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Exhibitions

The YouTube watch page on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum's South Kensington location

Watch the First-Ever Video Uploaded to YouTube, a Grainy 19-Second Clip Called ‘Me at the Zoo’

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has acquired the site’s very first video, which went live on April 23, 2005

Left: Bella in Her Pluto T-Shirt, 1995. Right: Solicitor’s Head, 2003

Lucian Freud Is Famous for His Unflinching Portraits. These Rarely Seen Drawings Provide an Intimate Window Into His Creative Process

A new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London showcases drawings and etchings from throughout the British artist’s 60-year career

Loggers’ Culls, Emily Carr, 1935

These Emily Carr Paintings Will Make You Experience the Beauty of British Columbia’s Landscapes in a Completely New Way

An exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery examines the artist’s attempts to capture nature’s true essence, which she described as “the green idea or ideal”

Infrared scans suggest that the artist reworked their composition to prominently feature Anne's hands clasping a rose. “By clearly displaying five digits on each hand, the portrait acts as a visual rebuttal to hostile rumors and as a defense of Anne Boleyn—and, by extension, of her daughter Elizabeth’s legitimacy,” says curator Owen Emmerson.

Rumors Suggested That Anne Boleyn Was a Witch With Six Fingers. Did This Elizabethan Artist Rework a Portrait of the Tudor Queen to Debunk the Gossip?

A new analysis of the Hever Rose portrait suggests that the painter deliberately modified an existing template to showcase Anne’s hands—with no extra digits—holding a delicate rose

A woman's firefighting jacket and hood from 1800-50

This New Samurai Exhibition Will Challenge Your Understanding of the Japanese Warrior Class

Silk screens, women’s firefighting robes and a Darth Vader costume are among the more than 280 unexpected items that are on display at the British Museum

The Star-Spangled Banner, the flag that inspired the national anthem, on view at the National Museum of American History

From Giant Art to Amazing Specimens, See These 20 New and Revitalized Smithsonian Shows in 2026

The Institution’s museums are commemorating America’s 250th birthday, showcasing the art of noise and displaying the best of portraiture

The exhibition features the last letter that Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, sent to Elizabeth I in 1588.

Read Love Letters From Royals and Romantics Across 500 Years of British History

A new exhibition at Britain’s National Archives features a letter to Elizabeth I, Jane Austen’s will and a plea to free Oscar Wilde from prison

People view the Declaration of Independence and other documents at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

Ten of the Most Exciting Ways to Commemorate America’s 250th This Year

Our country’s birthday bash includes exhibitions, historical reenactments, a massive potluck and more

Invocation: Severance of Ties, Jim Chuchu, digital video (still), 2014

This Groundbreaking New Showcase of Nearly 60 Works Is the Biggest-Ever Exhibition of LGBTQ+ African Art

One of its co-curators wants historians to expand on the display and “write a proper history” of this artistry

This late 16th-century portrait of Anne Boleyn (left) closely resembles a circa 1590 portrait of Elizabeth I (right), as well as two separate likenesses of Mary I and Edward IV. The paintings appear to share the same established “face pattern” of the then-queen, Elizabeth.

Why Do These Tudor-Era Portraits of Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I Look So Strikingly Similar?

The artist behind the works may have used Elizabeth’s likeness as a template in other royal portraits to visually emphasize her resemblance to previous monarchs and reinforce her status as the legitimate Tudor heir

Frida on a White Bench, New York by Nickolas Muray surrounded by merchandise inspired by the image

Frida Kahlo’s Image Is on Paintings, Posters, Socks and Sanitary Pads. How Did Fridamania Come to Dominate Popular Culture?

An exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston features paintings by Kahlo, works by artists she inspired and consumer products featuring her self-portraits

Erin and Anyah With Hydrangeas, LaToya Hobbs, acrylic and decorative paper on carved wood, 2023

See the Stunning Artworks by the Winners and Featured Artists of This Boundary-Pushing National Portrait Competition

The seventh edition of the triennial Outwin Boochever contest showcases contemporary artists’ novel approaches to their subjects

A historic marker at Jackson State University, ca. 1950, from the “At the Vanguard” exhibition at the National Museum of African American History and Culture

How Historically Black Schools Create and Preserve Their Own History Through Amazing Artifacts, From Paintings to Marching Band Hats

For nearly 200 years, HBCUs have educated Black Americans. Now, a new exhibition highlights special objects from five universities

The Arnolfini Portrait, Jan van Eyck, 1434

All Nine of Jan van Eyck’s Surviving Portraits Are Coming Together for the Very First Time in History

The Northern Renaissance painter’s innovative techniques altered the course of art history. An upcoming exhibition in London brings together his 15th-century portraits from collections across Europe

Inky paw prints on a 15th-century Flemish manuscript

A Cat Left Paw Prints on the Pages of This Medieval Manuscript When the Ink Was Drying 500 Years Ago

An exhibition called “Paws on Parchment” tracks how cats were depicted in the Middle Ages through texts and artworks from around the world—including one example of a 15th-century “keyboard cat”

Curator Richard Hill notes Carr’s unusual choice to orient her nature paintings vertically, as in Cedar (left, 1942) and Red Cedar (1931). “It really is a portrait of a tree.”

This Canadian Painter Found Her Muse in the Verdant Trees of British Columbia

Emily Carr took her brushes out of the gardens and into the rainforest to capture her local landscape in ways “beloved and also fraught”

Eusebio Maglinte's steamer trunk, 1920s

Recovered Steamer Trunks Reveal the Overlooked Histories of Filipino American Farm Workers in the Early 20th Century

The artifacts serve as time capsules for an entire generation of “manong” workers and they’re now displayed at the National Museum of American History

The exhibition displays full-size models of Claire Tabouret's stained-glass window designs for Notre-Dame Cathedral.

Notre-Dame Cathedral’s Controversial New Stained-Glass Window Designs Go on Display

The windows, commissioned by the French Ministry of Culture after the devastating 2019 fire, have sparked a debate about historical preservation

Sales of the MetroCard will end December 31.

The Era of the New York City MetroCard Is Almost Over. Say Goodbye to the Iconic Yellow Passes With a New Exhibition

As the Metropolitan Transit Authority moves to a contactless, tap-and-go payment system, “FAREwell, MetroCard” allows visitors to learn more about the history of the long-running fare card

Visitors look at Library of Us, an installation by British artist Es Devlin, during Miami Art Week.

This Artist Put 2,500 of Her Favorite Books in a Massive Rotating Library on Miami Beach

The 20-foot-tall installation, titled “Library of Us,” featured titles that hold personal meaning for British artist Es Devlin—who invited visitors to sit on nearby benches and read

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