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“It’s not a banana, it’s a concept,” artist David Datuna told reporters after plucking the $120,000 fruit off the wall and eating it. “I just ate the concept of the artist.”

The Infamous Art Basel Banana Is Headed to the Guggenheim

Maurizio Cattelan’s 2019 artwork will join the collections of one of the world’s preeminent cultural institutions

Devadatta (Daibadatta), appearance of evil spirits with supernatural arts shows an evildoer who holds sway over a variety of evil spirits.

You Can Now Explore 103 ‘Lost’ Hokusai Drawings Online

Newly acquired by the British Museum, the trove of illustrations dates to 1829

Los Machos rock shelter and schematic rock art panel

New Research

Fingerprint Analysis Reveals New Insights on Prehistoric Rock Art’s Creators

Study suggests an adult man and a juvenile girl crafted the red ocher paintings seen at Spain’s Los Machos rock shelter

Film Still, My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Hayao Miyazaki

Movie Museum to Open With Show Honoring Japanese Filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures’ inaugural exhibition debuts on April 30, 2021

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial's formal dedication is slated to take place on Thursday, September 17.

Controversial, Long-Delayed Eisenhower Memorial Finally Makes Its Debut

Celebrating Ike’s political, military accomplishments required compromise between the architect and the president’s family

Stacks of Wheat (End of Summer), 1890-1, is one of 25 in a series by Impressionist painter Claude Monet, who frequently created similar depictions of a single subject in different lights, seasons and atmospheres.

How Chicago Became a Monet Destination

A new exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago explores the Impressionist painter’s connection to the Midwestern city

A one-inch-long gaming piece found at the site of a former Roman fort in Chester, England

Cool Finds

Roman Gaming Piece Crafted Out of Bone Found in England

Ancient soldiers may have used the oblong token to play “Ludus Latrunculorum,” or the “Game of Mercenaries”

Patricia Marroquin Norby will serve as the museum's inaugural associate curator of Native American art.

Metropolitan Museum of Art Hires First Full-Time Curator of Native American Art

Patricia Marroquin Norby previously worked at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian–New York

The museum's CEO emeritus, John Guess Jr., stands in front of the newly installed Spirit of the Confederacy sculpture.

Why the Houston Museum of African American Culture Is Displaying a Confederate Statue

The institution describes the move, which arrives amid a reckoning on the U.S.’ history of systemic racism, as “part of healing”

“When so many books are published,” debut author Natasha Randall tells BBC News, “there is an awful lot of noise you have to compete with.”

Why U.K. Publishers Released 600 Books in a Single Day

Dubbed “Super Thursday,” the barrage of books includes many titles delayed by Covid-19

This Andy Warhol print of Haring (left) and his lover Juan DuBose is expected to fetch around $250,000.

Keith Haring’s Personal Art Collection Is Up for Auction

Sotheby’s sale features works by Warhol, Basquiat, Lichtenstein and other members of the graffiti artist’s circle

“Wise and Valiant: Women and Writing in the Golden Age of Spain” spotlights Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (left) and Catalina de Erauso (right), among others.

Remembering the Forgotten Women Writers of 17th-Century Spain

A show in Madrid highlights female authors who penned histories, biographies, poetry, novels, scripts and more

The statues have stood outside of the Shelbourne Hotel since 1867.

Dublin Hotel Controversially Removes Four Statues of African Women

City officials say the Shelbourne, which moved the sculptures because it believed they depicted enslaved women, failed to follow proper procedures

"Human Forms" is on view through November.

Ancient Israeli Cave Transformed Into Art Gallery

For his latest show, artist Ivo Bisignano created a series of massive wooden sculptures that mimic the cavern’s curvature

"This coin is the Holy Grail of all dollars," says Laura Sperber, president of Legend Rare Coin Auctions.

The World’s Most Expensive Coin Is Up for Sale

Expected to fetch upward of $10 million, the 1794 Flowing Hair dollar was one of the first coins struck by the newly created U.S. Mint

The Große Stammbuch contains 100 illustrations dated to between 1596 and 1647. This two-page spread depicts flowers, insects and shells.

Why ‘Friendship Books’ Were the 17th-Century Version of Facebook

Dozens of 17th-century dignitaries signed a 227-page manuscript recently acquired by a German library

Fragment of a 1,400-year-old chalice found near Hadrian's Wall in northern England

Cool Finds

Britain’s Oldest Example of Christian Graffiti Found Near Hadrian’s Wall

Researchers at Vindolanda unearthed a 1,400-year-old lead chalice covered in religious symbols

Head of a Bearded Man is believed to have been painted by a member of Dutch master Rembrandt's studio. Further research is necessary to determine if the work was painted by the artist himself.

Art Meets Science

Painting Deemed Fake, Consigned to Storage May Be Genuine Rembrandt

New analysis confirms the famed Dutch painter’s studio—and perhaps even the artist himself—created “Head of a Bearded Man”

Speaking with BBC News, Frans Hals specialist Anna Tummers described the painting as a "wonderful example of his loose painting style. ... It was very playful, daring and loose."

Thieves Steal 17th-Century Masterpiece for Third Time in 32 Years

Frans Hals’ “Two Laughing Boys with a Mug of Beer” was previously purloined in 1988 and 2011

Critics argue that moving the bust does little to address more commonly cited complaints, including the repatriation of looted artifacts and a need to diversify curatorial staff.

British Museum Moves Bust of Founder, Who Profited From Slavery

The London institution, which reopened this week, is reckoning with its colonialist history in the wake of global protests against racism

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