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Smart News / Smart News Arts & Culture

The new Resnick Center for Herbert Bayer Studies in Aspen

How Bauhaus Artist Herbert Bayer Helped Put Aspen on the Map

The Colorado town is home to a new center dedicated to the artistic polymath’s legacy

This pay phone, one of the last in New York City, was removed from Times Square at the end of May.

One of the Last Pay Phones in New York City Moves to a Museum

Located in Times Square until last month, the pay phone is now on display at the Museum of the City of New York

Rome’s new Museum of Rescued Art opens with some 100 objects on display.

Cool Finds

At Museum for Rescued Art, Italy Displays Stolen Artifacts It Has Recovered

The museum will showcase items before returning them to their original locations

Piet Mondrian’s The Red Cloud is one of a number of the artist's pieces in the Switzerland exhibition.

Who Was Piet Mondrian Before He Painted His Iconic Abstract Grids?

A new exhibition explores the evolution of the Dutch artist’s style, 150 years after his birth

A rendering of a section of the museum focused on Rent, which immerses visitors in the East Village

The First-Ever Broadway Museum Makes Its Debut

Interactive exhibits will walk visitors through the Great White Way’s history and evolution

Unable to return home, dancers from the Kyiv City Ballet rehearse for a fundraising performance; ticket sales will go toward relief efforts in Ukraine.

Stranded Abroad, Kyiv City Ballet Announces Its First American Tour

The dance company has been staying in Paris since the Russian invasion of Ukraine

A self-portrait of Vivian Maier from 1953

How Vivian Maier, the Enigmatic Nanny Who Took 150,000 Photographs, Found Her Place in History

The late artist is getting her first full-scale exhibition in the United Kingdom this summer

The Canton Synagogue, founded in 1531

Inside the Effort to Restore Synagogues in Venice’s 500-Year-Old Jewish Ghetto

A new project focuses on three 16th-century synagogues in the Italian city, where the Jewish population has dropped to 450

This copy of the First Folio is one of fewer than 20 in private hands.

399-Year-Old Copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio Could Fetch $2.5 Million at Auction

Without the printed collection, many of the playwright’s most iconic works could have been lost to history

Bronze sacrificial altar unearthed at the Sanxingdui archaeological site

Cool Finds

Trove of 13,000 Artifacts Sheds Light on Enigmatic Chinese Civilization

The Bronze Age Sanxingdui culture is known for its intricate masks and artworks

Members of the Janes in 1972

History of Now

When Abortion Was Illegal, Chicago Women Turned to the Jane Collective

A new documentary spotlights the group that helped thousands seeking abortions in the 1960s and ‘70s

Lena Horne performing in Stormy Weather

The First Broadway Theater to Bear a Black Woman’s Name Will Honor Lena Horne

The Brooks Atkinson Theater will be renamed for the award-winning actor, singer and civil rights activist

More than 450 pieces made by Met staff members are on display in this year’s exhibition.

At This Once-Secret Exhibition, the Met’s Security Guards and Staff Display Their Own Art

For the first time since 1935, the show is finally open to the public

In 1951, mobster Frank Costello (seated, center) testified in front of the Kefauver Committee during a televised congressional hearing on organized crime that captivated the country.

History of Now

A Brief History of Televised Congressional Hearings

From a 1951 investigation into organized crime to the Watergate scandal, the ongoing January 6 hearings are part of a lengthy political tradition

Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1893

‘The Scream’ Gets a New Home in Norway’s $650 Million National Museum

The recently opened facility has an entire room dedicated to Norwegian painter Edvard Munch

This Renaissance painting was found in a 90-year-old woman's bedroom. It recently fetched around $320,000 at a London auction.

Cool Finds

Renaissance Masterpiece Found Hanging in a 90-Year-Old Woman’s London Bedroom

“The Depiction of the Madonna and Child,” by a follower of Filippino Lippi, sold for around $320,000

A new exhibition in Marseille recreates the famous cave and the art found within. 

Innovation for Good

Tour a Submerged Cave Packed With Paleolithic Art—Without Ever Venturing Underwater

As sea levels rise, an immersive new exhibition in Marseille lets visitors explore an inaccessible cavern’s archaeological treasures

Margaret Atwood tried burning the new, fireproof version of her novel The Handmaid's Tale with a flamethrower.

Margaret Atwood Tried—and Failed—to Burn a Copy of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale.’ Here’s Why

A fireproof version of her bestseller is a weapon in an ongoing fight against literary censorship

The ornate box was recently purchased by the National Museums of Scotland.

This Lavish Silver Box Tarnished Mary, Queen of Scots—and Contributed to Her Downfall

The controversial container played a role in the deposed monarch’s fall from favor

My Comrade documented the early careers of some of today’s most famous drag queens.

The Zine That Documented Drag’s Campy Coming of Age

The queer publication shone a joyous light on an underground culture during the darkest days of the HIV/AIDS crisis

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