Smart News Arts & Culture

Julie Green poses in front of a selection of The Last Supper plates in 2015. The artist died on October 12 at age 60.

Remembering Julie Green, Who Painted the Last Meals of Death Row Inmates

The artist, who died this month at age 60, sought to emphasize condemned prisoners' humanity

Tompkins Harrison Matteson, Examination of a Witch, 1853

History of Now

Reckoning With—and Reclaiming—the Salem Witch Trials

A new exhibition unites 17th-century artifacts with contemporary artists' responses to the mass hysteria event

JR's Greetings From Giza is one of ten enormous art installations featured in the "Forever Is Now" exhibition.

First-of-Its-Kind Art Installation Appears to Levitate the Tip of a Giza Pyramid

See stunning photos of new contemporary art installations at the historic Egyptian plateau, including an illusion by street artist JR

Hilma af Klint, pictured in her studio circa 1885

Cool Finds

See Newly Discovered Works by Trailblazing Painter Hilma af Klint

The Swedish Modernist created innovative, genre-defying abstract art inspired by science, mysticism and her own encounters with the spiritual world

A plaster cast of a "ghost turnip" carving from Donegal, Ireland

When People Carved Turnips Instead of Pumpkins for Halloween

Revelers in Ireland transformed the root vegetables into lanterns designed to ward off dark spirits

Artist Meret Oppenheim, photographed by Margrit Baumann in 1982

Looking Beyond Surrealist Artist Meret Oppenheim's Famous Furry Teacup

A new exhibition highlights the dazzling breadth of the 20th-century painter, sculptor and photographer's oeuvre

Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of Simon George of Cornwall (detail), circa 1535–40

Hans Holbein's Portraits Defined—and Immortalized—Tudor England's Elite

An exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum features some of the painter's most famous portraits of power players in Henry VIII's court

Vote for the creepiest doll via the center's Facebook and Instagram pages.

Which Historical Doll Will Be Crowned the Creepiest?

A Minnesota museum's third annual contest invites the public to vote on which of nine antique toys is the most unsettling

Illustration of Marie de France, poet who lived in England in the late 12th century

The Unheralded Women Scribes Who Brought Medieval Manuscripts to Life

A new book by scholar Mary Wellesley spotlights the anonymous artisans behind Europe's richly illuminated volumes

Singer-songwriter and visual artist Solange has launched a free library of rare works by Black authors, available to borrow on a first-come, first-served basis.

Singer and Artist Solange Debuts Free Library of Rare Books by Black Authors

Readers in the U.S. can borrow 50 titles, including collections of poems by Gwendolyn Brooks and Langston Hughes and a sci-fi novel by Octavia Butler

Yale's namesake sits at the center of this group portrait, Elihu Yale With Members of His Family and an Enslaved Child (circa 1719, attributed to John Verelst).

Who Is the Enslaved Child in This Portrait of Yale University's Namesake?

Scholars have yet to identify the young boy, but new research offers insights on his age and likely background

Bronze and Iron Age miners' poop contained Penicillium roqueforti, which is still used to make blue cheese today.

Cool Finds

Europeans Enjoyed Blue Cheese and Beer 2,700 Years Ago, Study Suggests

Ancient poop from salt mines in the Alps contained the same fungi used in brewing and cheesemaking today

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo's A Large Group of Punchinelli is expected to fetch more than $200,000 at auction.

Cool Finds

Rare 18th-Century Drawing by Rococo Artist Tiepolo Discovered in English Estate's Attic

"Wrapped in bubble wrap" and forgotten, the artwork had collected dust in one of Weston Hall's nine attics for decades

Tompson (far left) with colleagues Dot Smith, Walt Disney and Donna Luppo in an undated photo

Ruthie Tompson, Who Shaped Disney's Most Beloved Films, Dies at 111

She spent nearly 40 years at the company, reviewing animations and planning camera angles for classics like "Snow White" and "Dumbo"

Rhodes left Oxford's Oriel College around $17 million in today's money.

Why a New Plaque Next to Oxford's Cecil Rhodes Statue Is So Controversial

The sign identifies the 19th-century statesman as a "committed British colonialist"

Two of the newly colorized paintings: Jurisprudence (left) and Medicine (right)

Art Meets Science

A.I. Digitally Resurrects Trio of Lost Gustav Klimt Paintings

Viewers can explore the works, newly restored to lush greens, blues, pinks and golds, through a Google Arts and Culture hub

Abdulrazak Gurnah, 73, was awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday.

Abdulrazak Gurnah, Chronicler of Migrant Experience, Wins 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature

The Zanzibar-born author of ten novels tells richly detailed stories about people living "in the gulf between cultures and continents"

Vincent van Gogh, The Potato Eaters, April–May 1885

The Untold Story of van Gogh's Once-Maligned Masterpiece, 'The Potato Eaters'

An exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum spotlights the artist’s dynamic depiction of peasant life—a painting that critics hated and he loved

None

You Could Own the Landmark That Inspired Winnie-the-Pooh's 'Poohsticks Bridge'

Built in 1907, the structure—expected to sell for between $54,000 and $81,000—is newly rebuilt and restored

Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1982

Why Andy Warhol Peed on This Portrait of Jean-Michel Basquiat

One of the iconic Pop Artist's "oxidation" paintings, the work will go up for auction at Christie's next month

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