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Museums

Catharina van Hemessen's 1548 self-portrait is on view in a new exhibition in Antwerp, Belgium.

She Painted the First Known Self-Portrait of an Artist at Work—and Signed It—Nearly 500 Years Ago. Who Was Catharina van Hemessen?

Few women worked as professional artists in the 16th century. A new exhibition in Antwerp, Belgium, seeks to restore this Flemish painter to the pantheon of art history giants

Rembrandt, Aristotle with a Bust of Homer, 1653

Rembrandt Turned Ancient Myths Into ‘Supremely Human’ Works of Art. An Upcoming Exhibition Traces the Inspiration He Took From Antiquity

“Rembrandt and the Ancients” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art will unpack an “underexplored but vital” part of the Dutch master’s career, putting his paintings and drawings in conversation with the antecedents that inspired them

The museum's restoration includes necessary updates to conservation workshops and archive spaces.

Madrid’s Renewed and Expanded Sorolla Museum Lets the Paintings of the Spanish ‘Master of Light’ Re-emerge Into Public View

Dedicated to the works of Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida, the museum is centered around his historic home and studio. The first phase of its yearslong renovation is complete, featuring expanded exhibition spaces

Large sits on Île Seguin, the former home of the original Renault factory.

On an Island Outside Paris, a Sprawling Contemporary Arts Center Aptly Called ‘Large’ Prepares to Open Its Doors

The landmark institution’s first exhibition pays homage to a historic Renault automobile plant that once operated on the Île Seguin in the Seine River. “The project called for a great deal of perseverance,” one official says

Investigators say they have recovered Young Woman at the Well (left) and Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano (right), two paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir that were stolen last month.

Two Recently Stolen Renoir Paintings Were Found Hidden Behind a Cinderblock Wall. French Police Used DNA Evidence and Vehicle Tracking to Crack the Case

The bungled heist took place at the Renoir Museum on the French Riviera in September. French authorities made six arrests and believe they prevented another “imminent” theft, possibly at a nearby modern art museum

The tettina was found broken into pieces in 2011.

Cool Finds

Mourners Placed an Ancient Sippy Cup in a Roman Toddler’s Grave. It May Have Been Meant to Sustain the Child on the Journey to the Afterlife

Fragments of the spouted cup, known as a “tettina,” were unearthed in England over a decade ago. It has recently been restored and put on display for the first time

An exhibition of the kinetic art of Argentinian artist Julio Le Parc at Tate Modern, London

With the Help of Family Wealth and Instagram, Gen Z Is Spending Big in the Art Market

According to a new survey, high-net-worth 20-somethings are emerging as the most active members of the global art trade, outspending other generations by wide margins. Their habits are changing how the art world works

Jakob Kudsk Steensen's Berl-Berl installation, which goes on view at New York City's MoMA on October 12, brings a digital, immersive swamp to life.

A Digital Swamp Coming to New York City’s MoMA Is ‘Made to Envelop You’ in Nature With the Help of Cutting-Edge Technology

“Wetland” is the latest installation of a high-tech traveling exhibition designed by Danish artist Jakob Kudsk Steensen. It recreates the overlooked ecosystem with the help of folklore, soundscapes and video game software

In this 1956 photo, Salvador Dalí works on the book's cover, which is made of bronze and bejeweled with gems, pearls, forks and shells. 

Thieves Pulled Off Another Shocking Art Heist in France. This Time, They Took a 330-Pound Bronze Book Cover Designed by Salvador Dalí

The volume, “Livre de l’Apocalypse,” was a “masterpiece” collaboration of 14 artists and writers. It is one of the heaviest and most expensive books ever made

Dozens of Victorian-era “hairworks” from Leila’s Hair Museum, which closed for good last year, are now on display at the Morbid Anatomy Library in Brooklyn.

Dozens of Curious Artworks Created With Woven Strands of Human Hair Come to New York’s Morbid Anatomy Library

So-called hairworks were popularized during the Victorian era as a means of grieving the deceased

The exhibition features damaged art from all over the world.

A New Exhibition Spotlights 4,500 Years of Broken, Shot-Up and Degraded Artworks to Explore the ‘Power of the Fragment’

The show, on view in Florence and coming to D.C. next year, examines the history and impact of destroyed sculptures throughout time and across cultures

An 1857 storage jar signed by David Drake

The Milwaukee Art Museum Just Returned Two Ceramics Made by Enslaved Potter David Drake to His Descendants

The two vessels, one of them a signed 1855 jar, are the latest to be reinstituted to Drake’s family, who are on a mission to acquire the works of their ancestor

The story of the bedpan is about love and hate, germs and illness, dignity and shame, and, inherently, urine and feces.

The Humble History of the Bedpan

Over the past few centuries, inventors have tweaked the design of the receptacles here and there, but overall, not much has changed about the dependable medical supply

Jean Metzinger’s Woman With a Fan (1913) was gifted to the Art Insitute of Chicago by Mr. and Mrs. Sigmund Kunstadter.

This Cubist Painting With a Mysterious Provenance Hung in the Art Institute of Chicago for Decades. Now, the Museum Will Return It to Its Rightful Jewish Heirs

Infrared imaging links the 20th-century Jean Metzinger work to a collector whose pieces were forcibly auctioned under Nazi orders during World War II

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

On display in Mexico City’s National Museum of Anthropology, the pictorial manuscript is opened to a folio that depicts eight Indigenous communities preparing for their voyage to Tenochtitlan, the eventual Aztec capital.

A Rare Aztec Codex Detailing the Rise and Fall of Tenochtitlan Returns to Mexico for the First Time in Nearly Two Centuries

The artifact, among the most prized visual accounts of Aztec history, will be on display in Mexico City for three months

The structure is a nod to clouds and tree canopies, not the starship that many imagine when they first see the building, according to its architect Ma Yansong.

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, a New Endeavor From the Creator of ‘Star Wars,’ Is a Story in Itself

Almost two decades in the making, the institution centers on art that shapes our everyday lives and reveals the craft behind it

The New York Times building, with its newspaper logo sign above the entrance, seen in New York City on August 6, 2026

The Founders of the ‘New York Times’ Pledged to Cover ‘Every Subject of Public Importance.’ 175 Years Later, the Paper Continues to Publish ‘All the News That’s Fit to Print’

Much has changed since the publication debuted on September 18, 1851. What hasn’t changed, staff members say, is the paper’s mission

Alfred Lepère’s Faune Chasseur is back on display at the Musée de Picardie, in Amiens, France.

Mysteriously Stolen More Than 30 Years Ago, and Illicitly Transported to the U.S., This 300-Pound Sculpture Is Finally Back Home in France

Alfred Lepère’s hulking “Faune Chasseur” artwork is once again on display at the Musée de Picardie, in Amiens

“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

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