Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Art

Sister Wendy sought to make some of the world's most renowned artists accessible to her audience.

Remembering Sister Wendy Beckett, Beloved Nun Who Made Art Accessible

A surprising rise to fame catapulted her into television stardom, where she used her platform to share artistic masterpieces with the public

Artist's rendering of the museum's "Imagined World" gallery

Highly Anticipated Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Announces Its Coming Attractions

The long-delayed museum dedicated to filmmaking teases its inaugural exhibitions

Susan Hiller, "Belshazzar's Feast, the Writing on Your Wall," 1983-4

Tate Britain’s Female-Led Exhibition Is a Hopeful Sign of What’s to Come

Will 2019 be the year more women artists get shown in art museums?

Artemisia Gentileschi, Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria, c. 1615-17

All Hail the Renaissance of Artemisia Gentileschi

The London National Gallery unveiled a restored portrait of the Baroque painter and announced a 2020 retrospective dedicated to the artist

"Let’s Get Lost" by linn meyers at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art

Museum Visitors Can Play This Wall Art Like an Instrument

An artist, musician, experience designer and app developer meet for coffee. This multi-sensory installation is the result

Cartoonist Thomas Nast first drew Santa Claus in January 1863, for Harper's Weekly.

A Civil War Cartoonist Created the Modern Image of Santa Claus as Union Propaganda

Thomas Nast is legendary for his political cartoons, but he’s also responsible for the jolly St. Nick we know today

Egon Schiele, "Self-Portrait with Lowered Head," 1912

New Digital Archive Provides Critical Record of Egon Schiele’s Body of Work

Online catalogue raisonné features over 400 paintings, graphics, sketchbooks and sculptures, with additional drawings, watercolors set to be added in 2019

Frederic Leighton, "The Music Lesson," 1877

Connie Gilchrist Was the Shirley Temple of Victorian London

The child star captivated audiences and artists alike, served as muse for Lewis Carroll, James McNeill Whistler

The artist installed 24 blocks of Greelandic ice outside of London's Tate Modern

Straight From a Greenland Fjord, London Installation Sends Dire Message on Climate Change

Olafur Eliasson’s ‘Ice Watch’ aims to bring viewers into direct confrontation with the devastation wrought by global warming

The resin-based 3D printer layers ink much like the chocolate and wafer combination seen in Kit-Kat bars

Art Meets Science

This New Technique Could Revolutionize the Future of Art Reproduction

RePaint renders reproductions in color four times closer to the original than the next-best tool

Claude-Joseph Vernet, "The Storm," 1759

How a New Hampshire Museum Is Using Art to Reach Families Affected by the Opioid Crisis

The ‘Art of Hope’ initiative encourages participants to draw connections between works of art and their own lives

Museum of Black Civilizations in Dakar, Senegal.

Sprawling Museum of Black Civilizations Opens in Senegal

The launch comes as Senegal is requesting the repatriation of looted artworks from France

Prodger's 33-minute film features shots of seemingly mundane aspects of life, including these sneakers

Charlotte Prodger Claims This Year’s Turner Prize With Film Shot on iPhone

The Glasgow-based artist’s diaristic ‘Bridgit’ examines the fluidity of queer identity

A delta wave, typical of deep sleep, as envisioned by interdisciplinary artist Julia Buntaine Hoel.

Art Meets Science

This Sculptor Imagines Brain Waves in 3-D

Julia Buntaine Hoel depicts the electrical activity of the brain in Wave(s), on display at Smithsonian’s “The Long Conversation”

The virtual museum features seven rooms focused on themes such as correspondence, music and flirtation.

Virtual Travel

Explore Vermeer’s Surviving Paintings, Together After All This Time, in One Virtual Exhibition

The augmented reality “Meet Vermeer” experience details the Dutch Old Master’s artistic style, life and enduring legacy

A view of the Spitzmaus exhibit.

Seven Must-See New Museum Exhibits to Marvel at This Winter

From fancy lights to Wes Anderson aesthetics, these new exhibits explore artists, history and fun

Alice Neel Self-Portrait by Alice Neel, 1980

History’s Selfies: Looking at Artists Looking at Themselves

National Portrait Gallery closes out 50-year anniversary celebration after widening the view to include more women, diverse backgrounds and emerging media

A section of the 18,000-square-foot Cyclorama depicts a pivotal moment: Lt Edward Jones, on horseback, racing to 
reinforce the Federal line.

American South

Atlanta’s Famed Cyclorama Mural Will Tell the Truth About the Civil War Once Again

One of the war’s greatest battles was fought again and again on a spectacular canvas nearly 400 feet long. At last, the real history is being restored

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, "The Battle Between Carnival and Lent," 1559

Online Portal Reveals Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Creative Process

The project’s launch coincides with a blockbuster Vienna retrospective celebrating the 450th anniversary of the Flemish old master’s death

Page 99 of 167