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Smart News / Smart News Arts & Culture

The set of 20 Fabergé carvings is worth an estimated $1.2 million. 

Miniature Fabergé Animals That Enchanted the Romanovs and Other Royals Are Up for Sale

Crafted around 1900, the charismatic carvings were inspired by Japanese decorative pendants

Historians were surprised to discover more than 50 carvings on the door, including initials, last names and depictions of hangings. 

See the Graffiti Bored British Soldiers Carved Into a Castle Door More Than 200 Years Ago

One of the carvings may even depict French emperor and military commander Napoleon Bonaparte being hanged

Hannah Uzor painted this portrait of Catherine, Princess of Wales, for Tatler's July 2024 cover.

Trending Today

Why a New Portrait of Catherine, Princess of Wales, Is So Controversial

For the second time this month, a painting of a British royal is garnering backlash

The popular chapel has been closed since February because of damage caused by land movement.

A Historical Glass-Enclosed Chapel Overlooking the Pacific Ocean Must Be Dismantled Before Nature Can Destroy It

The one-of-a-kind sculpture in California, designed by the son of famed American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, is at the mercy of shifting grounds

Venus Williams is getting her own Barbie doll for a new Mattel campaign to celebrate women in sports. 

The Paris Olympics

Tennis Icon Venus Williams Scores Her Own Barbie Doll

The plastic (and fantastic) version of Williams is one of nine new Mattel dolls celebrating female athletes

Found at a property in London last year, this 1972 Q1 desktop microcomputer is now going up for auction.

Cool Finds

Cleaning Crew Discovers One of the World’s Oldest Surviving Desktop Computers

The 1972 Q1 microcomputer could fetch $60,000 at auction

Haring created this whimsical mural, A Book Full of Fun, nine months before his death.

LGBTQ+ Pride

Keith Haring Painted This Mural on the Wall of an Iowa Elementary School Library

Ahead of planned construction, experts removed the 4,000-pound wall behind the 1989 artwork, which is now on public display for the first time

This photograph, depicting four royal women with their newborns, was a gift to the obstetrician who delivered all of the babies within a two-month period in 1964.

Northern Europe and the British Isles

Never-Before-Seen Royal Family Portraits Go on Display at Buckingham Palace

“Royal Portraits: A Century of Photography” showcases 150 photographs taken between the 1920s and today

The tiles were likely made in the Netherlands in the late 17th century.

This Polish Museum Received a Mysterious Package in the Mail—With Missing 17th-Century Tiles Inside

The ceramic tiles, which vanished during World War II, once adorned a Baroque bathing pavilion in Warsaw

Officials from Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation were sent to investigate the carving.

Cool Finds

Mushroom Hunters Stumble Upon Mysterious Stone Sculpture in Thai Forest

While the artwork’s age is still unknown, some think it depicts the mother of the Buddha

The Mona Lisa is the most popular painting at the Louvre in Paris.

Art Meets Science

Has the Mystery of the ‘Mona Lisa’ Background Been Solved?

Ann Pizzorusso, a geologist and art historian, says she’s identified the location in the background of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting

This early Bob Dylan painting could fetch $100,000 at auction this month.

Bob Dylan Traded This Painting in Exchange for an Astrology Reading

The musician created the artwork in the 1960s while recovering from a motorcycle accident in Woodstock, New York

These gendered designs have been the standard for hundreds of years.

Men’s Shirts Button on the Right. Why Do Women’s Button on the Left?

Nobody knows for sure, but plausible theories include swords, servants and saddles

A painted drum carved with phoenixes and tigers (circa 300 B.C.E.)

Why Is Chinese Art Full of Dragons, Phoenixes and Tigers?

A new exhibition showcases stunning mythical artworks of the Zhou Dynasty’s “lost” kingdoms

Latyr Sy, a Senegalese percussionist and singer, was one of 75 researchers who played music for the study.

Why Do Humans Sing? Traditional Music in 55 Languages Reveals Patterns and Telling Similarities

In a global study, scientists recorded themselves singing and playing music from their own cultures to examine the evolution of song

A self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci

Based on a True Story

A New Leonardo da Vinci Biopic Is Coming to the Big Screen

The film will be an adaptation of Walter Isaacson’s biography of the Renaissance painter, scientist and inventor

The exhibition includes portraits of staff by Sir Godfrey Kneller.

The British Royals’ Huge Staff Once Included Exotic Cat Wranglers, Rat Killers and Toilet Attendants

A new exhibition in London offers an inside look at the lives of the workers who served the monarchy between 1660 and 1830

Jonathan Yeo's portrait of Charles III wearing the uniform of the Welsh Guards

Charles III Unveiled His First Official Portrait as King. Is It Too Red?

Artist Jonathan Yeo’s nontraditional approach to royal portraiture has drawn mixed reactions

An image from the eBay listing for Forest With a Stream, which is attributed to Claude Monet

Art Meets Science

A.I. Detects 40 Allegedly Counterfeit Paintings for Sale on eBay

Art Recognition’s algorithm is trained to identify specific artists’ patterns of style and composition

Wig Shoes, Chunxiao Qu, 2017

These Artworks Explore the Cultural Significance of Hair

A new exhibition at the Heide Museum of Modern Art in Australia examines what hair says about identity, gender, social status and more

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