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Artists

At Sisian Ceramics, Vahagn Hambardzumyan throws clay on a wheel to make traditional Armenian shapes onto which Zara Gasparyan etches decorative patterns. The terracotta jugs on the left are made to hold water.

Armenia

The Art of Armenian Pottery Will Be on Display at This Summer’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival

The artists behind Sisian Ceramics create works evocative of the Armenian landscape

Clockwise from top left, new illustrations by Ryan Schude, Edel Rodriguez, Tim O'Brien, Melinda Beck.

A 21st-Century Reimagining of Norman Rockwell’s “Four Freedoms”

The iconic paintings helped the U.S. win World War II. What do they mean today?

Wood took aim at the Daughters of the American Revolution, whose members, he claimed, “are trying to set up an aristocracy of birth in a Republic.”

A Preview of Grant Wood’s New Retrospective at the Whitney

The artist who posed as a farmer gets the star treatment at the New York museum in his biggest show ever

In Search of the Real Grant Wood

The denim-clad artist who painted American Gothic wasn’t the hayseed he’d have you believe

Gustav Klimt, Two Reclining Female Nudes, about 1916/17

‘Lost’ Klimt Drawing Found in Cupboard of Museum Personal Assistant

The recovered work is now on view at Austria’s Lentos Museum in a show marking the centenary of the deaths of Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and ​Koloman Moser

Krzysztof Wodiczko; 1988-2000; C-print face-mounted to acrylic; Museum Purchase, 2000

A Powerful, Three-Story Video Installation Will Transform the Hirshhorn

The giant projection by Polish artist Krzysztof Wodiczko returns to the museum for the first time in 30 years

Leonardo da Vinci, "A deluge," c.1517-18

Exhibition to Reveal da Vinci’s Invisible Drawings

The UK show will mark the largest display of da Vinci’s work in more than 65 years

The specially commissioned portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama make their formal museum debut.

The Obamas’ Official Portraits Break New Ground With Their Boldness

A picture-perfect reveal ceremony was by turns heartfelt and humorous

Both Kehinde Wiley and Obama said they were struck by parallels in their life stories. “Both of us had American mothers who raised us, with extraordinary love and support,” Obama said.

Artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald Capture the Unflinching Gaze of the President and First Lady

The nation’s first African-American presidency is marked by two prominent African-American portraitists

Spiral chairs pay homage to both the museum and the helicoid shape of DNA.

Hirshhorn’s Redesigned Lobby Sheds New Light on a Classic Washington D.C. Building

The Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto, known for his pensive images, is taking on the role of architect and designer

Coffee Table by Wendell Castle, 1958

Wendell Castle, The Man Who Made Furniture Dance, Dead at 85

The haunting sculpture Ghost Clock is a favorite Smithsonian artwork and a powerful example of the artist’s skill and craft

Tommy Wiseau clutches a football in ‘The Room,’ the 2003 film he wrote, produced and starred in.

Why Is Some Art So Bad That It’s Good?

Sometimes a work of art is characterized by a string of failures, but nonetheless ends up being a gorgeous freak accident of nature

Wanderlust

How Graffiti Artists Used iPhones and Paint to Transform the Beatles’ Ashram

Miles Toland describes how he captured Indian street scenes on his phone and recreated them as giant murals that same day

1968: The Year That Shattered America

Rage Against the Machine

A short story reimagines the riots at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and the chaos that shocked the world

The focus on achievement and social justice is transformative, says Sumaiya Sabnam, at work on equations. “I call myself a student activist,” she says.

1968: The Year That Shattered America

Where RFK Was Killed, a Diverse Student Body Fulfills His Vision for America

At the site of Robert Kennedy’s assassination, the kids at a Los Angeles public school keep his spirit alive

In a survey of art experts, Thomas’ 2010 collage was named one of the most significant artworks of the 21st century.

How Mickalene Thomas Is Ushering in a New Wave of Contemporary Art

The celebrated portraitist’s glittering images of black women upend tradition

Femme en Extase (Woman in Ecstacy) (detail) by Ferdinand Hodler, 1911

Around the Globe, Revered Artist Ferdinand Hodler Receives His Due, the Portrait Gallery Joins In

A swirl of dance portraits complement a single Swiss loan of Hodler’s Italian dancer

Artist’s representation of “neglected story on Smithsonian.com.”

The Ten Stories You Didn’t Read in 2017 But Should Have

From music behind prison bars to a San Francisco building with a dark past, here are the top 10 pieces we published last year that deserve another look

The Ten Best Children’s Books of 2017

Our picks are full of silly words, weird animals and unknown histories

Why Pantone’s Color of the Year Is the Shade of Science

PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet is a deep saturated purple, but it doesn’t hold a candle to true ultraviolet

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