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Museums

The Brick Store Museum in Kennebunk, Maine, hosts an "All Souls Walk" at the town's Hope Cemetery.

In Cemeteries Across the Country, Reenactors Are Resurrecting the Dead

Gravesite readings and performances keep the stories of the dearly departed alive for a new generation

Artist Meret Oppenheim, photographed by Margrit Baumann in 1982

Looking Beyond Surrealist Artist Meret Oppenheim’s Famous Furry Teacup

A new exhibition highlights the dazzling breadth of the 20th-century painter, sculptor and photographer’s oeuvre

Vote for the creepiest doll via the center's Facebook and Instagram pages.

Which Historical Doll Will Be Crowned the Creepiest?

A Minnesota museum’s third annual contest invites the public to vote on which of nine antique toys is the most unsettling

Vincent van Gogh, The Potato Eaters, April–May 1885

The Untold Story of van Gogh’s Once-Maligned Masterpiece, ‘The Potato Eaters’

An exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum spotlights the artist’s dynamic depiction of peasant life—a painting that critics hated and he loved

Barbara Kruger's rendering of exhibition entryway at the Art Institute of Chicago, 2011/2020

Major Barbara Kruger Exhibition Spills Out Into the Streets of Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago’s new show adorns the city’s buses, trains, billboards and more with the feminist artist’s creations

Of the 1,525 artifacts included in the show, 881 were recovered from abroad.

Trove of Artifacts, Many Recovered From Abroad, Traces 4,000 Years of Mexican History

A new exhibition in Mexico City features 1,525 objects linked to the Maya, Toltec, Teotihuacán, Aztec and Mixtec cultures

The museum has a written agreement that the money must be returned when the exhibition ends on January 16, 2022. But Haaning says he has no plans to repay the cash.

Artist Takes Museum’s $84,000, Returns With Blank Canvases Titled ‘Take the Money and Run’

Jens Haaning says he has no plans to repay the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, which expected him to incorporate the cash into a new artwork

Does the museum really live up to its promise to be a definitive home to the art and science of movies?

Inside the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

The L.A. institution finally opens, inviting visitors to learn about film history—even the not so glittery bits—and to contemplate the industry’s future

The fire destroyed the property's porch, which was built more than 100 years ago but wasn't originally part of the house.

‘Suspicious’ Fire Destroys Porch at Susan B. Anthony House and Museum

Authorities are investigating the blaze, which left the New York landmark’s historic interior and contents largely unscathed

Smithsonian Secretary S. Dillon Ripley, in 1978, stands before a portrait of a predecessor—Joseph Henry, the first Secretary.

Smithsonian 175

Secretary Lonnie Bunch on What It Takes to Lead the Smithsonian

A successful Secretary must acknowledge the Institution’s failures as well as successes—and celebrate its capacity for change

The National Gallery's Samson and Delilah (1609-10) is attributed to Peter Paul Rubens, but some scholars have raised doubts regarding its authenticity in recent decades.

Art Meets Science

Did Peter Paul Rubens Really Paint ‘Samson and Delilah’?

A.I. analysis renews doubts over the authenticity of a star painting in the London National Gallery’s collection

The First Americans Museum opened in Oklahoma City this month.

A Brand-New Museum in Oklahoma Honors Indigenous People at Every Turn

The team behind the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City incorporated the traditions and spiritual beliefs of 39 tribal nations into its design

"Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams" is on view at the Brooklyn Museum through February 20, 2022.

Tracing Christian Dior’s Evolution, From the Postwar ‘New Look’ to Contemporary Feminism

An exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum in New York chronicles the fashion house’s 75-year history

Hobby Lobby acquired the cuneiform tablet for display at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.

Smuggled Gilgamesh Dream Tablet Returns to Iraq

Forfeited by Hobby Lobby in July, the ancient artifact will be repatriated in a ceremony held at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian

William Trost Richards, Along the Shore, 1903

The Sights and Sounds of the Sea Have Inspired American Artists for Generations

Exhibition spotlights crashing waves, maritime voyages and seafaring vessels painted by Georgia O’Keeffe, Normal Rockwell and Jacob Lawrence

Italian artist Girolamo di Tommaso da Treviso created the ceremonial shield around 1535.

Ornate Medieval Shield Looted by the Nazis Will Be Returned to the Czech Republic

Created in the 16th century, the intricately decorated piece of armor was once owned by Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Poet and Met Gala co-chair Amanda Gorman channeled the Statue of Liberty in this sheer blue Vera Wang dress. Her clutch, emblazoned with the phrase "Give Us Your Tired," references Emma Lazarus' "The New Colossus," which is inscribed on a plaque at the American landmark.

Met Gala Asks What Is American Fashion—and Who Gets to Define It?

From inaugural poet Amanda Gorman to pop star Billie Eilish, here’s how stars interpreted this year’s theme

Experts say the cache is one of the largest and most significant of its kind ever found in Denmark.

Cool Finds

Amateur Treasure Hunter Discovers Trove of Sixth-Century Gold Jewelry

Found in Denmark, most of the 22 objects are bracteates, or medallions inscribed with mystical symbols

Alula Pankhurst, a member of Ethiopia’s National Heritage Restitution Committee, calls the objects' return the “single most significant heritage restitution in Ethiopia’s history.”

Looted Maqdala Treasures Returned to Ethiopia After 150 Years

A nonprofit foundation purchased the objects, which were seized by British troops in 1868, with the aim of restituting them

The stock certificate pieced back together and encased in mylar

Smithsonian Voices

How Conservators Preserved This Stock Certificate Destroyed on 9/11

The certificate arrived in the Smithsonian’s Paper Conservation Lab as a pile of paper bits stored in an envelope

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