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Smart News / Smart News Arts & Culture

The four watches, which borrow from 20th-century paintings, are the latest art-inspired products from the Swiss company Swatch.

See How These Wristwatches Reimagine Famous Masterpieces by Claude Monet, Jackson Pollock, Edgar Degas and Paul Klee

The Swiss watchmaker Swatch has partnered with the Guggenheim to create a collection inspired by 20th-century artworks from the Impressionist and Abstract Expressionist movements

A rendering of the planned Rijksmuseum sculpture garden

A Sprawling Sculpture Garden Featuring Modern Masterpieces Is Coming to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam

The new space will feature artworks by the likes of Alberto Giacometti, Louise Bourgeois and Alexander Calder. Officials say it will be free for anyone to visit

Portraits of Oscar Wilde taken in New York in 1882

Oscar Wilde’s Portraits, Poems, Letters and Manuscripts Head to Auction 125 Years After His Death

Other rare items, available for purchase in February, include illustrations, theater programs, telegrams and newspapers

Inside Idiom, which uses mirrors to provide the illusion of infinite length

Trending Today

You Can See a Swirling Sculpture Made of 8,000 Books at a Library in Prague

Officials are managing an influx of tourists coming to see “Idiom,” a seemingly infinite tunnel of books by the artist Matej Krén, at the Municipal Library

The Arnolfini Portrait, Jan van Eyck, 1434

All Nine of Jan van Eyck’s Surviving Portraits Are Coming Together for the Very First Time in History

The Northern Renaissance painter’s innovative techniques altered the course of art history. An upcoming exhibition in London brings together his 15th-century portraits from collections across Europe

When the portrait of the man is flipped upside down, a woman's face is visible in his beard.

Could This Portrait of an Elderly Man With a Young Woman’s Face Hidden in His Beard Be a Long-Lost Study by Peter Paul Rubens?

When a dealer saw the unsigned painting at auction, he wondered if it might be an original piece by the renowned 17th-century Flemish artist. Experts are divided on the work’s attribution

Bowie lived in the two-story house between 1955 and 1967.

You Can Soon Step Inside David Bowie’s Childhood Bedroom, Restored to the Way It Looked When He Was 16

The musician’s former home in south London is scheduled to open to the public in late 2027 following an extensive restoration, which will transport visitors back in time to 1963

Inky paw prints on a 15th-century Flemish manuscript

A Cat Left Paw Prints on the Pages of This Medieval Manuscript When the Ink Was Drying 500 Years Ago

An exhibition called “Paws on Parchment” tracks how cats were depicted in the Middle Ages through texts and artworks from around the world—including one example of a 15th-century “keyboard cat”

The study involved pups like Miso, a 6-year-old male border collie from Canada who knows the names of about 200 toys.

New Research

Some Dogs Are ‘Gifted Word Learners’ That Learn Language by Eavesdropping—Just Like Human Toddlers

New research suggests prodigious pups that already have large vocabularies can learn new words by listening in on their owners’ conversations

Kiyoshi Kimura, known as the "Tuna King," poses with the record-breaking bluefin tuna.

See the Record-Breaking Bluefin Tuna the Size of a Grizzly Bear That Sold for $3.2 Million at a Tokyo Fish Market

The 535-pound fish, purchased by Japan’s self-proclaimed “Tuna King,” was sliced and shipped to sushi restaurants across the country

Scientists found the DNA on a drawing similar to the Portrait of a Man in Red Chalk​​​​​​, which is shown.

Could Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA Be Hiding Inside One of His Renaissance Sketches?

Scientists have discovered male human DNA on a chalk drawing that may have been created by the famous artist and scientist. But they cannot definitively link the genetic material, or the sketch, to Leonardo

The Hornet's Nest, Jimmy Carter, 2003

You Can Buy President Jimmy Carter’s Paintings, Furniture, Mementos and a Love Letter to His Wife

Christie’s selected the items with help from the president’s daughter, Amy, for a special sale in celebration of the nation’s 250th birthday

Created by French sculptor Paul Dubois, the statue is located in a public square in front of the Église Saint-Augustin.

Man Arrested in Connection With Theft of Sword From Historic Joan of Arc Statue in Paris

City leaders vowed to repair or replace the damaged artwork by sculptor Paul Dubois, which is on loan from the Musée d’Orsay

The company plans to offer tours of its new headquarters, giving members of the public a chance to see the sculpture.

Cool Finds

Forgotten for Decades in a Dusty Mall Basement, a Long-Lost Harry Bertoia Sculpture Is Back on Display

The untitled 26-foot-tall piece now hangs in the seven-story atrium of General Motors’ new global headquarters, in Detroit

A third-century B.C.E. Greek gold chain necklace similar to some of the missing objects

The British Museum Plans to Hire a Treasure Hunter. Duties Include Recovering Missing Artifacts Before They’re Lost to History

The museum announced in 2023 that 1,500 items were missing. More than 600 have since been found, and officials are now hoping to expand the recovery effort

The 2026 commemorative coin set, featuring five new designs

See the New Coins Celebrating the Legacies of Elizabeth II, Charles Darwin and the British Grand Prix

Released by the Royal Mint, the designs from this year’s commemorative coin set also honor anniversaries connected to the King’s Trust and the Zoological Society of London

The mansion is located on the Grand Canal.

Claude Monet Painted This Palace Overlooking Venice’s Grand Canal. Now, the Legendary Mansion Is Officially for Sale

The Palazzo Dario has a rich history dating back to the 15th century—and, as the story goes, a succession of unusually unlucky owners

A rendering of how The Light That Shines Through the Universe will look on the High Line

A Stunning Sculpture of the Buddha Modeled After a Destroyed Sixth-Century Statue Is Coming to New York City’s High Line

Known as “The Light That Shines Through the Universe,” the 27-foot-tall artwork created by Tuan Andrew Nguyen will be installed on the Plinth this spring

The Bayeux Tapestry was moved into temporary storage in September ahead of its transfer to the British Museum for an exhibition in 2026.

When the Bayeaux Tapestry Makes Its Historic Return to England, the British Government Will Insure It for More Than $1 Billion

Created in the 11th century, the delicate, 230-foot-long embroidered textile has been in France since 1077

Workers have installed a metal gate on the second-floor window of the Apollo Gallery, where thieves broke into the Louvre and stole valuable pieces of jewelry in October.

The Louvre Installs Metal Security Bars on Window Used During $102M Jewel Heist

The Paris institution, the busiest museum in the world, is also making other security upgrades

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