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Art History

MoMA visitors walk around a sculpture by Barnett Newman titled Broken Obelisk.

Education During Coronavirus

The Museum of Modern Art Now Offers Free Online Classes

The nine classes span contemporary art, fashion and photography

Artist Shing Yin Khor is recreating famous works of art, including Marina Abramovic's The Artist Is Present, in "Animal Crossing."

Virtual Travel

Meet the Artist Behind Animal Crossing’s Art Museum Island

The art within Shing Yin Khor’s virtual world represents a sassy response to the game’s built-in natural history museum

A gallery assistant poses with Andy Warhol's Elvis 1 and 2 1963-4 during a press preview for Tate Modern's retrospective on March 10, 2020.

Virtual Travel

Take a Virtual Tour of Tate Modern’s Andy Warhol Exhibition

The show ran for just five days before the London museum closed due to COVID-19

1796 portrait miniature of Mary Pearson by William Wood

Cool Finds

Newly Discovered Portrait Depicts Woman Who May Have Inspired Jane Austen Character

Mary Pearson, who was briefly engaged to the writer’s brother, may be the real-life counterpart of Lydia Bennet from “Pride and Prejudice”

London-based couple Filippo Lorenzin and Marianna Benetti built a miniature museum for their pet gerbils.

Covid-19

Quarantined Couple Builds Art Museum to Entertain Pet Gerbils

The story of two bored art lovers who found a way to “a-mouse” themselves

A sample of calcium copper silicate, also called Egyptian blue because it was invented roughly 5,000 years ago at the end of ancient Egypt's first dynasty.

Art Meets Science

New Tool for Biomedical Research Was Invented in Ancient Egypt

The bright blue pigment that adorns the Bust of Nefertiti’s crown can now be used to study molecular biology

The Wisdom of the Universe (detail) by Christi Belcourt (Michif), 2014

Women Who Shaped History

Native Women Artists Reclaim Their Narrative

The first major exhibition of its kind, “Hearts of Our People,” boasts 82 pieces from 115 Native women across North America

Johannes Vermeer's The Astronomer, 1668, (left) and recreation by Zumhagen-Krause and her husband featuring tray table, blanket and globe (right)

Covid-19

This Museum Is Asking People to Remake Famous Artworks With Household Items

The Getty Museum hopes its social media challenge will spark inspiration amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Mary Vaux Walcott, Cardinal Flower, 1880

Covid-19

Shuttered Museums Use Social Media to Share Bouquets of Floral Artwork

Hundreds of museums are participating in an online attempt to spread joy as COVID-19 keeps their galleries empty

In March, thieves stole Vincent van Gogh's The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring 1884 from a Dutch museum shuttered by Covid-19.

Van Gogh Masterpiece Stolen From Dutch Museum Shuttered by COVID-19

Thieves pilfered “The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring 1884” from the Singer Laren in the early hours of Monday morning

In the U.S., although Humboldt’s name has vanished, his ideas have not (above: Humboldt in His Library (detail) by Eduard Hildebrandt, 1856).

Alexander von Humboldt

Who Was Alexander von Humboldt?

Smithsonian curator Eleanor Jones Harvey explains why this revolutionary 19th-century thought leader is due for a reconsideration

A stained glass window designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany is one of many artworks available for your perusal.

Virtual Travel

68 Cultural, Historical and Scientific Collections You Can Explore Online

Tour world-class museums, read historic cookbooks, browse interactive maps and more

Batman's iconic sidekick Robin provides pep and puns to offset the billionaire's brooding personality.

Celebrating the 80th Anniversary of Batman’s Sidekick, Robin

Many teens have taken on the role, but not every Robin was a “boy” wonder

A roughly 20,000-year-old engraved, pocket-sized rock that may depict a sun, eye or flower

Cool Finds

Portable, Pocket-Sized Rock Art Discovered in Ice Age Indonesian Cave

The findings further refute the outdated notion that humans’ capacity for complex artistic expression evolved exclusively in Europe

The Vatican Museums (pictured here), the Anne Frank House and the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City are among the many cultural institutions with online offerings.

Virtual Travel

Ten Museums You Can Virtually Visit

Museums are closing their doors amid the coronavirus crisis, but many offer digital exhibitions visitors can browse from the comfort of home

A part-human, part-insect glyph found in Iran

Cool Finds

Possible Half-Human, Half-Praying-Mantis Carving Found on Ancient Rocks

The puzzling glyph, which bears some resemblance to the “squatting man” motif, suggests that insects have long held a place in human lore

Anthony van Dyck, A Soldier on Horseback, c. 1616

Thieves Steal Three Precious Artworks From Oxford Gallery

Together, the paintings—including one by Anthony van Dyck—could be worth around £10 million if sold on the open market

The Box Museum in England will open this May with an exhibit featuring 14 19th-century naval figureheads

Rescued From Rot, 19th-Century Naval Figureheads to Feature in New Exhibit

A collection of 14 restored wooden statues, including a two-ton William IV, will be shown at the Box Museum in England

The thrift store find is part of the artist's Divine Comedy series, seen here during a 2014 exhibition in Frankfurt Oder, Germany.

Cool Finds

Thrift Store Find Identified as Original Salvador Dalí Print

The Spanish Surrealist painted a series of 100 watercolors inspired by Dante’s “Divine Comedy”

Double Self-Portrait by John Singer Sargent, 1902

John Singer Sargent ‘Abhorred’ Making His Lavish Portraits, So He Took Up Charcoal to Get the Job Done

Sargent made his portraits in charcoal—a medium that allowed completion in less than three hours rather than the weeks it took for his full-length oils

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