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Artists

In an interview before the opening of his show, sculptor Lee Ufan (above: searching for materials on Long Island) says the significance for viewers is the "pure experience."

Lee Ufan’s Transformative Sculptures Are in Dialogue With the Spaces They Inhabit

For the first time in the Hirshhorn Museum’s history, the 4.3-acre outdoor gallery is devoted to a single artist

Anna Birnie, Van Gogh's governess and likely first art teacher.

Cool Finds

Research Reveals Vincent van Gogh’s Artistic Governess

Anna Birnie, daughter of an artist, taught Vincent and his siblings for three years, including lesson on drawing

Jo van Gogh-Bonger and her son Vincent Willem, as photographed in Paris in 1890

New Biography Spotlights Jo Bonger, Sister-in-Law Who Helped Rescue van Gogh From Obscurity

Bonger, wife of van Gogh’s brother Theo, described her mission as ‘getting [Vincent’s work] seen and appreciated as much as possible’

The artist says he paints to music, improvising his brushstrokes in the manner of a jazz soloist.

How Peter Wayne Lewis Infuses His Artwork With the Spirit of Jazz

A new exhibit explores bebop and the Buddha

Courtyard of the Amsterdam Museum.

Why the Amsterdam Museum Will No Longer Use the Term ‘Dutch Golden Age’

The museum contends that the moniker, which is often used to describe the Dutch Republic in the 17th century, ignores the brutalities of the period

Andrea del Verrocchio, "Head of a Woman With Braided Hair," c. 1475-1478

The Man Who Mentored da Vinci Receives First U.S. Retrospective

National Gallery of Art spotlights Andrea del Verrocchio, a skilled sculptor and painter whose individual accomplishments have long been overlooked

A detail of Toledo’s self-portrait Eye of the Beholder (2017) uses gold leaf in a grid of refracted identities. All artwork used with permission of the artist.

What Makes Francisco Toledo ‘El Maestro’

Mexico’s most important living artist mixes magical realism with passionate rebellion

The Met is seeking a curator of Native American art

The Met Is Hiring Its First Full-Time Curator of Native American Art

The ideal candidate will have ‘[d]emonstrable connections with descendent communities’

The Ride, by Cigdem Aydemir.

Melbourne Gets Gallery Devoted to Female Artists

Finkelstein Gallery seeks to correct the art world’s longstanding gender imbalances by featuring contemporary art by women

Wyss Institute engineers selected works from the collections to illustrate a "new approach to Design Science." The clusters of polyhedrons in the 1954 textile Time Capsule reflects the 1950s sentiment for a brighter future built on scientific progress.

How Biology Inspires Future Technology

Bioengineers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute showcase their ingenious medical, industrial and environmental designs at the Cooper Hewitt

The earliest recorded reference to Tholey Abbey dates to 634 A.D.

New Stained Glass Is Coming to Germany’s Oldest Monastery

Gerhard Richter is set to design a trio of windows for the Benedictine Tholey Abbey

"The paint went all over, and of course some of it went off the canvas," the photographer says of Pollock's technique, re-enacted here in his studio.

Dramatic New Photographs Recreate Scenes of Artists at Work

Adrien Broom’s series brings vitality to how we think about the likes of Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner or Mark Twain

The underlying sketches found beneath The Virgin of the Rocks

Cool Finds

Imaging Reveals Leonardo da Vinci Wrestled With the Composition of ‘The Virgin of the Rocks’

Two underdrawings detected using high-tech imaging techniques show he altered the figures twice before painting

Style, identity and agency are fundamental themes in the work of Mickalene Thomas (above: Portrait of Mnonja).

Re:Frame

The Fierce Pride and Passion of Rhinestone Fashion

In this episode of ‘Re:Frame,’ Smithsonian curators investigate the intentionality and agency behind the clothing we wear

A new episode of the web series “Re:Frame” from the Smithsonian American Art Museum explores the story and artworks of Mingering Mike.

Re:Frame

All the World’s a Fantastical Stage for the Artist Mingering Mike

‘Re:Frame’ delves into a work of one of Washington D.C.’s most imaginative artists and his fascination with the historic Howard Theatre

“Re:Frame,” a video web series produced by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, investigates the compelling role graphite has played in the history of art—and in Teresita Fernández’s work.

Re:Frame

How Artist Teresita Fernández Turns Graphite, the Stuff of Stardust, Into Memories

A new episode of the Smithsonian’s ‘Re:Frame,’ explores the origin of graphite, a material artists have used for centuries

The artwork Harvest Time, (detail) by Doris Lee, is featured in the next episode of a new video web series, titled “Re:Frame.”

Re:Frame

How American Brewers Employed Fine Art to Sell Beer

The Smithsonian’s ‘Re:Frame’ investigates how artist Doris Lee gave beer a new post-prohibition image of domesticity and conviviality

In 1912, sculptor Alexander Phimister Proctor created Buffalo (model for Q Street Bridge).

Re:Frame

What Do Bovids, Bridges and the West Have to Do With American Art?

In the debut episode of “Re:Frame,” Smithsonian curators explore the iconic symbol of the West, the American Bison

Egon Schiele, Reclining Nude Girl (around 1918)

Drawing Found in Thrift Store Turns Out to Be an Original Egon Schiele

The work, on display as part of an exhibit at Galerie St. Etienne, is expected to sell for between $100,000 to $200,000

Moving on

A Statue in the U.K. Had to Be Moved Because It Was Too Popular

Visitors flocked to see ‘Seated Figure’ by the artist Sean Henry—and damaged the surrounding landscape of the North York Moors in the process

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