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Arts & Culture

On the Wire, by Harvey Thomas Dunn (oil on canvas, 1918)

When Artists Became Soldiers and Soldiers Became Artists

A rare opportunity to see works by the American Expeditionary Force’s World War I illustration corps, and newly found underground soldier carvings

Muse with Violin Screen (detail), 1930. Rose Iron Works, Inc. (American, Cleveland, est. 1904). Paul Fehér (Hungarian, 1898–1990), designer. Wrought iron, brass; silver and gold plating

The Innovative Spirit fy17

How Jazz, Flappers, European Émigrés, Booze and Cigarettes Transformed Design

A new Cooper-Hewitt exhibition explores the Jazz Age as a catalyst in popular style

Clothes from several decades of the show are on display at The George Washington University Museum.

Reliving the Ebony Fashion Fair Off the Runway, One Couture Dress at a Time

An exhibition on the traveling fashion show memorializes the cultural phenomenon that shook up an industry

“Salt Series” taken during a low-altitude flight in Western Australia.

Australia’s Salt Ponds Look Like Beautiful, Abstract Art From Above

Taking to the sky to show how industry shapes the earth

On set with Amybeth

A ‘Breaking Bad’ Writer and Producer Is Behind a New Anne of Green Gables

You might not recognize this Anne—and that’s exactly what showrunner Moira Walley-Beckett intended

The Unsavory History of Sugar, the Insatiable American Craving

How the nation got hooked on sweets

A Paean to PBS’ “Mercy Street”: The One Show That Got the Civil War Right

The short-lived show offered the best screen portrayal of the war the country has ever seen

Peter Voulkos in his Glendale Boulevard Studio in Los Angeles California

The Ceramicist Who Punched His Pots

Influenced by avant-garde poets, writers and Pablo Picasso, Peter Voulkos experimented with the increasingly unconventional

Workers at Lockheed Jet Bomber Plant, Marietta, Georgia, 1953

These Photos Offer a Glimpse Into the Racial Politics of the 1950s South

Before he became a sports photographer, John G. Zimmerman captured a past that feels all too present

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Learn the Secret History of Your State With These Addictive Podcasts

Use this indispensable guide to find out which podcast will be next on your listen list

Elisabeth Moss dons the iconic red robe and white bonnet of the handmaid for the new series debuting April 26.

The U.S. Is Too Ornery for Totalitarianism, According to Margaret Atwood

The author of The Handmaid’s Tale discusses the continued impact of the bleak 1985 novel, now being adapted into a series on Hulu

The cracked-plate portrait of Abraham Lincoln by Alexander Gardner, 1865, albumen silver print

A Smithsonian Historian Wanders the “Bardo,” Exploring the Spiritual World of the 19th Century

George Saunders’ new novel, “Lincoln in the Bardo” recalls the melancholy that hung over a nation at war

The critically acclaimed director James Gray took on the story of explorer Percival Fawcett's search for a lost city in Amazonia.

How Director James Gray Discovered the Insanity Behind the Search for “The Lost City of Z”

A story of Victorian-age madness and exploration in the South American jungle is coming to a theater near you

Snow at Fukagawa by Kitagawa Utamaro (1753–1806), Japan, Edo period, ca. 1802–6

This Rare Display of a Japanese Triptych is Only Usurped by the Great Mysteries Surrounding It

Don’t miss this singular showing of Kitagawa Utamaro’s three works reunited at the Sackler Gallery

A permanent exhibition at Micropia in Amsterdam, the world’s only museum dedicated to microbes, called “A Fungal Future” showcases an array of everyday objects made from fungi.

Art Meets Science

Is Fungus the Material of the Future?

Scientists in the Netherlands have found a way to make slippers and other household objects using fungi

This historic map shows London in the 18th century.

Stanford Researchers Map the Feelings Associated With Different Parts of London

The university’s Literary Lab combed British novels from the 18th and 19th centuries to determine if areas elicited happiness or fear

A fern repeats its pattern at various scales.

Art Meets Science

Fractal Patterns in Nature and Art Are Aesthetically Pleasing and Stress-Reducing

One researcher takes this finding into account when developing retinal implants that restore vision

April 25, 2017, marks the centennial birthday of Ella Fitzgerald (above, in a triple-exposure undated photograph).

Women Who Shaped History

Never Mind Her Stellar Jazz Career, Young Ella Fitzgerald Just Wanted to Dance

The preeminent vocalist didn’t actually start out as a singer

This Mesmerizing World of Miniatures Will Soon Take Over 50,000-Square-Feet of Time Square

The magical new attraction spans an entire city block

The old Simpsons "haunted" the family house in a 2014 Halloween episode

The Simpson Family Made Its Television Debut 30 Years Ago

When they arrived on the Tracey Ullman show, their look was a little more ragged

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