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Art History

Cindy Sherman, Untitled 584, 2017-2018

Why Photographer Cindy Sherman Is Still the Queen of Reinvention

A retrospective at Fondation Louis Vuitton highlights the artist’s manipulation of femininity and identity

Peter Paul Rubens' sketch of The Battle of Anghiari, c. 1603

Does Leonardo da Vinci’s Missing Masterpiece Actually Exist?

New research suggests the artist completed preparatory work for “The Battle of Anghiari” but failed to finish the painting

Paul Lester Wiener and an unidentified advisor for the U.S. Pavilion murals, Private archive of Eduard “Buk” Ulreich, St. Louis, MO.

Smithsonian Voices

Help This Scholar Reverse the Erasure of Native Contributions in the Creation of These 20th-Century Murals

Native artists working on monumental, public works of art remain unidentified and unrecognized; it’s time to change that

An artist's recreation of what the Roman home may have looked like in its prime

Cool Finds

Ancient Roman Villa Discovered Beneath Italian Apartment Complex

Come November, the 2,000-year-old dwelling will open as a multimedia museum

A Stonewall Jackson statue is loaded on a truck after being removed from Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, on July 1.

Mellon Foundation Pledges $250 Million to Reinvent America’s Monuments

The organization’s five-year campaign will support the creation of new public works and the reimagining of ones already standing

In an explosion of green and gold, Elaine de Kooning's portrayal of President John F. Kennedy holds pride of place at the National Portrait Gallery in its exhibition "America's Presidents."

Why Elaine de Kooning’s Portrait of JFK Broke All the Rules

After the assassination, the grief-stricken artist painted the president’s image obsessively; finally saying she caught only “a glimpse” of him

Green-Wood Cemetery's Gothic Revival entrance

Historic Brooklyn Cemetery Appoints Its First Artist-in-Residence

Green-Wood is the final resting place of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Louis Comfort Tiffany, among others

This Maliwawa Figure shows a kangaroo or similar animal.

New Research

Newly Documented Aboriginal Rock Art Is ‘Unlike Anything Seen Before’

The ancient paintings depict close relationships between humans and animals

Self-Portrait as St. Catherine of Alexandria, Artemisia Gentileschi, circa 1615-1617

Why a Long-Awaited Artemisia Gentileschi Exhibition Is So Significant

The Baroque painter is the subject of the London National Gallery’s first major show dedicated to a female artist

Parliament's halls are lined with art.

How the U.K. Parliament’s Art Collection Is Linked to Slavery

An initial review identified 189 works depicting individuals associated with the slave trade

Bruce Crane, A Winter Sunset c.1880s (top) and Edward Hopper, Old Ice Pond at Nyack, c.1897 (bottom)

Some of Edward Hopper’s Earliest Paintings Are Copies of Other Artists’ Work

Curator Kim Conaty says a new study “cuts straight through the widely held perception of Hopper as an American original”

A 15-year study of scans taken in 2004 revealed unseen details, including a hairpin.

Art Meets Science

Is There a Hidden Drawing Beneath the ‘Mona Lisa’?

Newly detailed high-resolution scans show traces of a charcoal underdrawing

A page from Pierce's 1932 Book of Wood, designed as an aid for preaching the Bible, features scenes titled Entry into Jerusalem, Zacchaeus Watches, Sun and Sower, Behold I Am the Door, and Christ Teaches Humility.

Wood Carvings Document Faith, Injustice and Hope in 20th-Century America

A new exhibition centered on self-taught black artist Elijah Pierce is now on view in Philadelphia

Many of Philip Guston's later works, including Riding Around (1969), depict distorted, cartoon-like figures performing everyday activities while wearing Ku Klux Klan robes.

Understanding the Controversy Over Postponed Exhibition Featuring KKK Imagery

A major Philip Guston retrospective scheduled to travel to D.C., London, Houston and Boston will now take place in 2024

The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam will open its depot next year, making 151,000 artworks that would otherwise be in storage accessible to the public.

A Dutch Museum Will Display All 150,000 Objects in Its Collections

The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen’s unique storage facility is slated to open in fall 2021

Jerzy Kalina's Poisoned Well is on view at the National Museum in Warsaw.

Why a New Sculpture of Pope John Paul II Is So Controversial

Artist Jerzy Kalina says his “strongman” is a call to resist “multiplying forms of red revolution”

A "mummy portrait" affixed to a 3- to 4-year-old Egyptian boy's mummy (left) and a 3-D facial reconstruction based on the child's bone structure (right)

New Research

3-D Reconstruction Reveals the Face of an Ancient Egyptian Toddler

The digital likeness bears a striking similarity to a portrait attached to the front of the boy’s mummy

Devadatta (Daibadatta), appearance of evil spirits with supernatural arts shows an evildoer who holds sway over a variety of evil spirits.

You Can Now Explore 103 ‘Lost’ Hokusai Drawings Online

Newly acquired by the British Museum, the trove of illustrations dates to 1829

Los Machos rock shelter and schematic rock art panel

New Research

Fingerprint Analysis Reveals New Insights on Prehistoric Rock Art’s Creators

Study suggests an adult man and a juvenile girl crafted the red ocher paintings seen at Spain’s Los Machos rock shelter

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Alexander von Humboldt

Alexander von Humboldt: The Man History Forgot

Rediscover the 19th-century naturalist who traveled on four continents, wrote 2,500 letters, 36 books and hugely influenced early America

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