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Smart News / Smart News Arts & Culture

The bone carving shows a deliberate pattern.

Cool Finds

Is This 51,000-Year-Old Deer Bone Carving an Early Example of Neanderthal Art?

Made at least a millennium before modern humans’ arrival in what is now Germany, the engraved object may reflect abstract thinking

Attributed to Cubist master Pablo Picasso, this mixed-media artwork was rediscovered in the closet of a house in Maine after five decades. It recently sold at auction for more than $150,000.

Cool Finds

Artwork Attributed to Picasso Discovered in Maine Closet After 50 Years

The long-forgotten piece was likely a preparatory sketch for a huge stage curtain for the 1919 Russian ballet “Le Tricorne”

An installation view of "Automania" at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan. The red car in front is a Cisitalia 202 GT Car (1946) designed by Italian firm Pininfarina; the green car in the background is a German "Beetle," a.k.a. a Volkswagen Type 1 Sedan (1949). The lithograph on the wall is Watch the Fords Go By (1937) by A. M. Cassandre.

How the Automobile Changed the World, for Better or Worse

New MoMA exhibition explores artists’ responses to the beauty, brutality and environmental devastation of cars and car culture

Greek police recovered two paintings by Pablo Picasso (left) and Piet Mondrian (right) this week, after the works were stolen in a 2012 heist of the National Gallery.

Cool Finds

How a Self-Professed ‘Art Freak’ Pulled Off a Bold Heist at Greece’s National Museum

Greek police recovered two paintings by Picasso and Mondrian, stolen 9 years ago in an early morning caper, after a 49-year-old man confessed to the crime

Rembrandt's 'Night Watch' is put in place at the Rijksmuseum during 'Operation Night Watch.'

Lost Edges of Rembrandt’s ‘Night Watch’ Are Restored Using Artificial Intelligence

Experts have used new technology to recreate missing portions of the old master painting

Bronzino, Eleonora di Toledo and Francesco de’ Medici, c. 1550

Florence’s Medici Family Used Portraits as Propaganda

A new exhibition at the Met reveals how the Italian banking dynasty drew on art to cement its power and legacy

Wassily Kandinsky, Curved Tips, 1927

Cool Finds

Rediscovered After 70 Years, Kandinsky Watercolor Sells for $1.3 Million

The modern art pioneer painted the work, which resurfaced in a private collection last month, in 1927

The Forever Marilyn statue's June 20 unveiling attracted protesters who view Seward Johnson's 26-foot-tall sculpture as an outdated symbol of sexism.

Why a Newly Installed Statue of Marilyn Monroe Is So Controversial

In the era of #MeToo, some view the sculpture—now on view in California—as a symbol of sexism

Organizers used state-of-the-art technology to create nearly life-size reproductions of Michelangelo's famed Sistine Chapel frescoes.

Immersive Experience Brings Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Frescoes to the U.S.

A touring exhibition now on view in San Antonio, Chicago and Charlotte immerses visitors in 34 of the artist’s famed paintings

In 1921, Ruth Middleton embroidered this cotton sack with a powerful family story.

History of Now

A Simple Cotton Sack Tells an Intergenerational Story of Separation Under Slavery

Historian Tiya Miles’ new book traces the lives of three Black women through an embroidered family heirloom known as “Ashley’s sack”

Officials posted a video showing the statue's excavation on Twitter.

Cool Finds

Headless Statue of Ancient Woman Discovered in Turkey’s ‘Mother Goddess City’

The 1,800-year-old sculpture dates to Metropolis’ Roman era

The painting is one of 47 in the pop star's D Heads series.

Cool Finds

David Bowie Painting Purchased at Landfill for $4 Expected to Fetch Thousands

The rock star created the semi-abstract portrait—up for auction through June 24—in 1997

Queer artist Gilbert Baker preserved this 10- by 28-foot section of an original 1978 pride flag.

LGBTQ+ Pride

Long-Lost Fragment of First Rainbow Pride Flag Resurfaces After Four Decades

The brilliantly colored banner—now on view in San Francisco—flew on “Gay Freedom Day” in 1978

Rendering of ReWildAR, an augmented reality experience debuting at the Smithsonian's "Futures" exhibition later this year

Futures

Immerse Yourself in Five Alternate Worlds Envisioned by Leading Artists

The Smithsonian’s “Futures” exhibition features commissions by Beatriz Cortez, Nettrice Gaskins, Soo Sunny Park, Devan Shimoyama, Tamiko Thiel and /p

An early episode of the rebooted "Jeopardy!," which debuted in 1984 with the legendary late Alex Trebek as its host

History of Now

From ‘Jeopardy’ to ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ Archive Will Preserve Game Show History

A new collection at the Strong National Museum of Play in New York will celebrate America’s beloved prime-time competitions

This 15th-century illuminated manuscript depicts a courtly gathering attended by a host of young men wearing the pointed shoes fashionable at the time.

Art Meets Science

This Fancy Footwear Craze Created a ‘Plague of Bunions’ in Medieval England

Elite Europeans who wore pointed shoes toed the line between fashion and fall risk, a new study suggests

The newly auctioned gold coin is the only 1933 "Double Eagle" legally held in private hands.

The World’s Most Valuable Coin Sells at Auction for $18.9 Million

Three collectibles, including a 1993 gold “Double Eagle” and the world’s rarest stamp, fetched more than $30 million at Sotheby’s

Free Little Art Galleries simulate the culture of Little Free Libraries: Take what you want and give what you can.

Innovation for Good

Why Free, Miniature Art Galleries Are Popping Up Across the U.S.

Modeled on Little Free Libraries, these pint-sized museums make art accessible during the pandemic

Workers removed the replica Lady Liberty from its plinth on June 7. The statue will set sail for the U.S. on June 19.

France Is Sending the Statue of Liberty’s ‘Little Sister’ on a Trip to the U.S.

The bronze replica, set to go on view at Ellis Island in July, weighs 992 pounds and stands more than 9 feet tall

Researchers Anthony Bourached and George Cann trained an algorithm to recreate "lost" works of art like this Modigliani portrait.

Art Meets Science

Did Modernist Master Modigliani Paint a New Portrait Over a Likeness of His Ex?

A.I. reconstruction reveals hidden image that may depict the Italian artist’s former girlfriend, Beatrice Hastings

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