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Smart News / Smart News Arts & Culture

Toni Morrison, painted by Robert McCurdy, 2006, oil on canvas

Toni Morrison, ‘Beloved’ Author Who Cataloged the African-American Experience, Dies at 88

‘She changed the whole cartography of black writing,’ says Kinshasha Holman Conwill of the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Marcel Proust in 1900.

Cool Finds

Nine Newly Discovered Proust Stories to Be Published

The works were slated to be part of the French author’s first collection of poems and stories, but were cut for unknown reasons

Moving forward, individuals will only be able to spray paint the wall on specified days

Future Graffiti Additions to Prague’s John Lennon Wall Will Be Strictly Regulated

Local authorities are introducing security measures in response to vandalism, obscene graffiti

Eva Papamargariti, Acedia (still from video work), 2019.

Miami Museum Launches Exhibition Exclusively on Instagram

Over eight weeks, ‘Joyous Dystopia’ is posting digital works by eight different artists

The musical finds the six queens competing for the dubious honor of telling the most tragic tale

The Six Wives of Henry VIII Are Coming to Broadway

In ‘Six,’ the Tudor queens get a chance to share their side of the story

Out of 200 styluses found during excavations, this was the only one with an inscription

Cool Finds

This Ancient Roman Souvenir Stylus Is Inscribed With a Corny Joke

Loosely translated, the message reads, ‘I went to Rome and all I got you was this stylus’

M. Amité, and his right-hand cat, Apollo

A Steinbeck Story About a Chef and His Cat Has Been Published in English for the First Time

The author wrote ‘The Amiable Fleas’ in 1954, for the French newspaper Le Figaro

Markers will be added to the "Lion of Atlanta" monument, along with three others.

New Markers in Atlanta Aim to Put Confederate Monuments in Context

The city is installing the historical markers next to four of its most prominent Confederate memorials

Ben Enwonwu, "Christine," 1971

Cool Finds

Family Realizes Long-Forgotten Portrait Was Painted by Famed Nigerian Artist Ben Enwonwu

Last year, a similarly rediscovered portrait by Enwonwu sold for $1.6 million, setting an auction record for Nigerian Modernist art

Wait, isn’t the moon made of cheese though?

Apollo at 50: We Choose to Go to the Moon

Apollo 11 Mission Memorialized With 2,200 Pounds of Butter

A buttery Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, along with a couple cows, are on display at the Ohio State Fair

Egon Schiele, Reclining Nude Girl (around 1918)

Drawing Found in Thrift Store Turns Out to Be an Original Egon Schiele

The work, on display as part of an exhibit at Galerie St. Etienne, is expected to sell for between $100,000 to $200,000

Etta Cone purchased Matisse's controversial 1907 painting, "Blue Nude," in 1926

Baltimore Museum of Art, Home to Largest Matisse Collection, Will Open Center Dedicated to Artist

The gallery’s Matisse holdings encompass more than 1,200 paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints

Moving on

A Statue in the U.K. Had to Be Moved Because It Was Too Popular

Visitors flocked to see ‘Seated Figure’ by the artist Sean Henry—and damaged the surrounding landscape of the North York Moors in the process

Polychrome mosaic emblema (panel) showing fish and sea creatures, Pompeii, House of the Geometric Mosaics

From Baked Dormouse to Carbonized Bread, 300 Artifacts Show What Romans Ate

The show features frescoes, preserved fruit, cooking utensils and vessels recovered from Pompeii

L to R: Jacket, Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo (Spanish, 1871–1949), 1920s–30s; Evening Dress, Madeleine Vionnet (French, 1876–1975), spring 1931; Evening Dress, Gilbert Adrian (American, 1903–1959), fall 1945

Couture Covering 96 Years of Fashion Is Coming to the Met’s Costume Institute

A little-known couture collector has gifted the museum 165 items drawn from her collection of approximately 15,000 pieces

Exterior view of the Führerbau photographed in September, 1938.

Investigation Identifies Nazi-Looted Art Later Ransacked From Hitler’s Headquarters

Near the end of WWII, Munich civilians plundered food, liquor, furnishings and some 700 works of art, most of which wer stolen property, from the Führerbau

Judy Chicago at the 2017 Yes! Gala at Brooklyn Museum

Judy Chicago Retrospective to Look Beyond ‘The Dinner Party’

The largest exhibition of Chicago’s work to date at the de Young Museum in San Francisco will highlight the diversity of the artist’s oeuvre

A rendering of the 363-foot Saturn V projection

Future of Space Exploration

Watch the Apollo 11 Anniversary Show That Was Projected Onto the Washington Monument

The immersive experience combined full-motion projection-mapping artwork and archival footage

The app presents users with 100 works of art drawn from the museum's collection of more than 15,000 artifacts

Atlanta Museum’s ‘Dating’ App Matches Visitors With Artwork

The High Museum of Art creates tour routes based on users’ likes

The Charles Dickens Museum Acquires ‘Lost’ Portrait of the Author as a Young Man

The 1843 painting by Margaret Gillies surfaced at an auction in South Africa in 2017

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