https://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/painting/RSS feed for PaintingenThu, 21 May 2026 15:02:39 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/who-are-the-owners-of-these-nazi-looted-masterpiecesand-could-displaying-them-at-one-of-frances-most-popular-museums-help-track-them-down-180988779/A new permanent display at the Musée d’Orsay showcases artworks that may have been stolen or sold under suspicious circumstances during World War II. Officials are still hoping to find the families of their rightful ownersThu, 21 May 2026 15:02:39 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/who-are-the-owners-of-these-nazi-looted-masterpiecesand-could-displaying-them-at-one-of-frances-most-popular-museums-help-track-them-down-180988779/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/stunning-frescoes-in-this-madrid-church-received-a-facelift-but-goya-the-spanish-artist-buried-beneath-them-is-still-missing-his-head-180988756/Goya's frescoes are given new life in a church in Spain that also serves as the final resting place for most of the artist's body. The mystery of his missing skull has inspired poems and artworksMon, 18 May 2026 20:10:47 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/stunning-frescoes-in-this-madrid-church-received-a-facelift-but-goya-the-spanish-artist-buried-beneath-them-is-still-missing-his-head-180988756/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-renaissance-painting-took-a-winding-path-from-hitlers-munich-apartment-to-an-american-journalists-home-to-the-national-gallery-in-london-180988733/An art historian recently spotted the 16th-century artwork in a rare photograph of Hitler’s old apartment that was printed in a 1978 furniture catalogWed, 13 May 2026 19:08:49 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-renaissance-painting-took-a-winding-path-from-hitlers-munich-apartment-to-an-american-journalists-home-to-the-national-gallery-in-london-180988733/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-seabird-sue-blends-art-and-science-to-attract-birds-back-to-lost-habitat-180988724/For the past decade, Sue Schubel has been making detailed decoys of terns, puffins and other seabirds to entice real ones to restored or new homesWed, 13 May 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-seabird-sue-blends-art-and-science-to-attract-birds-back-to-lost-habitat-180988724/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/before-the-kiss-gustav-klimt-got-his-first-big-art-assignment-at-this-austrian-theater-now-visitors-can-see-his-ceiling-paintings-up-close-for-the-first-time-180988698/As a young man, the artist who later became famous for working gold leaf into portraits earned a Golden Cross of Merit from an emperor for his contributions to Vienna’s BurgtheaterThu, 07 May 2026 19:13:07 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/before-the-kiss-gustav-klimt-got-his-first-big-art-assignment-at-this-austrian-theater-now-visitors-can-see-his-ceiling-paintings-up-close-for-the-first-time-180988698/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/after-world-war-ii-this-german-artist-turned-the-art-world-upside-down-literally-by-inverting-his-paintings-180988689/Georg Baselitz, the renowned painter who played with perspective and flipped canvases on their head, died recently at age 88Wed, 06 May 2026 19:42:26 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/after-world-war-ii-this-german-artist-turned-the-art-world-upside-down-literally-by-inverting-his-paintings-180988689/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-creator-of-star-wars-loves-art-that-tells-a-story-peek-at-george-lucas-collection-before-his-new-museum-opens-this-fall-in-los-angeles-180988668/Adventure, comics, childhood, love and everyday life are among the dozens of themes that will guide the curation of the new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los AngelesMon, 04 May 2026 20:11:24 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-creator-of-star-wars-loves-art-that-tells-a-story-peek-at-george-lucas-collection-before-his-new-museum-opens-this-fall-in-los-angeles-180988668/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-father-and-daughter-forged-more-than-200-artworks-by-warhol-banksy-picasso-and-others-and-old-them-for-2-million-180988641/The New Jersey residents, who face up to 20 years in prison, commissioned an artist in Poland to create the fakes. They got special penalties for forging paintings by Native American artistsWed, 29 Apr 2026 21:26:09 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-father-and-daughter-forged-more-than-200-artworks-by-warhol-banksy-picasso-and-others-and-old-them-for-2-million-180988641/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/alexander-calder-thought-it-would-be-fun-to-set-abstract-art-in-motion-his-mesmerizing-mobiles-transformed-the-definition-of-sculpture-180988631/A new exhibition at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris spotlights 300 of the sculptor's groundbreaking kinetic artworks, large-scale public sculptures, paintings, drawings and wire portraitsTue, 28 Apr 2026 16:24:04 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/alexander-calder-thought-it-would-be-fun-to-set-abstract-art-in-motion-his-mesmerizing-mobiles-transformed-the-definition-of-sculpture-180988631/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/renaissance-art-linked-beauty-with-virtue-and-ugliness-with-vice-see-how-painters-from-leonardo-da-vinci-to-botticelli-viewed-physical-attractiveness-180988584/An