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Smart News / Smart News Arts & Culture

New Research

Did George Orwell Pick Up TB During the Spanish Civil War?

A new technique was able to pull tuberculosis bacteria and morphine residue from a letter the author sent in 1938, ten years befor his diagnosis

McCartney has long claimed that he wrote the melody to "In My Life," but Lennon stated that his songwriting partner had only contributed to the middle section of the tune. This study suggests they were both wrong

Statistics Offer Answer to Decades-Long Dispute Over Authorship of Beatles Hit

Researchers say there is less than a one in 50 chance that Paul McCartney composed the melody of “In My Life”

Archaeologists identified the library based on a series of wall niches that once housed ancient scrolls

Cool Finds

Cologne Archaeologists Unearth Foundations of Germany’s Oldest Known Library

The library, which was built between 150 and 200 C.E., held an estimated 20,000 ancient scrolls

Bird's eye view of the 1893 Columbian Exposition, which Olmsted was instrumental in planning

24,000 Documents Detailing Life of Landscape Architect Frederick Law Olmsted Now Available Online

Collection includes journals, personal correspondence detailing development of Biltmore estate, U.S. Capitol grounds and the Chicago World’s Fair

Alan Smith-Allison poses with his collection

A New Exhibition Is Here to Spice Up Your Life

Do you really, really, really wanna see it?

MASTODON MAXIMUS. CUV. [Cuvier]; Orra White Hitchcock (1796–1863); Amherst, Massachusetts; 1828–1840; pen and ink and watercolor wash on cotton, with woven tape binding

Art Meets Science

Art, Science and Religion Blend in Exhibition Honoring Illustrator Orra White Hitchcock

Orra’s paintings and drawings depict the natural world in colorful detail

Salvador Dalí, "Gala Placidia. Galatea of the Spheres," 1952

Catalonia

Why Gala Dalí—Muse, Model and Artist—Was More Than Just Salvador’s Wife

Barcelona exhibition draws on 315 artifacts to unravel the myths behind central surrealist figure

Tracey Emin, "Death Mask," 2002

This Initiative Is Loaning Artwork Back to the Communities They’re Most Associated With

Britain’s National Portrait Gallery’s ‘Coming Home’ initiative will loan portraits to the towns and cities most closely associated with their subjects

Photograph of Lulu Adams in the 1940s

Black and Female Circus Artists Take Center Ring in New Museum Show

“Circus! Show of Shows” at the U.K.’s Weston Park Museum reveals how the circus was shaped by diverse groups of performers

Rosa Parks lived in her brother's Detroit home after fleeing the south

Rosa Parks’ Detroit Home Is Now Up for Auction

Parts of the tiny home where the civil rights activist lived with 17 family members are expected to sell for between $1 and $3 million

"Portrait of Harriet Tubman," 1868-69

Library of Congress Puts Spotlight on 440 Snapshots Culled From Archive of 14 Million

About 300 of the images have been newly digitized, and 200 of these are free for public use

Willem de Kooning photographed in studio

Art Dealer Discovers Six Alleged Willem de Kooning Paintings in New Jersey Storage Locker

Boxes labeled with artist’s name were found among the 200 abandoned works

July 1983 illustration of David Bowie for TIME magazine

David Bowie’s First Studio Recording Discovered in a Bread Basket

The demo failed to impress recording executives in the early 1960s

You’ll Soon Be Able to Stay in This Historic California Ghost Town

Cerro Gordo was once a lively mining town. Now its new owners have plans to refurbish it in hopes of attracting visitors to the relic of the Wild West

Cool Finds

Claude Monet’s Glazed Biscuit Kitty Cat Returns to the Artist’s Home

The terracotta feline was believed to have gone missing after the death of Claude Monet’s son Michel

Archaeologists unearthed a 14-room home, likely used by a commander of Emperor Hadrian's Praetorian Guard, back in March

Cool Finds

Construction on Rome’s Newest Subway Line Is Revealing a Trove of Ancient Treasures

Archaeologists have unearthed 2,000-year-old barracks, a military commander’s home and thousands of artifacts

An object from Pepe López's installation "Crisálida" (2017), which will be showcased in the first exhibition organized by Ruya Maps.

Project to Create Opportunities for Artists Living in Conflict Zones

Ruya Maps will stage exhibitions, talks and commissions for artists working in countries often overlooked by the Western market

Yves Klein's "Jonathan Swift" stands alongside the Blenheim Palace's collection of Old Master portraits

See Yves Klein’s Experimental Art Take Over the Palatial Blenheim Estate

Paintings and sculptures rendered in Klein’s signature blue stand alongside Old Masters, 18th-century baroque stylings

The unnamed man, believed to be the last of his tribe, is shown here in a video taken in 2011 but only released recently.

Rare Footage Shows the Last Surviving Member of an Uncontacted Amazon Tribe

The man appears healthy, but like other indigenous people of Brazil, his way of life is in danger

The darker the purple, the more Indigenous control.

Indigenous Peoples Manage One Quarter of the Globe, Which Is Good News for Conservation

Despite making up 5 percent of the world’s population, indigenous peoples maintain large swathes of land, two-thirds of which are still in a natural state

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