Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News / Smart News Arts & Culture

Celebration of the Ommegang in Brussels: The Procession of Our Lady of the Sablon, Denis van Alsloot, 1616

Art Meets Science

How Many People Are in This Painting? The Prado Museum Is Using A.I. to Find Out

With the help of a tech start-up, the Madrid museum is enlisting technology to quantify large crowds in its artworks and boost visitor engagement

Composer Alvin Lucier in 1986

Art Meets Science

Artificial ‘Brain’ Aims to Allow Composer to Keep Making Music Three Years After His Death

Before dying in 2021, Alvin Lucier donated blood for “Revivification,” an installation that generates sound in response to neural signals

The broken walls of the villa are covered in frescoes, or paintings made on wet plaster.

Cool Finds

Conservators Are Puzzling Together Ancient Roman Murals Found in Hundreds of Pieces

Excavated from a nearly 2,000-year-old villa in Valencia, Spain, the broken-up murals once formed fresco decor

Even broken in two pieces, the rare pot shattered presale estimates.

Cool Finds

Why Did This Broken Ceramic Pot Sell for More Than $60,000 at Auction?

Discovered in pieces in a backyard garden in London, the vessel turned out to be the work of Hans Coper, one of Britain’s most influential potters

Pope Francis greets crowds in St. Peter's Square in 2014.

Five Ways Pope Francis, Religious Leader Who Pushed to Modernize the Catholic Church, Was a Man of Firsts

The pontiff, who died on Easter Monday at age 88, strived to make the church more inclusive. But critics believed his reforms either went too far or not far enough

Young Lion Resting, Rembrandt van Rijn, circa 1638-42

Rembrandt’s Stunning Sketch of a Lion Will Be Sold at Auction to Fund Wildlife Conservation Efforts

“Young Lion Resting” is among dozens of Dutch Golden Age artworks from the Leiden Collection that are now on view at the H’ART Museum in Amsterdam

The exhibition includes pieces of ancient pottery.

Hundreds of Looted Ancient Artifacts Confiscated From the Black Market Are Now on Display in Naples

The National Archaeological Museum of Naples is showcasing 600 recovered objects, which date to between the Archaic period and the Middle Ages

Last year, nine million viewers tuned in to watch “The Great Moose Migration” in Sweden.

Watch Majestic Moose Meander North With This Popular Live Stream From Sweden

“The Great Moose Migration” shows the antler-adorned ungulates making their annual spring trek

LaBrea Letson, 8, sells lemonade made with bottled water outside her grandmother’s home near the derailment site. A van passing by tests the air for hazardous chemicals.

See 26 Captivating Images From the World Press Photo Contest

In stark black-and-white and stunning color, this year’s winning photographs capture global events on a human scale

The North Wind, Emily Brontë, 1842

Rare Watercolor by ‘Wuthering Heights’ Author Emily Brontë Will Go on Public Display for the First Time

“The North Wind,” painted while Emily and her sister Charlotte were studying in Belgium, is now heading to the Brontë family home in Yorkshire

The interior of the Sagrada Familia, the unfinished basilica in Barcelona, Spain

As His 143-Year-Old Church Nears Completion, Architect Antoni Gaudí Is Placed on the Path to Sainthood

Gaudí, nicknamed “God’s architect,” was declared “venerable” by Pope Francis this week, putting him one step closer to canonization

A Bigger Grand Canyon (1998) is a 25-foot-long work spread out across 60 canvases.

At a Massive New David Hockney Retrospective, Spring Never Ends

The exhibition features more than 400 of the 87-year-old artist’s works, which are spread throughout the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris

The Windows 95 reboot chime was one of 25 audio works added to the National Recording Registry this year.

Windows 95 Jingle, 1960 World Series Broadcast and Other ‘Audio Treasures’ Added to the National Recording Registry

From a list of 2,600 nominations submitted by the public, the Library of Congress has selected 25 songs, albums and sounds that are at least ten years old to preserve for posterity

La Moisson, Blanche Hoschedé-Monet, 1885

Monet’s Stepdaughter Painted Breathtaking Impressionist Masterpieces. They’re Finally Getting the Attention They Deserve

Known as the “forgotten Monet,” Blanche Hoschedé-Monet created roughly 300 stunning artworks. She’s now getting her first-ever solo exhibition in the United States

Compton printed cotton, designed by Morris in 1896

Why the World Became So Obsessed With William Morris’ Colorful Floral Prints

The British artist’s designs appear on mugs, plates, shoes and more. A new exhibition explores how his signature style became so ubiquitous—and how Morris would feel about his 21st-century legacy

One winner will get to sleep in a bed placed between the newly refurbished Sainsbury Wing and the rest of the museum.

You Can Enter to Win a Night Inside London’s National Gallery

The museum is celebrating the reopening of its Sainsbury Wing, as well as a major refresh of its collection, with an overnight experience for one lucky visitor

The roots along Rue Daubigny in Auvers-sur-Oise as they appeared in 2020

Who Should Own the Hillside Where Vincent van Gogh Made His Last Painting?

The real-life location of the Dutch Post-Impressionist’s 1890 painting “Tree Roots” has been the subject of five years of legal battles between homeowners and a French mayor who wants to turn the site public

View of the "Paris Noir" exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris

This Exhibition Spotlights the Black Artists Who Called France Home in the 20th Century

A blockbuster show at the Centre Pompidou in Paris spotlights 300-plus works by 150 artists of African heritage

The Brooch, Edvard Munch, 1902

Edvard Munch Is Known as the Painter of ‘The Scream.’ His Many Haunting Portraits Show That He Was Much More Than His Masterpiece

Through 45 artworks made between the 1880s and the 1920s, a new exhibition spotlights the Norwegian artist’s sometimes divisive style of portraiture

The National Public Housing Museum is located in the last remaining building of the Jane Addams Homes, Chicago's first public housing development.

New Museum Examines the History of American Public Housing—and the Stories of Its Residents

Located in a preserved 1930s development in Chicago’s West Side, the museum includes three recreated apartments representing families of different decades and demographics

Page 27 of 290