Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News / Smart News Arts & Culture

Pablo Picasso’s Femme à la montre (or Woman with a Watch) sold for a whopping $139.4 million at Sotheby’s in New York this month.

‘Femme à la Montre’ Becomes Second Most Expensive Picasso Ever Sold

The 1932 painting of the artist’s mistress, Marie-Thérèse Walter, fetched $139 at auction

A view of the exhibition galleries of "On the Reverse" at the Prado Museum

Madrid’s Prado Museum Shows What’s Behind Famous Paintings—Literally

The new exhibition “On the Reverse” encourages visitors to think of paintings as three-dimensional objects by showing their back sides

An original Victorian-era photograph of the "stick man" featured on the cover of Led Zeppelin IV

Cool Finds

Researchers Have Finally Identified the Mystery Man on a Led Zeppelin Album Cover

Once thought to be a painting, the image of the “stick man” was hiding in a Victorian photo album in England

Will Liverman performs during the dress rehearsal of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X at the Metropolitan Opera, which runs through December 2

Malcolm X Opera Opens in New York

The Afrofuturist production examines the civil rights leader’s legacy and lasting influence

Before it was stolen, the toilet had been installed in a bathroom at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England.

Four Men Charged With 2019 Theft of $6 Million Gold Toilet

Titled “America,” the infamous 18-karat loo was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan

Austin Butler stars as Major Gale Winston Cleven.

Based on a True Story

Watch the Trailer for ‘Masters of the Air,’ Steven Spielberg’s Long-Awaited Follow-Up to ‘Band of Brothers’

The upcoming miniseries follows the 100th Bombardment Group, an Air Force unit nicknamed the “Bloody Hundredth”

Two Just Stop Oil protesters after smashing the glass protecting Rokeby Venus at London’s National Gallery 

Climate Activists Hammer at Glass Protecting Velázquez’s ‘Rokeby Venus’

Organized by Just Stop Oil, the incident was just the latest of many protests targeting famous artworks

David Hockney paints the portrait of Harry Styles that is currently on display in the exhibition.

David Hockney Show Opens in London—and Features a New Portrait of Harry Styles

“David Hockney: Drawing from Life” returns to the National Portrait Gallery after the pandemic shut it down three years ago

The $45 million building will feature a performance venue and events space.

Andy Warhol Museum Announces $45 Million Expansion

The new building will feature a performance venue inspired by “A Bird,” a watercolor by the famed Pop artist

Detail of the rediscovered "fiend" in Joshua Reynolds' painting The Death of Cardinal Beaufort (1789)

Hidden Demon Revealed in the Shadows of a Joshua Reynolds Painting

Conservators have restored the malignant spirit, which generated controversy among 18th-century audiences

An interim memorial now stands in front of the Pulse nightclub, the site of a deadly 2016 mass shooting.

Plans for Museum Honoring Victims of Pulse Nightclub Shooting Have Been Canceled

The city of Orlando has agreed to buy the nightclub property, where a permanent memorial will eventually open

On the new U.S. quarter, sculptor Joseph Menna and designer Benjamin Sowards depict Tallchief floating through the air in the middle of a dramatic leap in The Firebird.

New U.S. Quarter Honors Maria Tallchief, America’s First Prima Ballerina

Born on Osage land in Oklahoma, the famous dancer broke barriers for Native American women

Elton John and David Furnish pictured at home in their art gallery in Windsor, England, in 2019

See Hundreds of Photographs From Elton John and David Furnish’s Private Collection

Never-before-seen images of celebrities, performers and important moments in history are going on display in London

Researchers at the University of Chicago have developed a new technique that allows artists to embed invisible “poison” into their work that misleads A.I. models.

Art Meets Science

Artists Can Use This Tool to Protect Their Work From A.I. Scraping

Nightshade subtly alters the pixels of an image to mislead A.I. image generators, ultimately damaging the models

The charcoal drawings in a secret room under the Medici Chapels Museum in Florence

Did Michelangelo Sketch These Drawings in a Secret Room Below a Florence Chapel?

For the first time, visitors will get to see the intricate sketches that some scholars attribute to the artist

Frances Mabel Hollams, Buster, Shandy and Bluett—Dalmatians, 1936

You Could Own Rare Artworks Celebrating Canine Companions

An upcoming “Dog Sale” at Bonhams Scotland features 250 paintings, sculptures and more

Typewriter Eraser, Scale X by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen

After Getting Stuck in a Sculpture at the National Gallery of Art, This Barred Owl Is Now Flying Free

The bird spent some time recuperating at two rehabilitation facilities and is now back in the wild

Artist Dan Miller works at Creative Growth Art Center, which is partnering with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Acquires More Than 100 Works by Artists With Disabilities

The purchase is one of the largest acquisitions of its kind by any museum in the United States

Jean Fouquet's Melun Diptych features two panels, Étienne Chevalier with Saint Stephen on the left, and Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels on the right.

New Research

Mysterious Stone in 15th-Century Painting Could Be a Prehistoric Tool

Jean Fouquet’s “Melun Diptych” is likely the earliest artistic representation of an Acheulean hand ax

The record-breaking Nightmare Before Christmas mosaic at Sunnyfields Farm is made from several types of pumpkins and squash in various colors.

‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ Pumpkin Mosaic Sets World Record

The Jack Skellington-inspired display is made from more than 10,000 gourds across 2,081 square feet

Page 53 of 286