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Art History

Kevin Bubriski, World Trade Center Series, New York City, 2001, gelatin silver print

Smithsonian Voices

The Art of Remembering 9/11

Learn about five artworks in SAAM’s collection and the stories they tell us about 9/11

Three firefighters—George Johnson, Dan McWilliams and Bill Eisengrein—raising the American flag on September 11, 2001. This last of the series remains the most striking, yet least-known depiction of this scene.

September 11

A Lesser-Known Photo of an Iconic 9/11 Moment Brings Shades of Gray to the Day’s Memory

On the 20th anniversary of the attacks, photographers who immortalized the famous scene reflect on what their images capture and what remains out of frame

Frederick Hurten Rhead, panel for overmantel, 1910

First Museum Dedicated to American Arts and Crafts Movement Opens in Florida

Proponents of the artistic philosophy pushed back against industrial production and embraced handcraftsmanship

Workers discovered a trove of rare gold coins, pictured here, in the walls of a historic French mansion in 2019. Now, the coins are going up for auction.

Cool Finds

Trove of 239 Rare Gold Coins Discovered in Walls of French Mansion

Renovators discovered a hidden box and pouch stuffed with rare gold coins, minted during the reigns of French Kings Louis XIII and Louis XIV

Mickalene Thomas, Jet Blue #25 (detail), 2021

Mickalene Thomas’ Dazzling Collages Reclaim Black Women’s Bodies

A four-part exhibition premiering this fall showcases the contemporary artist’s multimedia portrayals of Black femininity

Jacques-Louis David, Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743–1794) and Marie Anne Lavoisier (Marie Anne Pierrette Paulze, 1758–1836), 1788

Art Meets Science

Iconic Portrait of French Chemist and His Wife Once Looked Entirely Different

Jacques-Louis David’s 1789 painting originally depicted Antoine and Marie Anne Lavoisier as wealthy elites, not modern scientists

Five-year-old Astrid Cooper poses with one of her artworks. Astrid co-curated an upcoming exhibition at the Edge arts center in Bath, England, with her father, Will.

Art Exhibition Gives New Meaning to the Phrase ‘My Kid Could’ve Done That’

Curator Will Cooper and his 5-year-old daughter, Astrid, invited 15 British artists and their children to contribute original artworks

Joan Mitchell in her Paris studio in 1956

The Poetry and Passion of Joan Mitchell’s Abstract Expressionist Paintings

A traveling exhibition will unite 80 works by the acclaimed artist, who thrived in 1950s New York despite widespread sexism

In Paul Henry’s own words, he hoped to capture “the very soul of Ireland” in his paintings.

Cool Finds

Rare Impressionist Landscapes Found in Storage Unit Could Sell for $60,000

Created by artist Paul Henry, the oil paintings depict the Irish countryside

Chuck Close Self-Portrait, dye diffusion transfer prints, 1989

Chuck Close, Artist Whose Photorealist Portraits Captivated America, Dies at 81

The painter, who faced accusations of sexual harassment later in life, continuously changed his artistic style

Lightning strikes the iconic Washington, D.C. landmark “twice per year on the high end and once every five years on the low end,” says meteorologist Chris Vagasky.

Watch a Bolt of Lightning Strike the Washington Monument

The iconic obelisk remains temporarily closed as workers repair an electronic access system damaged by the storm

The thieves attempted to steal De Voorzaan en de Westerhem, an 1871 painting by Claude Monet.

Thieves Attempt to Steal a Monet From a Dutch Museum—but Drop It Mid-Escape

The would-be robbers tried to take an 1871 landscape by the French Impressionist from the Zaans Museum in Zaandam

The documentary plays out much like a spy thriller, interrogating the art world and the enigmatic figures who populate it.

Will the Mystery of ‘Salvator Mundi’ Ever Be Solved?

A new documentary, “The Lost Leonardo,” explores the dramatic history of a purported Renaissance masterpiece

Three Covers from Drawn to Art: Ten Tales of Inspiring Women Artists

Smithsonian Voices

Ten Emerging Illustrators Tell the Stories of Ten Powerhouse Women Artists

A new graphic art series, “Drawn to Art,” brings to light the visionary, but unheralded, work of ten rule-breaking females

The 6-foot-tall, 8-foot-wide pumpkin was installed on Japan's Naoshima island in 1994.

Typhoon Sweeps Yayoi Kusama Pumpkin Sculpture Into the Sea

Experts on Japan’s Naoshima island recovered the damaged artwork and are attempting to restore it

This small device flashes red if a visitor gets too close to an artwork or fails to wear their face mask correctly.

Innovation for Good: Game Changers

Italian Museum Uses Cameras to Track How Visitors Engage With Art

A new A.I. system hopes to help curators determine artworks’ “attraction value” and optimize gallery layouts

Breezing Up (A Fair Wind) by Winslow Homer (1873-1876) is one of the many artworks recreated for the Pageant of the Masters.

At the Pageant of the Masters, Famous Works of Art Come to Life

For nearly a century, a volunteer cast has recreated visual masterpieces on stage in Laguna Beach, California

The cave paintings are located in the Aravalli mountain range in northwestern India.

Cool Finds

These Millennia-Old Cave Paintings May Be Among India’s Oldest

Locals have known about the artworks for generations, but government archaeologists only began documenting them this summer

Alfredo Ramos Martínez, La Malinche (Young Girl of Yalala, Oaxaca), 1940

Was La Malinche, Indigenous Interpreter for Conquistador Hernán Cortés, a Traitor, Survivor or Icon?

A new exhibition at the Denver Art Museum explores the legacy of an enslaved woman who aided Spain’s conquest of the Americas

Researchers hoped to open the tunnel to the public. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they must settle for covering it with dirt until work can resume.

Mexican Archaeologists Rebury Tunnel Adorned With Aztec Carvings After Losing Funding

Costs associated with the Covid-19 pandemic have placed the preservation project on an indefinite hold

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