Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Arts & Culture

Los Angeles-based architect Michael Maltzan's design is reminiscent of a sun-sculpted ice formation.

Groundbreaking New Center Unveils World’s Largest Collection of Inuit Art

More than 20,000 works from artists across the Canadian Arctic are on display at Qaumajuq, a new museum-within-a-museum at the Winnipeg Art Gallery

Example of a new meeting background in use, featuring the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology.

Smithsonian Voices

Celebrate National Library Week With Bibliophilic Backgrounds for Your Virtual Meetings

Smithsonian Libraries and Archives offers book lovers these nine stylish backdrops

"The Grave of Bonaparte" sheet music, song and music by L. Heath, as performed by the Hutchinson Family Singers, Boston, 1843. "The Grave of Bonaparte," recalling the French leader who vanquished much of Europe before being defeated, reflected the Hutchinson Family Singers' concern for the cause of freedom abroad as well as at home.

Smithsonian Voices

How the Arts Have Inspired Social Change

Americans have a long tradition of inspiring and elevating movements for change using benefit concerts, song and other artistic traditions

Portrait of Dante Alighieri, Florence and the allegory of the Divine Comedy, 1465, detail.

Virtual Travel

Follow Dante’s Footsteps Through Italy

For the 700th anniversary of the poet’s death, visit his birthplace, churches and tomb

An engraving from German zoologist Ernst Haeckel's Kunstformen Der Natur, a 1904 book that celebrated the symmetry of nature

From Books Bound in Human Skin to Occult Texts, These Are Literature’s Most Macabre, Surprising and Curious Creations

A new tome takes readers into collector Edward Brooke-Hitching’s “madman’s library”

Self-educated scholar Dennis McCarthy has spent the past 15 years studying the many connections between Shakespeare and little-known translator and writer Sir Thomas North.

Did Shakespeare Base His Masterpieces on Works by an Obscure Elizabethan Playwright?

The new book “North by Shakespeare” examines the link between the Bard of Avon and Sir Thomas North

Alma Thomas, Autumn Leaves Fluttering in the Breeze, 1973, acrylic on canvas

Smithsonian Voices

Why These Five Women Changemakers in American Art Deserve Reconsideration

A rising scholar of equality issues in American Art dives into the Smithsonian collections to find dynamic stories for her upcoming webcomic series

The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery boasts the only public collection of images depicting every single U.S. president throughout history.

The Thorny Politics of Presidential Portraiture

In a new podcast, the National Portrait Gallery reveals that a portrait is being commissioned of the former president

Illustration from the graphic novel 'Martina and the Bridge of Time' by Aaron O'Dea and Ian Cooke Tapia.

Smithsonian Voices

Time Travel Into Panama’s Deep History With This Richly Illustrated New Graphic Novel

‘Martina and the Bridge of Time’ tells the story of the Isthmus’ formation and evolution through the adventures of a young Panamanian girl

Presenting the winners of Smithsonian magazine's 18th annual photo contest

These Are the Winners of Smithsonian Magazine’s 18th Annual Photo Contest

From India to Antarctica, these pictures capture the passion, solitude and surprise of a year unlike any other

A 1928 photograph of Ernest Hemingway, held in the collections of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, was taken in Paris by the artist Man Ray after the legendary writer suffered a life-threatening head injury.

In Search of the Authentic Ernest Hemingway

Take a deep-dive into the story behind this rarely published Smithsonian portrait of the legendary writer

This month's book picks include The Light of Days, The Musical Human and Empire of Ants.

Books of the Month

Women Resistance Fighters of WWII, the Secret Lives of Ants and Other New Books to Read

These April releases elevate overlooked stories and offer insights on oft-discussed topics

Jessica Esch, Totally, November 2020, 6 1/4" x 12 1/2"

Smithsonian Voices

Illustrator Jessica Esch Fell Down a ‘Rabbit Hole’ and Hasn’t Emerged Yet

During the pandemic, the Archives of American Art provided refuge and a place for artistic inspiration

Egyptologist Jacquelyn Williamson on site at Tell el-Amarna. Williamson will lead an all-day seminar for Smithsonian Associates on April 10 examining the site's latest discoveries

Smithsonian Voices

Meet With an Egyptologist at Tell el-Amarna and 25 Other Smithsonian Associates Programs Streaming in April

Check out tapestry weaving, lunch with a curator and virtual study tours produced by the world’s largest museum-based educational program

Explore the true history and myths behind six “terrible” women, from the all-knowing Sphinx to the fire-breathing Chimera and the lesser-known shapeshifter Lamia.

Men Have Feared Women for Millennia. Just Look at the Monsters of Greek Mythology

A new collection of essays considers how the villainous women of classical antiquity, from Medusa to the Sphinx, resonate in contemporary Western society

Smithsonian Voices

The Quarter-Century Reign of the All-Women Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles

Far from a “girl band” or pop novelty, the group’s success is a hard-earned triumph of gender justice

None

Smithsonian Voices

The Surprising Story of the Smithsonian Sunburst

Crimilda Pontes was the Institution’s first official graphic designer and the designer of the iconic sunburst symbol

Sophia Kianni is the founder of Climate Cardinals, a member of the UN Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change, and hosts her own podcast.

Smithsonian Voices

Meet Sophia Kianni, the Young Climate Change Changemaker

The founder of Climate Cardinals assembled a team of global volunteers to breakdown language barriers by translating climate science and research

Fiber artist Barbara Lee Smith in her studio.

Smithsonian Voices

A Friendship Forged in the Archives

Maine writer and illustrator Jessica Esch happened upon the Archives of American Art by chance; but destiny followed

Wind-screen and cherry tree, unknown artist, (detail) Edo period, 1615-1868

Honor the Tradition of Viewing Cherry Blossoms in These Signature Japanese Works of Art

The timeless glory of the early spring bloom can be found In the collections of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art

Page 59 of 370