exhibition in Brussels spotlights 90-plus artworks featuring golden-haired muses, greedy old men and those deemed unattractive simply because they were differentTue, 21 Apr 2026 15:55:23 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/renaissance-art-linked-beauty-with-virtue-and-ugliness-with-vice-see-how-painters-from-leonardo-da-vinci-to-botticelli-viewed-physical-attractiveness-180988584/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/andrew-lloyd-webber-says-hes-writing-a-new-musical-about-the-time-the-mona-lisa-vanished-without-a-trace-in-1911-180988559/Known for spectacles like "The Phantom of the Opera," Broadway's most commercially successful composer now wants to tell the story of the world's most famous paintingFri, 17 Apr 2026 10:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/andrew-lloyd-webber-says-hes-writing-a-new-musical-about-the-time-the-mona-lisa-vanished-without-a-trace-in-1911-180988559/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-national-gallery-of-art-holds-an-artistic-mirror-up-to-the-united-states-for-its-big-250th-birthday-180988538/In celebration of the semiquincentennial this year, "Dear America" looks at the country's land, communities and revolutionary history through artworks dating back to the late 18th centuryTue, 14 Apr 2026 15:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-national-gallery-of-art-holds-an-artistic-mirror-up-to-the-united-states-for-its-big-250th-birthday-180988538/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/rolled-up-in-a-cellar-for-decades-this-artemisia-gentileschi-painting-is-now-up-for-auction-why-is-mary-magdalenes-face-missing-from-the-portrait-180988537/Found in Berlin, the artwork was probably damaged in the chaotic aftermath of World War II. Despite the gaping hole in the canvas, it could sell for upwards of $180,000 later this monthMon, 13 Apr 2026 17:10:03 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/rolled-up-in-a-cellar-for-decades-this-artemisia-gentileschi-painting-is-now-up-for-auction-why-is-mary-magdalenes-face-missing-from-the-portrait-180988537/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-vincent-van-gogh-painting-was-found-wrapped-in-an-ikea-bag-and-a-blood-stained-pillow-now-the-artwork-has-been-restored-to-its-former-glory-180988530/Art sleuth Arthur Brand recovered "The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring" in 2023, three years after it was stolen from a Dutch museum. Following careful restoration, the canvas is now back on displayFri, 10 Apr 2026 19:00:39 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-vincent-van-gogh-painting-was-found-wrapped-in-an-ikea-bag-and-a-blood-stained-pillow-now-the-artwork-has-been-restored-to-its-former-glory-180988530/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/can-frida-kahlo-leave-mexico-plans-to-relocate-a-trove-of-paintings-by-the-famous-artist-spark-heated-debate-180988506/Nearly 400 cultural heritage professionals signed an open letter protesting plans to move a collection featuring artworks by the renowned Mexican painter out of her home countryWed, 08 Apr 2026 16:11:40 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/can-frida-kahlo-leave-mexico-plans-to-relocate-a-trove-of-paintings-by-the-famous-artist-spark-heated-debate-180988506/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/experts-are-carefully-restoring-a-15th-century-masterpiece-by-giovanni-bellini-and-you-can-watch-them-work-180988466/The two-year project is expected to cost around $580,000, and visitors to the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice will be able to observe the process in personThu, 02 Apr 2026 21:05:57 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/experts-are-carefully-restoring-a-15th-century-masterpiece-by-giovanni-bellini-and-you-can-watch-them-work-180988466/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-painting-was-thought-to-be-a-workshop-copy-of-a-rembrandt-now-one-scholar-argues-its-the-real-deal-180988473/"Old Man With a Gold Chain" is on display beside a smaller copy for the first time in centuries. According to scholar Gary Schwartz, the Dutch master painted both himselfThu, 02 Apr 2026 14:16:07 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-painting-was-thought-to-be-a-workshop-copy-of-a-rembrandt-now-one-scholar-argues-its-the-real-deal-180988473/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/art-thieves-steal-paintings-by-renoir-cezanne-and-matisse-worth-more-than-10-million-fleeing-the-scene-in-just-three-minutes-180988465/The Magnani-Rocca Foundation in Italy was the target of a shocking art heist—only five months after a high-profile theft at the Louvre in ParisTue, 31 Mar 2026 18:48:09 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/art-thieves-steal-paintings-by-renoir-cezanne-and-matisse-worth-more-than-10-million-fleeing-the-scene-in-just-three-minutes-180988465/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/willem-de-kooning-didnt-get-his-big-break-until-his-40s-see-the-stunning-abstract-paintings-that-first-captivated-audiences-180988397/Artworks that showcase the painter's early foray into Abstract Expressionism are now on view at the Princeton University Art MuseumMon, 30 Mar 2026 10:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/willem-de-kooning-didnt-get-his-big-break-until-his-40s-see-the-stunning-abstract-paintings-that-first-captivated-audiences-180988397/