Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News / Smart News Arts & Culture

The original Monuments Men remove the Madonna of Bruges from the Altaussee Salt Mine where the Nazi regime stored looted art treasures.

Trending Today

The Smithsonian and the Army Join Forces to Revive the Monuments Men

A new force of cultural specialists will advise the military on protecting cultural treasures from bombing and looting

A rendering of Kusama's design.

Artist Yayoi Kusama Is Creating a Whimsical Balloon for Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

The artist’s studio collaborated with ‘balloon specialists’ to create the inflatable artwork

J.D. Salinger (center left with his hand on his chin) on the deck of the M.S. Kungsholm, 1941

Get a Rare Peek Into the Life of Reclusive Writer J.D. Salinger

A new exhibition at the New York Public Library includes never-before-seen photographs, letters and manuscripts

Leonardo da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man" will make an appearance in the Louvre's upcoming blockbuster exhibition

Leonardo’s ‘Vitruvian Man’ Is Headed to the Louvre Despite Italian Scholars’ Protests

Some researchers say the roughly 530-year-old drawing is too fragile, light-sensitive to travel

A sculpture depicting Irish author James Joyce is seen behind his grave in Fluntern cemetery in Zurich

Trending Today

Dublin Wants to Reclaim James Joyce’s Body Before the Centenary of ‘Ulysses’

Critics question whether the author, who died in Zurich after a 30-year exile, ever wanted to return home, even in death

For the first time in some 450 years, Nelli’s "Last Supper" is finally on public view

Renaissance Nun’s ‘Last Supper’ Painting Makes Public Debut After 450 Years in Hiding

The 21-foot canvas, created by self-taught artist and nun Plautilla Nelli, is now on view in Florence

On a cold day in early spring in China’s Qilian Mountains National Nature Reserve, photographer Yongqing Bao watched a fox and marmot tango for about an hour before they finally clashed. Minutes later, the fox trotted away with a delicious meal.

See a Fox Spook a Marmot and More Award-Winning Wildlife Photographs

The London National History Museum’s 55th annual contest garnered more than 48,000 entries from 100 different countries

The team hypothesized that works published during the so-called “good old days” would be more uplifting than those penned during times of hardship

What Millions of Books Reveal About 200 Years of Happiness

Researchers analyzed eight million texts to gauge how lifespan, warfare and the economy affect national well-being

Joint winners Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo attend the 2019 Booker Prize Winner Announcement at the Guildhall in London

Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo Win the 2019 Booker Prize

Some critics are lamenting that Evaristo, the first black woman to receive the award, has to share it

Violet King, an usherette at the London Coliseum, pocketed the half-smoked cigar and safeguarded it for the rest of her life

Cool Finds

A Cigar Puffed by Winston Churchill Is Set to Go on Auction

The British prime minister smoked the cigar while attending a movie premiere in 1953

This inverted cross was likely carved on the inn's hearth stone in hopes of discouraging witches from flying down the chimney

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Find Shot Glass Shards, Anti-Witch Carving at Centuries-Old Scottish Pub

At the time of its construction, the Wilkhouse Inn was considered a “statement of modernity and affluence”

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed wins the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali Wins the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize

Abiy has been praised for his efforts to end a violent, decades-long conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea

An illustration of Chapter. 20 – 朝顔 Asagao ("The Bluebell"), by Tosa Mitsuoki (1617–1691)

Found: Long-Lost Chapter of the ‘Tale of Genji,’ an Early Japanese Novel

The original 11th-century manuscript does not survive, but experts say they have identified part of the earliest-known version of the story

Olga Tokarczuk won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature, while Peter Handke was awarded this year's prize

Nobel Prizes in Literature Awarded to Olga Tokarczuk and Peter Handke

Last year’s Nobel Prize in Literature was postponed following a sexual assault scandal involving members of the Swedish Academy

The portrait depicts Spanish princess Isabella Clara Eugenia

Cool Finds

Digital Art Detectives Identify Original van Dyck Portrait

The 17th-century painting was previously attributed to the Dutch artist’s workshop

Pope Francis attends the unveiling of "Angels Unaware" by Canadian sculptor Timothy P. Schmalz.

New Monument in the Vatican Encourages Compassion for Refugees

‘We have all come from another place,’ says artist Timothy P. Schmalz

Congo at work.

Trending Today

Art by Congo, the Famous Painting Ape, to Go on Sale

Picasso, Miro and others bought the abstract paintings of Congo, who starred in the 1950s show ‘Zoo Time’

A panoramic view of Jerusalem with the Dome of the Rock at the center

The World’s First Travel Guide Is Set to Go on View in London

The 1486 text features panoramic illustrations of Jerusalem, Venice and other sites across the Mediterranean region

Trending Today

Queens Museum Brings Rube Goldberg Machine to Life

To celebrate an exhibition of the cartoonist and hometown hero, curators commissioned one of Rube’s overly complicated gadgets

The sculpture “Rumors of War” is unveiled in Times Square on September 27, 2019 in New York City.

A New Statue in Times Square Challenges the Symbolism of Confederate Monuments

The work by artist Kehinde Wiley will soon be moved to Richmond, Virginia, not far from a street lined with controversial Civil War memorials

Page 134 of 290