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Art

This plaque depicts musicians, a page holding a ceremonial sword and a high-ranking warrior. It numbers among the thousands of works looted by British forces during an 1897 raid of Benin City.

Germany Will Return Benin Bronzes to Nigeria in 2022

Culture Minister Monika Grütters describes the move as a “historic milestone”

This tracing shows the shape of the carving, which is only visible under certain weather conditions.

Cool Finds

Is This 10,000-Year-Old Carving Europe’s Oldest Known Depiction of a Boat?

New analysis suggests that rock art found in Norway portrays a sealskin vessel used by Stone Age Scandinavians

A new analysis dates the wax bust's creation to the 19th century—some 300 years after Leonardo's death in 1519.

New Research

Whale Wax Helps Scholars Solve Mystery of Supposed Leonardo da Vinci Sculpture

Radiocarbon dating places the bust’s creation centuries after the Renaissance artist’s death in 1519

Workers at the famed Italian museum discovered two long-lost 16th-century frescoes while conducting renovations. Pictured here, a life-sized portrait of Grand Duke Cosimo II de’ Medici depicts the ruler towering over two female figures who act as allegories for the cities of Siena and Florence.

Cool Finds

Renaissance-Era Florentine Frescoes Spent Centuries Hidden in Plain Sight

Renovations at the Uffizi Gallery revealed two overlooked paintings of Medici dukes, among other intriguing finds

Archaeologists say the mosaic was probably part of a grand Byzantine-era home.

Cool Finds

Colorful, 1,600-Year-Old Mosaic Adorned With Geometric Patterns Found in Israel

The fourth- or fifth-century artwork was probably part of a large mansion near an industrial zone

Researchers created this 3- by 2-centimeter version of The Starry Night in just four minutes.

Art Meets Science

Scientists Use Laser Paintbrush to Craft Mini Version of van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’

The colorful “brushstrokes” are “reversible, rewritable [and] erasable,” says scholar Galina Odintsova

The annual, juried event is one of the most prestigious craft shows in the United States.

Three Craft Artists Explain How Art and Sustainability Come Together in Their Work

Smithsonian’s prestigious annual craft show opens online April 24; the nation’s top artists gather in the spirit of optimism

Samuel Ntiro's Chopping Wood (circa 1967) is one of 12 newly attributed African Modernist artworks set to go on view in Scotland next month.

Cool Finds

Trove of African Modernist Masterpieces Spent Decades Hidden in Rural Scotland

A two-year research project identified 12 overlooked paintings, drawings and prints by pioneering 20th-century artists

A close-up view of Picasso's Seated Man (1917) shows the deep cracks running along its surface.

Art Meets Science

Why Did This Picasso Painting Deteriorate Faster Than Its Peers?

Study examines how animal glue, canvases, layers of paint and chemicals interacted to produce cracks in one work but not in others

The Alpha (East) Tunnel leading toward the Oculus—an opening cut into the crater’s floor.

An Exclusive Look at James Turrell’s Visionary Artwork in the Arizona Desert

In the American Southwest, the famed light-bending artist is putting the final touches on Roden Crater, his ambitious, mind-boggling masterpiece

Grace Hartigan, Masquerade, 1954

Sweeping Survey Unites Works by 100 Women Artists of the Past Century

An ongoing exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, features 200 paintings, sculptures, ceramics and more

The Brooklyn Art Library's Sketchbook Project celebrates its 15th anniversary this year.

Virtual Travel

This Library in Brooklyn Is Home to the World’s Largest Sketchbook Collection

With more than 50,000 sketchbooks, the Brooklyn Art Library in Williamsburg is still accepting submissions

Amy Sherald's posthumous portrait of Breonna Taylor serves as the Louisville show's focal point.

How an Art Exhibition in Breonna Taylor’s Hometown Honors Her Life and Impact

The Louisville show is organized around three overarching themes proposed by Taylor’s mother: promise, witness and remembrance

The Miaz Brothers' hazy portraits challenge viewers' perceptions, inviting the audience to complete the artworks' narrative.

These Out-of-Focus Paintings Put a Contemporary Spin on Traditional Portraiture

A new exhibition in London showcases the Miaz Brothers’ radical subversion of Old Master classics

Researchers used A.I. to reconstruct the likely colors and brushstrokes of this landscape, which Pablo Picasso painted over to create a 1902 portrait.

Art Meets Science

Scientists Used A.I. to Recreate a Landscape Hidden Beneath a Picasso Painting

Physical reconstructions of the early 20th-century depiction of Barcelona are now on sale for $11,111.11 each

Scholars are set to undertake a "thorough technical and scientific study" of the painting, which was previously attributed to the circle of Spanish artist José de Ribera.

Baroque Painting Almost Sold for €1,500 May Be a Caravaggio Worth Millions

Spanish authorities halted the sale after identifying “sufficient stylistic and documentary evidence” linking the work to the Old Master

Los Angeles-based architect Michael Maltzan's design is reminiscent of a sun-sculpted ice formation.

Groundbreaking New Center Unveils World’s Largest Collection of Inuit Art

More than 20,000 works from artists across the Canadian Arctic are on display at Qaumajuq, a new museum-within-a-museum at the Winnipeg Art Gallery

Lily Renée helped develop the Señorita Rio comic strip as one of the early woman creators in the industry.

Drawing on Their Escapes From the Nazis, These Artists Became Celebrated Cartoonists

A groundbreaking female comic book artist, a MAD magazine star and a counterfeiter-turned-illustrator share the floor in an exhibit in New York City

A new Netflix documentary, "This Is a Robbery," delves into the mystery of a 1990 art heist.

Based on a True Story

Five Things to Know About the Gardner Museum Heist—the Biggest Art Theft in Modern History

In 1990, two thieves made off with a $500 million cache of art by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas and more. Three decades later, the works remain missing

Officials are unsure when the damage occurred but suspect that it took place several months ago.

Vandals Deface ‘Irreplaceable’ Native American Rock Carvings in Georgia

The unknown criminals painted the 1,000-year-old petroglyphs in bright colors and scratched their surfaces beyond recognition

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