Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Art

Algae collected by the artist while free diving off Point La Jolla, California

Stunning Seaweed Prints Capture Life Underwater

Free diver Oriana Poindexter creates cyanotypes of kelp collected off the California coast

A three-to-four-minute exposure captures the light of a drone as it traces the shape of two cones in the sky along California's coast.

This Physicist Uses Drones to Create Giant Light Cones in the Desert

Evoking a key concept in relativity, Elliot McGucken traces out hourglass-like shapes in the sky that stretch as high as a seven-story building

Engravings discovered in La Roche-Cotard cave

Oldest Known Neanderthal Engravings Were Sealed in a Cave for 57,000 Years

The art was created long before modern humans inhabited France’s Loire Valley

Paula Rego drew inspiration for her triptych Crivelli’s Garden (top) from a 1490s altarpiece, La Madonna della Rondine (above), by Carlo Crivelli. She said of her fanciful, figure-packed work: “The whole thing is full of stories, it’s just story after story after story.”

The Inspiration Behind a Monumental Display of Biblical Women

An artist conjures a whimsical new version of a magnificent 15th-century mural

The bag is so small it's being auctioned off with an accompanying microscope.

Would You Wear a Handbag Smaller Than a Grain of Salt?

Measuring 657 by 222 by 700 micrometers, the teeny-tiny bag could sell for thousands at auction

Portraits by a young Charles show his mother, Elizabeth II, wearing a striped dress and tiara, and his father, Prince Philip, wearing a dinner suit and bow tie.

See Charles III’s Childhood Drawings

Made by a young Charles in the ‘50s, the crayon and pencil illustrations sold for thousands at auction

The mural Inspiration Orlando United honors victims of the 2016 shooting at the Pulse nightclub.

LGBTQ+ Pride

Mural Honors Victims of Pulse Nightclub Shooting

Artist Michael Pilato has been working on the 44-foot-long commemorative artwork for years

Gustav Klimt's Lady With Fan, which he completed soon before his death in 1918

Gustav Klimt’s Final Artwork Could Become Europe’s Most Expensive Painting

Completed soon before the artist’s death in 1918, “Lady With Fan” could fetch as much as $80 million

None

These Five Routes Help You Explore Germany’s Historic Cities Like a Local

Each of these off-the-beaten-track destinations offer up culture rich experiences, walkable neighborhoods and a quintessential slice of German life

The Green Bank Telescope at the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia was one of three observatories to receive the transmission created by artist Daniela de Paulis.

Art Meets Science

Could You Decode a Message From Aliens?

An artist is challenging researchers and amateurs alike to practice parsing an extraterrestrial communication

The front of the newly returned altar panel features St. Nicholas of Bari, St. James of Tarentaise and St. Germanus of Paris.

U.K. Museum Recovers 15th-Century Altar Panel Almost 50 Years After It Was Stolen

The piece was about to go to auction when researchers noticed similarities to another panel at the York Art Gallery

U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón wrote a poem that will be brought to Jupiter's moon Europa.

Read the Poem NASA Will Send to Jupiter’s Moon Europa

Alongside Ada Limón’s words, you can add your name to the spacecraft that will search for life on the icy moon

Members of the Quelcanca community in Peru return from planting trees in the mountains, hoisting their country's flag.

These Stunning Photography Projects Tell Stories of Conservation

A new grant from Vital Impacts funds long-term efforts to document environmental solutions in the photographers’ own communities

Public swimming at Clift Park in Skaneateles, New York

The 15 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2023

From an ultramarathon capital in the Rockies to a laid-back village in the Florida Keys, these vibrant towns are calling your name

This seascape, originally thought to be the work of John Constable, will be featured in the new exhibition.

Every Piece in This Exhibition Is a Fake

A new show at London’s Courtauld Gallery will explore the value of counterfeit art

The first step in the restoration process will be stabilizing the Tanner house's roof and walls.

Henry Ossawa Tanner Was One of the First World-Famous Black Artists. Now, His Home Is in Danger

The Philadelphia row house hosted generations of Black scholars and leaders

Researchers examined ten paintings—including Two Russian Ships of the Line Saluting (1827) by Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg—and found that seven included traces of proteins associated with brewing beer.

Art Meets Science

Danish Golden Age Painters Used Beer Leftovers to Prep Their Canvases

Researchers are finding yeast and grain in the works of 19th-century artists in Denmark

Matisse's former apartment overlooks the French Riviera.

Henri Matisse’s Stunning Apartment Overlooking the French Riviera Is for Sale

The French artist spent his final years making art from his home in the city of Nice

Pop artist Andy Warhol sits in front of artworks at his studio, the Factory, in New York City in 1983.

Supreme Court Rules That Andy Warhol Violated a Photographer’s Copyright

Experts are debating what the case will mean for the future of fair-use law

A Glasgow restaurant recently had to edit an advertisement including an image of Michelangelo's David after it was rejected due to nudity.

Glasgow Subway Ad Censored for Featuring Michelangelo’s ‘David’

Citing modesty concerns, an ad firm rejected a poster depicting the Renaissance sculpture

Page 42 of 166