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Contemporary Art

Many of the pieces in "Brand New" are simply decontextualized products and ads, like these works from Joan Wallace, (left) The Pool Ladder Painting No. 2, 2004, and Jeff Koons, New! New Too!, 1982.

Are You Buying What These Artists Are Selling?

The absurdity of American commercialism is laid bare in the Hirshhorn’s latest exhibition

"Scenes From the Collection" emphasizes modern and contemporary art in its exploration of Jewish identity

The Evolution of Jewish Identity Takes Center Stage at Revamped Jewish Museum Exhibition

The redesigned permanent exhibition highlights a rotating selection of artifacts spanning 4,000 years of history

Lubaina Himid

Trending Today

Why Lubaina Himid’s Turner Prize Win Is One for the History Books

The 63-year-old, Zanzibar-born contemporary artist becomes the oldest person and first woman of color to win the prestigious award

Indonesia Gets Its First Contemporary Art Museum

The inaugural exhibition of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara features 90 works by 70 artists

Mark Bradford's installation Pickett’s Charge at the Hirshhorn spans almost 400 feet and consists of eight canvases measuring 12 feet tall and more than 45 feet long.

Mark Bradford’s Paintings Scratch at the Surface of a Conflicted America

The Hirshhorn Museum hosts the artist’s first solo show in Washington

“I wanted to speak back to the memory of Amite, to let him know we’re still doing this work”— traditional salmon fishing as well as basket weaving, says Jordan Bennett.

How This Artist’s Archival Discovery Sparked High-Tech Art

A photograph from a Smithsonian archives piqued Jordan Bennett’s creativity; his work is part of a new exhibition that explores technology and tradition

Confederate Prisoners Being Conducted from Jonesborough to Atlanta by Kara Walker, 2005, from the portfolio Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated)

How Kara Walker Boldly Rewrote Civil War History

The artist gives 150-year-old illustrations a provocative update at the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Rick Araluce's The Final Stop, installed at the Renwick Gallery, is a world unto itself.

At This Spectral Subway Platform, Trains Approach But Never Arrive

An otherworldly art installation debuts at the Renwick just in time for Halloween

FIU Blackboards by Joseph Beuys,1977-1979, now on view at the Hirshhorn.

What a Pair of Empty Blackboards Can Teach Us About Art and Social Change

Can art alter the course of history? Should artists even try? Joseph Beuys said yes and yes

The installation Terminal allows visitors to walk through the work, between the spires and beneath the canopy that connects them.

Freer|Sackler: Reopens

Get Lost Inside These Golden Spires Transforming the Sackler Pavilion

Terminal,the work of acclaimed artist Subodh Gupta, recalls an urban cityscape

Could New York be the Gotham we prize without the Guggenheim?

What to Know About the Controversy Surrounding the Chinese Art Exhibit Coming to the Guggenheim

As questions of animal cruelty, artistic freedom swirl, three major works were pulled from “Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World”

Africa’s Largest Contemporary Art Museum Opens in Cape Town

But some critics have questioned whether the institution adequately represents black African artists

The Ship of Tolerance, Zug by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, 2016

This Former Soviet Art Duo Crafts Worlds of Whimsy and Delight

Miniature models, the wellspring of the celebrated large installations of Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, are at the Hirshhorn

The Hirshhorn purchased all four current installments of artist Ragnar Kjartansson’s ongoing video series Me and My Mother,” including any future installments.

Why the Artist Ragnar Kjartansson Asked his Mother to Spit On Him

The Icelandic performance piece Me and My Mother is latest Hirshhorn acquisition

This resplendent Tibetan shrine room will greet visitors to the Sackler Gallery's upcoming "Encountering the Buddha" exhibition.

From Egyptian Cats to Crime Scenes, Here’s a Preview of the Smithsonian’s Upcoming Shows

Gallery-goers in D.C. and NYC are in for a mental workout with shows that deliver on everything from the experimental to the traditional

Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum was commissioned by a Hapsburg Emperor—and it shows.

Austria

Seven Must-See Museums in Austria

Art, music and open-air delights

Different collectors have different tastes. Practicing a variety of styles helps users find success.

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New Video Game Parodies What it Means to Be an Art World Star

On Passpartout: The Starving Artist, you do everything from virtually impress collectors to dine on wine and baguettes

All of these images were created by the neural networks

New Research

AI Project Produces New Styles of Art

Researchers let two neural networks critique each other to create the images

Basquiat Painting Becomes Most Expensive American Work Ever Sold

A Japanese billionaire bought the piece for $110.5 million

Sprawling Contemporary Art Museum to Open in Bangladesh

The space will include a 100-acre sculpture park and a vast gallery devoted to South Asian art

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