Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News / Smart News Arts & Culture

Found: Pages From One of the First Books Printed in England

A librarian at the University of Reading discovered the 15th-century text buried in a box

This monument will soon join a cross and other veterans' memorials in a public park.

Trending Today

Minnesota Town Gets Veterans Memorial Covered With Satanic Imagery

It’s America’s first satanic monument on public grounds

Photograph of YInMn Blue as synthesized in the laboratory.

Crayola to Debut Crayon Inspired by New Shade of Blue

The YInMn pigment was accidentally discovered by a chemist in 2009

Soon, Lucy Sparrow will open a full NYC bodega filled with only felt food.

Cool Finds

These Groceries Are Made of Felt

And artist Lucy Sparrow is opening an entire bodega full of them

From the outside, the James Beard House is easy to miss. But as they say, it's what's inside that counts.

This Unassuming NYC Home is the Legacy of America’s First Foodie

James Beard’s culinary philosophy helped shape American cuisine

For sale: a bit of romance.

Cool Finds

Paris’ Infamous Love Locks Will Now Help Migrants

The pesky padlocks are now removed from the bridge—and up for auction

Norwegian TV Series on Migrating Reindeer Impeded After Animals Stop Migrating

The animals are not moving fast enough for Norway’s “slow TV” craze

Trending Today

Asian-American Superhero The Green Turtle Returns!

The character, created in the 1940s and revived in a 2014 graphic novel, stars in a new comic book to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

Woman, 1966 Oil on canvas 46 x 31 inches (116.8 x 78.7 cm) Private Collection, Miami.

Who Is the Mysterious Subject of This Alice Neel Portrait?

A journalist has cracked the case

Tim Caza assesses the boat.

Cool Finds

Shipwreck Identified as Rare Canal Boat

Durham boats once fueled trade in the Erie Canal

Rosa Parks’ Detroit House Finds a Home in Berlin

Once abandoned and decrepit, the house has been restored overseas

“Get Your Kicks” at This Route 66 Museum

The Mill Restaurant, which once served hungry travelers, now hosts a shrine to the highway’s roadside attractions

Handprint from Maltravieso Cave in Caceres, Spain.

Cool Finds

Project Is Making 3D Scans of Ancient Handprints

The Handpas Project is looking to unlock who made the prehistoric art and why

UK Appoints First Woman as Official Artist of General Election

Cornelia Parker will create a piece for the Parliamentary Art Collection

Hermann Nitsch pictured in front of one of his works at a 2006 retrospective.

Tasmanian Art Festival to Host Controversial Hermann Nitsch Performance

The festival has decided to proceed with the avant-garde artist’s work, despite public outrage

The Museum of Migration tells the stories of the UK's immigrants.

Cool Finds

Museum of Migration Opens in London

The ambitious museum brings new perspective to a city shaped by immigrants

Illustration of the cat piano from 1657.

Music or Animal Abuse? A Brief History of the Cat Piano

In the early 1800s, the katzenklavier was hailed as a treatment for distracted people

The burial chamber containing the model looms

New Research

Model Looms Are Missing Link in China’s Textile History

Four miniature pattern looms found in a burial in Chengdu show how the Han Dynasty produced cloth to trade on the Silk Road

Charles Manson Leaping at Judge Charles H. Older, October 5, 1970.

New Exhibit Highlights the Art of the Courtroom Sketch

For decades, these drawings offered the public its only glimpse into high-profile court cases

Trending Today

Latest National Report Card Shows Little Student Improvement in Music and Art

This is the third time that the National Center for Educational Statistics has assessed eight-graders in music and visual arts

Page 197 of 286