Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News / Smart News Arts & Culture

For Minneapolis art lovers, this huge painting needs no introduction—or title.

Cool Finds

Enormous Chicken Painting Comes Home to Roost

After years overseas, Doug Argue’s iconic portrait is back

New Research

New App Makes It Easier to Colorize Old Photos

The software combines human input and a sophisticated neural network to make historical images pop

Japanese Princess Will Lose Her Royal Status When She Marries a Commoner

Some say that the country should amend its imperial succession laws, which currently prohibit women from ascending to the throne

James Andrews, “Jane Austen” (1869), watercolor

Six Portraits on Display Deepen the Mystery of Jane Austen

Was Austen demure, sardonic, or glamorous? Each portrait tells a different story about the beloved author

Still from the 1958 horror film 'Dracula' starring Christopher Lee. The character of Dracula has appeared in more than 200 films.

The Icelandic Translation of ‘Dracula’ Is Actually a Different Book

The mysteries of this Gothic classic aren’t over yet

Photograph of two Havana meteoritic metal beads with a 1 cm cube for scale. The bead on the left (7.8 g mass) is cut perpendicular to the central hole, illustrating the extensive alteration of the bead and infilling of the central hole. The bead on the right (4.6 g mass) is cut parallel to the central hole and exhibits a concentrically deformed structure.

New Research

Beads Made From Meteorite Reveal Ancient Trade Network

Researchers have confirmed iron beads in Illinois come from a Minnesota meteorite, supporting a theory called the Hopewell Interaction Sphere

Iceland’s Volcano and Earthquake Museum is Devoted to the Country’s “Epic” Geology

The Lava Center is surrounded by three volcanoes

An infantry unit with bayonets marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in May 1865. They are followed by three ambulances.

See the Civil War Through the Lens of Its First Photographer

Mathew Brady and the photographers he hired were the first to photograph a war zone

Ona Louise has a tale to tell.

Cool Finds

Drag Queens Are Public Libraries’ Newest Storytellers

Early reading just got a lot more glamorous

This smart tag contains synthetic DNA and other security measures to help authenticate and track the provenance of canvas.

Cool Finds

Can Giving Paintings Their Own DNA Stop Art Forgery?

Science is leading the charge against copycats

The taggers of the future aren't carrying cans of spray paint.

Cool Finds

Street Art Will Soon Take to the Skies with Graffiti-Painting Drone Swarms

Paint-loaded quadcopters can turn any vertical space into a canvas

Mike Van Eaton of Van Eaton Galleries, posing with Disney's early map of Disneyland

Walt Disney’s Original Map of Disneyland Is Headed to Auction

Disney created the map with the artist Herb Ryman while trying to secure funds for his theme park

Trending Today

The MP3 Format is Music History’s Latest Casualty

The Institute that licenses MP3 tech recently stopped, but the format that began the digital music era may live on indefinitely

Fanny Cornforth posted for "Lady Lilith" and other influential Pre-Raphaelite paintings.

Cool Finds

Newly Digitized Archives Reveal the Inner Lives of Artists

The Delaware Art Museum just put 500 rare documents online

Chinese Tomb Murals Paint Colorful Picture of 1000-Year-Old Fashions

Racks of vibrant clothing and tables laden with fineries are depicted on the walls of the Liao Dynasty tomb

Chocolate chips as we know and love them today.

The First “Chocolate Chip” Was a Molasses Candy

The name “chocolate chip” goes back much farther than the Toll House cookies

Aquarell 6 by Wassily Kandinsky

Download 200 Free Art Books, Courtesy of the Guggenheim

Titles devoted to Picasso, Rothko, Lichtenstein, Klimt and more are now available for your reading pleasure

Jessica Dawson regularly takes her pup Rocky along to explore New York Art galleries, as shown here at Lost Objects by Allan McCollum at the Mary Boone Gallery.

Cool Finds

An Upcoming Art Exhibition Caters to Canine Critics

Touching (and licking and sniffing) the art is allowed

J. K. Rowling in 2010

Handwritten ‘Harry Potter’ Prequel Stolen

Police and J.K. Rowling have urged fans not to buy the magical manuscript

Wanted: modern takes on a classic group of plays.

Cool Finds

Battle the Bard in Shakespeare Remix Competition

$25,000 is on the line—along with some serious bragging rights

Page 200 of 290