Art History

Lois Mailou Jones, The Green Door, 1981, watercolor over graphite on wove paper

These Artworks Reimagine the Legacy of the African Diaspora

A new exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. showcases 130 works by artists from 24 countries

Jan Brueghel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens, The Sense of Smell, 1617–1618

What Does This 17th-Century Painting Smell Like?

A new exhibition in Spain incorporates ten fragrances inspired by Jan Brueghel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens' "The Sense of Smell"

"Donatello: The Renaissance" makes a case for the Renaissance sculptor as one of the leading artists of his generation.

Why Donatello Was a Father of the Renaissance

A blockbuster exhibition in Florence argues that the Italian sculptor deserves to be a household name on par with Michelangelo and Raphael

"The Mice at Work: Threading the Needle," The Tailor of Gloucester artwork, 1902; watercolour, ink and gouache on paper.

Leap Into the Surprising, Art-Filled Life of Beatrix Potter in a New Exhibition

The beloved author of "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" also wrote diaries in code, sketched fungi and raised prize-winning sheep

A museum patron enjoys Yayoi Kusama's latest work, Infinity Mirrored Room—My Heart Is Dancing into the Universe (2018), where paper lanterns and dots endlessly multiply inside the chamber.

Art Sensation Yayoi Kusama Wraps Visitors in Polka Dots, Pumpkins and a World Without End

A new Infinity Mirror Room with its forever-repeating lights and imagery opens at the Hirshhorn with other works by the iconic artist

Police sketches of the man and woman who stole Willem de Kooning's Woman-Ochre from the University of Arizona Museum of Art in November 1985

Why Would Two Ordinary People Steal a $160 Million Willem de Kooning Painting?

A new documentary tells the tale of a suburban New Mexico couple who allegedly stole the artwork just to hang it behind their bedroom door

Set to an asking price of $200 million, Pop artist Andy Warhol’s Shot Sage Blue Marilyn is poised to become the most expensive 20th-century painting sold at auction.

Iconic Andy Warhol Portrait of Marilyn Monroe Could Sell for Record-Breaking $200 Million

One of the artist’s "Shot Marilyns," the sage blue silkscreen could become one of the most expensive 20th-century paintings ever sold at auction

Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Why Born Enslaved!, 1873

A Bold New Show at the Met Explores A Single Sculpture

The exhibition probes the paradoxes of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux's "Why Born Enslaved!," the most famous depiction of a Black woman in 19th-century art

This 17th-century Flemish tapestry, titled The Apotheosis of the Arts, is the largest of a six-part series that was stolen from the Church of Santo Domingo in Castrojeriz, Spain, in 1980. (Note the missing two-by-two-foot square in the lower left corner.)

With a Stolen Fragment Restored, This Stunning 17th-Century Tapestry Is Made Whole

Spanish authorities had all but given up the search for the missing piece, which was lost in a heist carried out by notorious art thief "Erik the Belgian"

Italy's Arma dei Carabinieri seized 79 archaeological goods last year.

Officials Recover Thousands of Cultural Goods in Crackdown, Including Roman Gold Coins

International police and U.S. Customs and Border Protection performed checks at museums, border crossing points, airports and auction houses

An aerial view of a ten-foot-long section of the newly discovered mosaic

See Dazzling Photos of a Roman Mosaic Floor Unearthed in London

The ancient artwork is the largest of its kind found in the English capital in 50 years

The Smithsonian has 39 of the Benin pieces in its collections, above: Commemorative head of a king, Edo artist, 18th century.

The Smithsonian's Plan to Return the Benin Bronzes Comes After Years of Relationship Building

The ground-breaking move heralds a new path for interactions between African and Western institutions

An early 18th-century Indian watercolor of a mounted hunter keeping an eye on a bird at the moment of an attack is featured in the show "Falcons: The Art of the Hunt" at the Freer Gallery of Art, part of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art.

A Museum Show Takes Visitors on a Hunt for the Birds of Prey Populating Centuries of Artworks

From an ancient Egyptian plaque to a Ming dynasty scroll, explore the central role that falcons and hawks play across cultures and millennia

Elisabetta Sirani (1638–1665), Portia Wounding Her Thigh, 1664, Oil on canvas

You Know Artemisia Gentileschi—Now Learn About These Other Renaissance Women Artists

An exhibition on view at the Detroit Institute of Arts focuses on Italian women artists who held their own in the male-dominated art world

A view of the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial in Kyiv. A Russian missile struck the building last Tuesday, killing five people nearby.

Unesco Sounds the Alarm Over Threats to Ukrainian Cultural Heritage

The agency is "gravely concerned" about the risk to historic sites amid intensifying violence

The renowned Tlingit American artist, Preston Singletary created more than 60 glassworks to illustrate the traditional story of the raven, above: White Raven (Dleit Yéil), 2018, and pairing them in an immersive experience with music and projections.

Artist Preston Singletary Sheds New Light on the Tlingit Raven Tale

Stunning glassworks and custom soundscapes create an immersive reimagining of an ancient oral tradition

Shirley Woodson, Take it To The Limit, 2013, acrylic on canvas

At 85 Years Old, Longtime Detroit Artist Gets a Show of Her Own

A new exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts spotlights Shirley Woodson, an arts educator and longtime fixture of the city's vibrant Black arts scene

Empty frames at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum are a tangible reminder of the 1990 theft. 

A Tantalizing Clue Emerges in the Unsolved Gardner Museum Art Heist

Boston police officers tell local media that the 1991 murder of Jimmy Marks might be linked to modern history's biggest art heist

Belgium has launched new passport designs honoring its comic roots, such as Tintin (above) and the Smurfs.

Belgium's New Passport Spotlights Classic Comic Characters

The design features boy reporter Tintin, the Smurfs and other beloved pop culture figures

Harriet Jacobs, who escaped enslavement to write Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861), created these three dolls for the children of writer Nathaniel Parker Willis around 1850-60. 

Black Dolls Tell a Story of Play—and Resistance—in America

A new exhibition traces the toys' history from handmade cloth figures to an American Girl character

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