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Smart News / Smart News Arts & Culture

Little People meant big fun for generations of imaginative kids.

Cool Finds

These Childhood Delights Just Made It Into the National Toy Hall of Fame

Dungeons & Dragons, Little People and the humble swing are this year’s toy honorees

"Wedding Dance in the Open Air"
Pieter Brueghel the Younger
1607-1614, oil on oak panel.

Cool Finds

A Brueghel Painting Long Thought to Be Made by a Copyist Is Going on Display

Vindication for Pieter Brueghel the Younger

"Ginzer"
Kiki Smith, 2000
Aquatint, drypoint, and burnishing etching on paper.

Smith placed the corpse of her cat on the plate and traced the outline to produce the image of the etching before burying him to create the etching.

Cool Finds

A Massive Collection of Cat Art Is up for Auction

The results of an art teacher’s passion project are for sale

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What Happens to Obama’s Social Media Accounts When He Leaves Office?

The White House and National Archives have come up with a strategy to smoothly transition the POTUS Twitter and other communications channels

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Four American Cities Voted for Taxes on Soda Last Night

One step forward in tackling obesity in America

The newly restored "St. John the Baptist," by Leonardo da Vinci.

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The Louvre Has Restored “St. John the Baptist”

To clean, or not to clean?

A lobby card for Gunsaulus Mystery, a 1921 silent film written, directed and produced by Oscar Micheaux, an early black silent film auteur.

Cool Finds

Explore the Flickering, Forgotten Past of African-Americans in Silent Film

An estimated 80 percent of silent movies with all-black casts are thought to be lost, but a new project is making sure the people who made them aren’t

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Major Renaissance Painting Restored 50 Years After It Was Covered in Flood Waters

Giorgio Vasari’s “Last Supper” was heavily damaged during Florence’s 1966 flood. Conservationists finally figured out how to save it

A legal rumpus threw the author's epic book collection into question.

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Legal Dispute Over Maurice Sendak’s Epic Book Collection Gets Wild

A legal rumpus has concluded—but have concerns about the author’s legacy only just begun?

As much as possible of the ad-hoc memorial that arose outside the headquarters of the  Dallas Police after the shootings of five officers this year will be preserved in the city's public library.

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Library Launches Campaign to Preserve Shrines to Slain Dallas Police Officers

A fundraising effort looks to make remnants of the city’s tragic shootings available for future generations

L.M. Montgomery published articles, short stories and poems over 500 times in her lifetime.

Cool Finds

New Digital Collection Unveils the Other Stories of ‘Anne of Green Gables’ Creator

KindredSpaces brings together kindred spirits interested in the life and legacy of Lucy Maud Montgomery

Dove

Cool Finds

Hi-Res Photography Reveals New Details of the Centuries Old Aberdeen Bestiary

Fingerprints, wear marks and other details show the beautiful manuscript was once a teaching tool, not a royal collectible

Walter Cronkite in 1985, four years after he retired from a 44-year-long career in television broadcasting.

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Five Things to Know About Walter Cronkite

Over four decades of TV broadcasting, “Uncle Walter” defined a nation’s news

An annotated note hidden in the margins of an 18th-century mathematical manuscript by a past restoration attempt.

Cool Finds

How Experts Are Digitizing Ancient Manuscripts

Digital preservation is more work than it might seem

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh's Inverleith House

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Four Stunning Exhibitions From Scotland’s Recently Closed Inverleith House

After 30 years, funding cuts caused one of Edinburgh’s most popular public art galleries to shut its doors

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Demand for Coffee Hits Record High as Global Supply Tightens

Millennials have led the surge in java consumption

Argentinians look on as Marta Minují's 1983 Parthenon of books is removed with a crane. The artist will recreate her installation on a grander scale in Germany next year.

Cool Finds

An Artist Is Building a Parthenon of Banned Books

More than 100,000 books will become a monument to intellectual freedom in Germany next year

A visitor to the Andy Warhol Museum experiences a Warhol print of a Coca-Cola bottle with the help of an audio app and a tactile 3D reproduction.

Cool Finds

Visually Impaired People Can Now Explore Andy Warhol’s Work With Their Ears and Fingers

“Out Loud” adds depth to an artist obsessed with the surface of things

Eric the robot stands tall once again

Cool Finds

Britain’s First Robot Lives Again

A recreation of the spark-spitting Eric the Robot is once again delighting audiences

People crossing a Tokyo street are caught in a mirror. As the country's foreign population grows, racism is thought to be on the rise.

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Why Japan Is Asking Foreigners About Racism

Just how widespread is racism in Japan? An unprecedented survey aims to find out

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