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Exhibits

A display case featuring "Dolls as Designers," including Yves Saint Laurent (second from left) and Anna Sui (second from right)

Centuries Ago, Royals Dressed Up Their Dolls to Share the Latest Fashions. See How Barbies, Baby Dolls and Other Tiny Trendsetters Have Inspired Designers Ever Since

A new exhibition at the Museum at FIT in New York City showcases more than 170 objects that trace the often-unexpected relationship between dolls and fashion

Monet painted Rouen Cathedral more than 30 times in the 1890s.

Why Did Claude Monet Paint the Same Scenes Over and Over Again? The Impressionist Artist Was Obsessed With Capturing the Fleeting Nature of Time

An upcoming exhibition at Tate Modern will feature more than 60 artworks created by Monet between the 1870s and 1920s. These pieces reveal how he documented changing light and weather conditions

The exterior of the National Museum of African American History and Culture during its opening ceremony in 2016

For Years, the Smithsonian Strove to Bring the African American History and Culture Museum to the National Mall. Now, It Celebrates a Decade as a Beacon of Understanding, Community and Resilience

The museum lovingly called the “Blacksonian” chronicles the past and present and envisions the future to tell the stories of Black life in America

Dilivium, a sculpture by the French artist JR, spans roughly 230 feet across the Vatican Apostolic Library’s facade. 

Pope Leo XIV Makes a Splash for His 71st Birthday, Announcing a Water-Themed Art Exhibition at the Vatican Library

Contemporary sculptures, fish made from typographic elements, centuries-old treatises and historical global cookbooks will feature in the new ‘Catastrophe and Wonder’ art show

“If Emmett Till Lived: Freedom on American Ground” is on view now through December 19.

What If Emmett Till Had Lived? A New Exhibition Imagines an Alternate Future for the Murdered Black Teenager

Featuring photographs by more than 110 artists, the show honors Till’s memory by inviting viewers to contemplate the person he might have become had he made it to adulthood

The Silver Snoopy pin, awarded to NASA astronauts and employees for "outstanding achievements related to human flight safety or mission success."

A New York City Exhibition Celebrates Snoopy’s Enduring Influence on Art and Fashion

The beloved “Peanuts” character’s many costumes and brand collaborations are featured in a new showcase

Man on the Moon (Portrait of an Astronaut), Norman Rockwell, oil on canvas, 1967

To Capture the Beauty and Wonder of Flight, These Celebrated Artists Created Spectacular Visions of Astronauts, Aviators, Rocket Launches and the Moon

At the National Air and Space Museum, a recently opened gallery space features artworks by Norman Rockwell, Alma Thomas, Francisco Goya and other luminaries

Freddie Mercury in the "Made in Heaven" music video

Freddie Mercury’s Boundary-Pushing Costumes Take Center Stage at the Victoria and Albert Museum to Mark the 80th Anniversary of His Birth

Eight ensembles from the Queen frontman’s career will be displayed across six stops in the London museum’s permanent galleries, offering a glimpse into the clothes behind his legendary stage persona

After being closed to the public for more than 80 years, the Nature and Us gallery, photographed here in 1911, will reopen in September.

Closed to the Public Since WWII, a ‘Hidden’ Gallery at London’s Natural History Museum Opens Its Doors Once Again

Animal skeletons, Neolithic tools and pop culture memorabilia are among the dozens of objects to be displayed in the reopened “Nature and Us” exhibition

A book of 17th-century illustrations, recently attributed to the Dutch artist Rombout Uylenburgh, went on display at the Rijksmuseum this week.

These ‘Extremely Rare’ 17th-Century Drawings Were Astonishingly Well-Preserved. Now They Are on Display for the First Time in Nearly a Century

Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum acquired the drawing book, which has artwork attributed to Rombout Uylenburgh, a celebrated 17th-century Dutch painter whose legacy later fell into obscurity

Gunther von Hagens wearing his signature black fedora

This Man Turned Human Corpses Into Popular Museum Displays. Now, the Creator of These Controversial ‘Body Worlds’ Has Donated His Own Body to Science

Gunther von Hagens, who invented plastination, a method of preserving bodies by replacing their natural fluids with polymers, recently died at age 81

The "Jane!" exhibition is on view at the Cantor Arts Center through May 18, 2028.

Women Who Shaped History

Stanford University’s Founding Matriarch Was a Travel-Loving Philanthropist Who Met a Tragic End. A New Exhibition Explores Her Life, Grief and Death by Poison

Jane Stanford’s legacy is the focus of a new showcase at the California university. The display features artifacts that have never previously been exhibited

La Lampe philosophique (The Philosopher’s Lamp), René Magritte, 1936

Wacky, Mysterious Paintings by This Surrealist Still Influence Contemporary Artists. An Exhibition in London Will Explore the Legacy of René Magritte

The Belgian Surrealist was famous for his playful subversion, like when he created a painting of a pipe and then defiantly declared it wasn’t a pipe, after all

The facial reconstruction of a man the team named Respectus

Their Names Were Lost to History. But Now, You Can See What Their Faces May Have Looked Like When They Lived in a Roman-Era City Nearly 2,000 Years Ago

A new exhibition in Budapest features 16 facial reconstructions based on skulls excavated from the ancient city of Aquincum. Curators don’t know the details of their lives, but they’ve invented backstories to fill in the gaps

Adam Francis Plummer began this diary in 1841 while enslaved in Prince George's County, Maryland. After his death, his daughter Nellie Arnold Plummer continued the diary.

This 19th-Century Diary Written by an Enslaved Maryland Man Is a Crucial Record of His Life and Family History—and the Only One of Its Kind Found in the United States

Adam Francis Plummer’s chronicle is believed to be the country’s sole known example of a multigenerational journal begun by an enslaved person. It’s now on view at the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum

A Rothko painting beside a mural by Fra Angelico at the Museum of San Marco

Puzzled by Mark Rothko’s Captivating Color Field Paintings? Look to the Renaissance Masters Who Inspired Him

During trips to Europe, the American painter developed a fascination with how 15th- and 16th-century artists and architects had designed their work to evoke specific feelings

An image of Skylab captured by its final crew as they departed. During launch, one of the solar array wings broke off, and the gold sheet at the center was quickly manufactured afterward to serve as a makeshift sunshield and control the internal temperature.

America’s First Space Station Proved Humans Could Live and Work in Orbit for Months. Now, the Public Can See What It Looked Like in Person for the First Time in Eight Years

A backup version of Skylab was displayed when the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum opened 50 years ago. After renovation of the building, the artifact is once more on view in a new gallery

A circa 1846 photo of the Patent Office Building

This Building Hosted Lincoln’s Inaugural Ball and Displayed the Declaration of Independence. Today, It’s Home to Two World-Class Art Museums

The Old Patent Office Building now houses the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. A new exhibition spotlights the structure’s rich history of encouraging innovation

How an ebonyshell mussel becomes a button

How One German Button Maker Searched the Rivers of the American Midwest for the Shells That Could Make Him a Fortune

John Boepple settled in Muscatine, Iowa, where he produced pearl buttons made from freshwater mussel shells. His innovations brought economic prosperity to the town—and disaster to the local mussel populations

With the letter, George Washington accepted British surrender at Yorktown, paving the way for American independence. 

America's 250th Anniversary

A Letter Signed by George Washington That Helped Pave the Way for American Independence Goes on Display in London

Washington dictated and signed the letter in October 1781 to formally accept the British surrender at Yorktown, writing of his “ardent desire to spare the further effusion of blood”

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