop to tangos.

35 Who Made a Difference: Yo-Yo Ma

Humanitarian, globe-trotting teacher, good sport, ice-dancing fan and heckuva nice guy. Oh, and he plays the cello

35 Who Made a Difference: Andy Goldsworthy

Using nature as his canvas, the artist creates works of transcendent beauty

35 Who Made a Difference: Renée Fleming

The soprano is renowned for her beguiling voice and presence

35 Who Made a Difference: Wendell Berry

A Kentucky poet draws inspiration from the land that sustains him

Author Maya Angelou hosts the 2000 annual conference for the Children's Defense Fund in March 2007.

35 Who Made a Difference: Maya Angelou

By singing of her own hardships, she has given strength to others

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