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Smart News / Smart News Arts & Culture

American South

Houston’s Rothko Chapel Casts a New Light

When the meditative space reopens, a new skylight will filter the right amount of light on the 14 canvasses installed in the artist’s octagonal masterpiece

The drawings and inscriptions date to 207 A.D.

Graffiti Left by Soldiers Repairing Hadrian’s Wall Will Be Immortalized in 3-D

Historic London calls the etchings “some of the most important” along the empire’s sprawling 73-mile northern border

The volume of poetry is set to be sold alongside a trove of photographs passed down by the Barrow family.

Notebook of Poetry Penned by Bonnie and Clyde Set to Go on Auction

The volume features poems written by the outlaw duo during their Depression-era crime spree

Vincent van Gogh, "Tree Roots," 1890

Van Gogh Museum Suggests Artist’s Last Painting Has Long Been Misidentified

Experts argue that the abstract “Tree Roots” is a more likely candidate than the oft-cited “Wheatfield With Crows”

Interior of the House Of Tomorrow, Century Of Progess Homes

‘House of Tomorrow,’ Futuristic Marvel From the 1933 World’s Fair, Is Available to Lease

Tenants will be expected to take on between $2.5 and 3 million in renovations of the historic property

Bernard Schottlander, "Calypso," c. 1972

Why 150,000 Sculptures in the U.K. Are Being Digitized

The expansive campaign by Art U.K. wants open up a conversation on the medium

Indiana Is Now Home to the Newest National Park

The area previously known as the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is known for its varied landscapes and rich biodiversity

The "Faces of Dudley" mural depicts residents of Boston's Roxbury neighborhood

This Map Details More Than 200 Massachusetts Sites Connected to African-American History

You can contribute to the project by suggesting new entries or proposing edits to existing ones via the project’s main hub

Construction is slated to begin in 2020, with the museum officially opening its doors in late 2022

Art Meets Science

Seoul Will Welcome a Robot Science Museum Constructed by Robots

Robots and drones will be involved in all aspects of the project, including design, manufacture and assembly

Author Charles Dickens (1812-1870) pictured with his wife, Catherine Dickens (1815-1879), and two of their daughters, seated in a horsedrawn carriage, circa 1850.

Trove of Letters Reveal Charles Dickens Tried to Lock His Wife Away in an Asylum

Catherine’s side of the breakup tale comes back with vengeance thanks to new analysis of 98 previously unseen missives

The late publisher and editor Betty Ballantine at the Nebula Awards on April 28, 2002 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Sci-Fi Lovers Owe a Debt of Gratitude to Betty Ballantine

“Introverted and quiet” Betty, who ran the editorial side of the Ballantine publishing companies, deserves her due for changing the industry

As visitors mill around the room, Abramović, standing in a roped-off five-meter circle, alternately stands still or makes small movements

New Exhibition Brings Marina Abramović to Life Via ‘Mixed’ Reality

The work places gallery visitors in dialogue with a three-dimensional digital version of the legendary performance artist

Rembrandt van Rijn, The Wardens of the Amsterdam Drapers’ Guild, Known as ‘The Syndics’, 1662. On loan from the City of Amsterdam

Cool Finds

Dutch Museum Shows Every Single Last Rembrandt in Its Collection

To mark the 350th anniversary of the master artist’s death, Rijksmuseum is putting all 400 works on view together for the first time

Using the preferred color palettes of Walter and Leonore Annenberg, Palm Springs, and marine corals, "Dive-In" merges the recognition that global warming will drastically reshape the habitat of our planet with another more recent extinction: the out-door movie theater.

Trending Today

This Outdoor Exhibition Brings Art to a California Desert

Desert X returns to the Coachella Valley, this time with works about landscape, migration, climate change and indigenous experiences

The September 2018 blaze destroyed the majority of the Brazilian museum's more than 20 million artifacts

Around 2,000 Artifacts Have Been Saved From the Ruins of Brazil’s National Museum Fire

Meanwhile, search attempts, which are expected to last through the end of 2019, continue

John Tenniel's illustration of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

113 Museums Transformed Illustrations From Their Collections Into Free Coloring Pages

This year’s #ColorOurCollections campaign features fantastical drawings of mythical flora and fauna, grotesque medical sketches

Antique dealer Ian Coulson purchased the bed, then advertised as a Victorian era frame, for £2,200 in 2010.

Cool Finds

Henry VII’s Marriage Bed May Have Spent 15 Years in a British Hotel’s Honeymoon Suite

Some experts say the ornately carved oak bed was commissioned for the wedding of the first Tudor king and his queen, Elizabeth of York

The complaints of the apartment owners were, generally speaking, met with little sympathy from the public.

Tate Modern Neighbors Lose Legal Battle Against Peeping Visitors

A judge recommended that residents of a luxury apartment building install curtains to guard against prying eyes

Gary Brannan, archivist, and Professor Sarah Rees Jones examine one of the archbishops' registers.

A Medieval Nun Wanted to Escape Her Convent—so She Faked Her Death

This story and others have come to light during a project to translate and digitize a series of texts about archbishops in York, England

Cool Finds

Museum of the Dog Takes Manhattan

After 30 years in St. Louis, the American Kennel Club museum is back in the Big Apple, with artifacts, portraits and a kiosk that matches people to dogs

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