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Smart News / Smart News Arts & Culture

The barking owl is one of the 53 endangered bird species featured on the album.

Trending Today

Bird Call Album Flies Over Taylor Swift on Australian Pop Charts

Songs of Disappearance soars to the number-three spot as Australians show support for endangered bird species

The new technique can distinguish artists based on small samples of their brushwork.

Art Meets Science

New Tech Can Distinguish Brush Strokes of Different Artists

Researchers used 3-D scanning and A.I. to identify artists from tiny samples of their paintings

Sidney Poitier, pictured here in 2006 at the Cannes Film Festival, died Friday, January 7. He was 94. 

How Sidney Poitier Rewrote the Script for Black Actors in Hollywood

Smithsonian curators reflect on the legacy of the late Poitier, who starred in ‘In the Heat of the Night’ and ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’

This commemorative Edmonia Lewis "forever" stamp will go on sale January 26, as the 45th installment of the USPS's Black Heritage series. 

U.S. Postage Stamp Will Honor Edmonia Lewis, a Sculptor Who Broke the Mold

As a Native American, Black and Roman Catholic woman, Lewis overcame prejudice to become a sought-after sculptor in late 19th-century Europe

Actress and comedian Betty White, pictured here in 2015, died last week at the age of 99.

Women Who Shaped History

How Betty White Broke Barriers for Women in Television

A Smithsonian curator reflects on the legacy of the beloved “Golden Girls” actress

Built in the third-century, the large Roman baths complex also featured open-air swimming pools, as well as a temple, garden and library.

Italy Bans McDonald’s Drive-Through at Ancient Roman Baths Site

Upholding an earlier decision, the high court halts construction of a new restaurant, resolving a years-long dispute in favor of cultural preservation

Numerous books, films and other works first published in 1926 enter the public domain on January 1.

Winnie-the-Pooh, an Ernest Hemingway Classic and a Massive Library of Sound Recordings Will Enter the Public Domain on January 1

Works newly available to copy, republish and remix in 2022 also include poems by Langston Hughes and Dorothy Parker

An intercontinental ballistic missile takes flight from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, in 2002. In 1962, the United States would confront the Soviet Union on its missile stockpiles in Cuba, edging the two nations to the brink of nuclear war.

History of Now

‘Do You Hear What I Hear?’ Conjures Images of Peace Everywhere—and Nuclear Annihilation

Composed at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the classic Christmas song contains another message—one of unity

Workers removed the sculpture from the University of Hong Kong's campus under the cover of night.

Hong Kong Removes ‘Pillar of Shame’ Honoring Tiananmen Square Victims

The move arrives amid continuing crackdowns on pro-democracy protesters in the Asian city

A Louis Wain illustration of cats singing carols

See Louis Wain’s Exuberant Cat Art at the Hospital Where He Spent His Later Years

The Victorian artist’s famous feline portraits are on view at England’s Bethlem Museum of the Mind

The center aims to establish a "dialogue between modern and contemporary art," one curator says.

Why Baltimore Is Poised to Become a Major Hub for Henri Matisse Fans

The Baltimore Museum of Art recently opened a research center dedicated to the French artist

Unearthed in Norway, this crowned figure with a falcon on its right arm dates to the 13th century, and may be the oldest depiction of falconry discovered in Scandinavia.

Cool Finds

One of the Oldest Depictions of Falconry in Scandinavia Is Discovered

The 800-year-old carved figure holding a falcon was found at a dig site in Norway

Brown was known as the Godfather of Soul and the Hardest Working Man in Show Business.

James Brown’s Estate Has Sold After 15-Year Dispute

The estimated $90 million deal will go mostly toward a scholarship fund for children from South Carolina and Georgia

Sarah Biffin, Sarah Biffin, watercolor

Miniature by Sarah Biffin, 19th-Century Artist Born With No Arms or Legs, Exceeds Estimates at Auction

The painter forged a remarkable career as a disabled woman artist in 19th-century London

bell hooks, pictured in 1999

Women Who Shaped History

Groundbreaking Feminist Scholar bell hooks Dies at 69

The prolific American writer shaped a generation of discourse around Black feminism and intersectionality

Scientists studied the lead isotopic values of the white paint used in 77 Dutch works, including this one by Rembrandt. Rembrandt van Rijn, Tobit and Anna with the Kid, 1626 

Art Meets Science

Scientists Can Determine When and Where Dutch Masters Worked by the White Paint They Used

Using a new technology, researchers say they’ve discovered a link between the chemical composition of pigments in Dutch paintings and historic conflicts

Archaeologists unearthed the body of a female infant at a 10,000-year-old burial site in the Arma Veirana cave in Italy.

Cool Finds

Baby Buried With Care 10,000 Years Ago Found in Italian Cave

The rare interment suggests that some hunter-gatherer societies imbued female infants with full personhood

A medieval composite pen made out of animal bone and a copper alloy was found in an 11th-century settlement in Ireland. The tool's secular setting is a rare find, as literacy in Ireland was generally associated with the church.

Cool Finds

Medieval Ink Pen Testifies to the Rise of Secular Literacy in Ireland

The 11th-century tool may have been used to record family lineages and trade agreements

An aerial view of the ongoing efforts to reconstruct Paris' Notre-Dame Cathedral, pictured in June 2021

France Approves Controversial Plan to Renovate Notre-Dame Cathedral

Conservative critics have opposed the new proposal, which aims to make the Paris landmark an “even more beautiful and welcoming” place for visitors

Found among Steinhardt's stolen artifacts was the Larnax, a small chest that was used to store human remains. Dated to between 1200 and 1400 B.C.E., the chest originated on the island of Crete.

New York Antiquities Collector Returns 180 Stolen Artifacts Worth $70 Million

A deal made with the Manhattan district attorney bars billionaire Michael Steinhardt from purchasing ancient objects for the rest of his life

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