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Smart News / Smart News Arts & Culture

Robert Smithson created Spiral Jetty on Utah's Great Salt Lake in 1970.

Utah’s Spellbinding ‘Spiral Jetty’ Has Been Added to the National Register of Historic Places

Robert Smithson constructed the famous 1,500-foot-long land artwork on the shore of the Great Salt Lake in 1970

The title page of the first edition of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol

On This Day in History

‘A Christmas Carol’ Marvelously Captured the Holiday’s Victorian Spirit and Inspired New Traditions for Centuries to Come

Published on this day in 1843, at a time when Christmas was undergoing great transformation, Charles Dickens’ novel centered the virtues of kindness, charity and reform

Beloved films like Dirty Dancing, No Country for Old Men, Beverly Hills Cop and Spy Kids are heading to the National Film Registry.

The National Film Registry Adds 25 New Movies, Including ‘Dirty Dancing,’ ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ and ‘Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan’

This year’s list includes a diverse set of American films celebrating various genres and storytellers

This year's list includes Emergency Quarters, The Iguanodon's Horn and Ernő Rubik and His Magic Cube.

The Ten Best Children’s Books of 2024

This year’s top titles range from an alphabet book of quirky tunes to an authentic portrait of our nation

Joe Rosenthal holding a print of his famous photograph in 2000

San Francisco Names a Street For the Photographer Who Captured Marines Raising an American Flag at Iwo Jima

Joe Rosenthal is famous for his Pulitzer Prize-winning image. But he spent most of his career photographing San Francisco, where he lived for many years

Someone has been sticking googly eyes onto public art installations, such as artist Brandon Zebold's Orb I, in Bend, Oregon.

Trending Today

Someone Is Sticking Googly Eyes on Public Sculptures in Oregon—and City Officials Are Not Amused

Many residents of Bend love the illicit adornments, which they say are sparking joy and driving engagement with public art

A suitcase containing Ernest Hemingway's early writings was stolen in 1922. The exhibition imagines what his first novel might have looked like.

None of These Books Exist. An Inventive New Exhibition Asks: What If They Did?

“Imaginary Books: Lost, Unfinished and Fictive Works Found Only in Other Books” spotlights more than 100 texts written (or invented) by the likes of Shakespeare, Byron and Hemingway

This gold wreath thought to be from Corinth, Greece, dates to the third to second century B.C.E.

Why Has Gold Dazzled So Many Cultures Throughout History?

An exhibition in Brooklyn examines gold’s ubiquitous appeal across thousands of years through art, artifacts, paintings, sculptures and fashion

The bronze head of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus on display at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek museum in Copenhagen

An Ancient Statue of a Roman Emperor Will Finally Be Reunited With Its Head

The torso of the bronze sculpture depicting Septimius Severus was repatriated last year, and a Copenhagen museum has now agreed to return the head

A collection of Nokia mobile handsets, including unseen prototypes

If You’re Nostalgic for Nokia, See the Devices That Defined ’90s Cellphone Design in a New Online Archive

The iconic brand’s mobile phones were pop culture mainstays. Soon, a new online archive will bring together thousands of documents, early models and design concepts

A mantel clock designed by André-Charles Boulle with a movement by Claude Martinot (circa 1726)

See These Ornately Decorated 18th-Century Clocks Before Time Runs Out

An exhibition in London is highlighting a collection of Baroque timepieces designed by the renowned Parisian craftsman André-Charles Boulle

Artist Jean Charles Blais and his contractor discovered the engraving behind a layer of plaster on his studio wall.

Cool Finds

An Artist Noticed a Leak in His Studio. The Repairs Revealed a Mysterious Ancient Engraving Hidden Inside the Walls

Jean Charles Blais had no idea that his studio in southern France was hiding a Roman funerary inscription dating to the first or second century C.E.

The exhibition showcases political cartoons dating from 1909 to 2003.

See Winston Churchill Through the Eyes of the Political Cartoonists He Inspired

A new exhibition at London’s Imperial War Museum brings together political cartoons from around the world that celebrate and satirize the wartime prime minister

An interpretation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet by Salvador Dalí

Stunning Artworks Seized From the Mafia Go On Display at a New Exhibition in Milan

“Save Arts: From Confiscations to Public Collections” features more than 80 works recovered by Italian authorities, including pieces by Andy Warhol and Salvador Dalí

St. John the Baptist and St. Jerome in a detail from The Madonna and Child With Saints

This Peculiar Painting From the Experimental Mannerist Movement Is Back on Display After a Stunning Ten-Year Restoration

Parmigianino painted St. Jerome asleep on the ground in his 16th-century altarpiece—a choice that’s still puzzling experts five centuries later

Ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz on view at Heritage Auctions London

Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers From ‘The Wizard of Oz’ Sell for a Record-Breaking $28 Million

The iconic shoes, which went missing for more than a decade, are now the most valuable piece of movie memorabilia ever auctioned

This year's favorites include Light in the Underworld, Juneteenth Rodeo and Sea Beach.

The Ten Best Photography Books of 2024

These works are not just for casual readers—they are for those who seek to expand their horizons, enrich their lives, and connect with the world on a deeper level

Merriam-Webster has been printing English dictionaries since 1831.

‘Polarization’ Is Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year for 2024

The winning word beat out finalists such as “demure,” “pander,” “totality,” “fortnight,” “allision” and “democracy”

Caravaggio painted Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini in the early 1600s.

A Rare Caravaggio Portrait Was Hidden Away for Years. Now, Visitors Can See It in Person for the First Time

The 17th-century painting, which may depict a young Pope Urban VIII, wasn’t officially attributed to the renowned Baroque artist until the 1960s

Known as the Joachim-Ma Stradivarius, the violin was once owned by the renowned Hungarian musician Joseph Joachim.

This 300-Year-Old Stradivarius Violin Could Become the Most Expensive Musical Instrument Ever Sold at Auction

Crafted by the renowned violin maker Antonio Stradivari in 1714, the rare instrument is expected to sell for between $12 million and $18 million

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