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Art

Written in alternating lines of gold and black in Baghdad in 1307 for the Mongol ruler Uljaytu; the Qur'an was intended for his monumental tomb in Sultaniyya in northwestern Iran. (The monument is still standing today).

In a Historic First, a Large Collection of Islamic Qur’ans Travels to the U.S.

The art of the ancient Qur’an is showcased with the loan of some 48 manuscripts and folios from Istanbul, Turkey, and on view at the Smithsonian

New Research

What Happens in the Brain When Music Causes Chills?

The brains of people who get chills when the right song comes on are wired differently than others

Charlie Morrow and dozens of others will stream video and audio of science, art and shamanism connected to their cultures as the sun passes at 5 p.m. in each of the Earth's 24 time zones.

It’s a Global Solstice Party and You’re Invited

Sound artist Charlie Morrow organized artists and scientists from around the Earth to celebrate the solstice

Just what lies beyond the next valley, canyon, crater, or hill is NASA's perpetual question.

Art Meets Science

Check Out NASA’s Retro Mars Recruitment Posters

Farmers, teachers, surveyors and engineers will all be needed in the envisaged Mars settlement

An illustration of the Tate Modern's new Switch House expansion.

Trending Today

The Expanded Tate Modern Opens Its Doors Friday

The museum is being called the UK’s most important new cultural building since the British Library

Tolkien relied on maps to write his books—and cared a lot about how his fans saw Middle-earth.

Cool Finds

One Day Only: A Chance to View One Map to Rule Them All

A rare Tolkien-annotated map goes on display June 23

Cool Finds

This New York Project Wants You to Write on the Walls

Writing On It All gives voice—and a pen—to one and all

Cool Finds

One of the World’s Most Colorful Places Is in Taiwan

Rainbow Family Village shows there’s nothing a man with a paintbrush can’t do

Street Scene by Walker Evans, 1936, New Orleans, gelatin silver print

Walker Evans Wrote the Story of America With His Camera

One of the greatest historians of 20th-century America was a man who used his camera to stare, pry, listen, and eavesdrop

Trending Today

‘Hamilton’ Creator Lin-Manuel Miranda Joins the War Against Bots

Ticket-buying bots are snatching up seats and jacking up the price of concert and theater tickets

Mrs. Walcott sketching a wild flower in water colors on a frosty morning in camp.

Smithsonian’s Wildflower: The Illustrious Life of the Naturalist Who Chronicled America’s Native Flora

The life and legacy of renowned Smithsonian illustrator Mary Vaux Walcott goes beyond the works that she created

Untitled, 2016, Jack Ludden. Digital photomontage of Self-portrait, 2014 (left), Self-portrait, 1989 (right), and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1989

How a Museum Cancelling a Controversial Mapplethorpe Exhibition Changed My Life

As an intern at the Corcoran, I suddenly understood the power of art

"Sting Like a Bee" Muhammad Ali, 1979 Serigraph

Cool Finds

Artwork by Muhammad Ali Is Going up For Auction

You could own a painting by the Louisville Lip

Sita Bhaumik, Saqib Keval, Jocelyn Jackson and Norma Listman (People's Kitchen Collective)

The Smithsonian Gets Experimental and Field-Tests a New Forum for Bringing Artists to the Public

A Two-Day Festival in the historic Arts & Industries Building brings community, artists and scholars together for a “Culture Lab”

One of the destroyed handprints.

Trending Today

Vandals Destroyed 8,000-Year-Old Aboriginal Artworks in Tasmania

The priceless rock art is damaged beyond repair

Bower by Martin Puryear, 1980, Sitka spruce, pine, and copper tacks

Martin Puryear’s Hometown Retrospective Brings the World Renowned Artist Back to His Roots

After treks to Africa, Scandinavia and Japan, Puryear’s works go on display at the Smithsonian, where he first developed his curiosity for world cultures

Pozzi and her team at the Washed Ashore project, achieve a remarkable and convincing array of textures.

Age of Humans

There’s a Bunch of Animals at the Zoo this Summer Made Out of Ocean Garbage

Delightfully whimsical, the sculptures drive home the message that there’s a whole lot of trash washing ashore

Cool Finds

Instead of Tagging Real-Life Surfaces, Graffiti Artists Can Use a New Simulator

Fake bombing has never felt so real

Is the Internet an Enormous Work of Realist Art?

Journalist Virginia Heffernan makes a compelling case that it is in a new book

How Ferris Bueller’s Day Off Perfectly Illustrates the Power of Art Museums

Three decades after it premiered, the coming-of-age film remains a classic

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