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Arts & Culture

Cornell's 1946 construction, an homage to the ballerina Tamara Toumanova, incorporated feathers from her costumes.

Pas de Deux

Joseph Cornell turned his obsession with a prima ballerina into art

Rossetti identified the subject of his Lady Lilith painting as Adam's first wife—"the witch he loved before the gift of Eve." The work (1866-68) was altered in 1872-73 to please patron Frederick Leyland. The original model was Rossetti's lover Fanny Cornforth.

Incurably Romantic

For much of the 20th century, Britain’s Pre-Raphaelite were dismissed as overly sentimental. A new exhibition shows why they’re back in favor

Longfellow is only the second writer to grace a U.S. stamp more than once.

Famous Once Again

Longfellow reaches his bicentennial; here’s why his poems became perennial

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Out of Africa

This month a special collection €“representing most of Africa’s major artistic traditions €“goes spectacularly on view

Sculptors and artists designed lifelike masks for gravely wounded soldiers.

World War I: 100 Years Later

Faces of War

Amid the horrors of World War I, a corps of artists brought hope to soldiers disfigured in the trenches

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What’s Up

A list of events and exhibitions at the Smithsonian Institution

Richard Conniff has made six trips to Africa since 1996.

Harvesting Tourists

In this Q & A, Richard Conniff, author of “Death in Happy Valley,” argues that tourism, not cattle-ranching, would be a better use of Kenyan land

Bahb trains in the ring at Saktaywan Boxing Gym with the head trainer, Ajarn Sit (Ajarn means "teacher").

Thailand’s Fight Club

Inside the little-known, action-packed world of Muay Thai boxing

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Year of the Pig

Celebrating Chinese New Year

Second Time Around

Invented by Ben Franklin but lost to history, the glass harmonica has been resurrected by modern musicians

Although loosely based on The Supremes (above), the movie Dreamgirls is a work of fiction. The real story of the 1960s girl groups, however, changed American music forever.

The Real Dreamgirls

How girl groups changed American music

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Tea’s Time

The ancient drink makes a comeback

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The Art of the Audition

One of the 10,000 mugs collected by Mark Michaelson is that of a thief, described in a 1950s police record as a "psycho" who'd escaped a correctional facility, "but they don't want him."

Arresting Faces

A new book argues the case for the mugshot as art

Pretty? Yes. But it isn't Bulbophyllum echinolabium's bright colors that attract pollinating flies—it's the putrid stench. Sniff out a few hundred live orchids at the Museum of Natural History starting January 27.

What’s Up

Live Orchids, Japanese art and African masks

The Bar-B-Q Inn in 1971.

Time After Time

William Christenberry embraces the impermanent

"It is a very simple truth," novelist Henry James wrote in 1887, "that when today we look for 'American art' we find it mainly in Paris." John Singer Sargent captured the pearly light of dusk in Paris in his 1879 work In the Luxembourg Gardens.

Americans in Paris

In the late 19th century, the City of Light beckoned Whistler, Sargent, Cassatt and other young artists. What they experienced would transform American art

Author of "Bernini's Genius," Arthur Lubow.

Admiring the Masters

In this Q & A, Arthur Lubow, author of “Americans in Paris,” compares the Paris of today with the one that inspired Manet, Monet and Renoir

At an altitude of 12,300 feet, the Shandur Pass is usually populated by grazing yaks. But once a year it turns into the world's highest polo ground. When teams from Chitral and Gilgit face off—as they have since 1933—tribesmen gather for the mayhem.

Extreme Polo

There are no holds barred at the annual grudge match in northwest Pakistan’s “land of mirth and murder”

Damon Conklin uses the body, from head to feet, as his canvas.

Today’s Tattoos

Making your mark

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