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Femme libellule ailes ouvertes, or Dragonfly Woman With Open Wings, made by René Lalique between 1898 and 1900, was stolen from the museum this week.

In the Latest Brazen Heist, Jewelry and Artworks Worth $5 Million Were Stolen From a Famed French Designer’s Museum

A trio of burglars stole 27 pieces, including a dragonfly pendant, from the Lalique Museum in eastern France

The torch and part of the arm of the Statue of Liberty on display at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia

America's 250th Anniversary

As France Prepares to Light Up the Statue of Liberty for America’s 250th, Peek Into the History of the Symbol of Trans-Atlantic Friendship

Here’s how three French idealists—an abolitionist, a sculptor and the engineer behind the Eiffel Tower—brought the representation of freedom to life

People cool off in the fountains of the Trocadero gardens, with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

Too Hot for Art? Some Paris Museums and Landmarks Close or Reduce Hours Amid a Record Heat Wave in Europe

Meanwhile, other institutions offer their air-conditioned spaces as a way for residents and tourists to beat the heat

The Mozart notebook was found in a stack of roughly 20 manuscripts at the National Library of France.

Cool Finds

Why Did the Handwriting in This 248-Year-Old Notebook Look Familiar? It Turned Out to Be a Forgotten Mozart Manuscript

While working as a tutor in 1778, the composer created seven short pieces for flute and harp with his student’s help. This month, audiences heard the works performed for the very first time

Guests examine artwork at Museo Picasso Málaga.

A Stolen Picasso Just Turned Up During a Drug Raid Near Paris, Reportedly Taken From a Storage Facility

The painting has been authenticated but not revealed. Reports suggest it is one of Picasso’s portraits of Marie-Thérèse Walter

Nymphéas, Claude Monet, 1907 

When Claude Monet Planted Water Lilies, Inspiration Struck. An Upcoming Auction Will Test How Much Collectors Prize the Floral Masterpieces

The marquee painting from Monet’s “Nymphéas” series is expected to fetch more than $40 million at auction later this month

Archaeologists are conducting excavations in the forecourt of Notre-Dame Cathedral.

Secrets From Centuries of Paris History Are Emerging From Archaeological Digs After the Notre-Dame Cathedral Fire

Ahead of planned redevelopment around the iconic Gothic landmark, researchers are digging into the city’s past, through medieval and Roman layers

Liberty, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, painted terra cotta and tin, ca. 1884

This Remarkable Statue of Liberty Model Made by the Sculptor of the Original Has a New Summer Home at the Smithsonian Castle

Artist Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s small maquette represents the big ideals of the iconic national monument in New York Harbor

Comedian by Maurizio Cattelan

Someone Stole a Banana Duct-Taped to the Wall of a French Museum. One of Its Duplicates Fetched More Than $6 Million at Auction

This isn’t the first time the fruit at the center of the infamous “Comedian” art piece has been stolen or eaten

A rendering of the new Centre Pompidou Hanwha museum, called a “box of light,” in Seoul

Korean and French Culture Are Set to Rendezvous at a New Museum in Seoul for Modern and Contemporary Art

The Centre Pompidou Hanwha, the newest member of a growing global network of art museums, will debut with an exhibition on European cubism and Korean art

Detail from Hilma af Klint's Retable, No. 1 (1915)

Meet Hilma af Klint, the Occultist Who Believed Otherworldly Spirits Told Her What to Paint. Now, She’s Considered One of History’s First Abstract Artists

The Swedish painter created bold, vibrant works as early as 1906—several years before contemporaries like Wassily Kandinsky. A new exhibition in France celebrates her sweeping “Paintings for the Temple” series

The Leonora Carrington exhibition at the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris

No Mere Muse, This Influential Surrealist Artist and Feminist Gets Her Due in a New Biopic and Art Exhibitions

Leonora Carrington’s life and work are celebrated with the new film “Leonora in the Morning Light.” Meanwhile, an exhibition at the Freud Museum showcases for the first time artwork she created inside a psychiatric hospital

The illuminated manuscript's illustrations contain precious metals.

See the Stunning Medieval Manuscript Telling Tales of King Arthur, in Ink and Polished Gold, That’s Headed to Auction

The manuscript was made by a skilled, anonymous artist between 1290 and 1310. It’s the oldest of only three privately owned Vulgate Cycle manuscripts

La Caverne du Pont Neuf under construction in Paris

The Oldest Bridge in Paris Was Swallowed Overnight by a Giant, Inflatable Cave in the Latest Artwork by the ‘French Banksy’

French street artist JR chose the Pont Neuf bridge as the canvas for his latest larger-than-life art installation, created with audio accompaniment by a Daft Punk musician

Museumgoers can read the labels on the backs of the paintings, which may provide clues about each work's provenance.

Who Are the Owners of These Nazi-Looted Masterpieces—and Could Displaying Them at One of France’s Most Popular Museums Help Track Them Down?

A new permanent display at the Musée d’Orsay showcases artworks that may have been stolen or sold under suspicious circumstances during World War II. Officials are still hoping to find the families of their rightful owners

The death of King Harold at the Battle of Hastings depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry

The Bayeux Tapestry Takes a Journey for a Fresh Perspective as the British Museum Prepares to Lay the Masterpiece Out Flat

After spending centuries in France, the 1,000-year-old tapestry depicting the Norman Conquest of England is traveling to its home country

An aerial view of the Grande Colonnade rendered redesign

‘Mona Lisa’ Is Moving to a New Home. The Louvre Just Announced the Architects Who Will Design Her Private Suite

Visitors will be able to view Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece without touring the rest of the Louvre, and visitor traffic at the museum will be able to grow by three million people annually

The fresco, painted by Francisco Goya in 1798, depicts Saint Anthony of Padua performing a miracle. 

Stunning Frescoes in This Madrid Church Received a Facelift—But the Spanish Artist Buried Beneath Them Is Still Missing His Head

Goya’s frescoes are given new life in a church in Spain that also serves as the final resting place for most of the artist’s body. The mystery of his missing skull has inspired poems and artworks

Libertas Americana medal 

America's 250th Anniversary

Benjamin Franklin Styled Lady Liberty’s Look in This Medal He Commissioned to Honor American and French Allies in the Revolutionary War

Franklin combined art with diplomacy to create the Libertas Americana. For the United States’ 250th anniversary, the Paris Mint is giving the design a refresh

The subject of this portrait is often identified as Mary Boleyn.

History Remembers Mary Boleyn as the Scandalous ‘Other Boleyn Girl.’ New Research Debunks the Myths Surrounding the Tudor Mistress

Sylvia Barbara Soberton’s latest book challenges the perception of Anne Boleyn’s sister as “promiscuous, intellectually incurious and unambitious”

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