Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Painting

Stacks of Wheat (End of Summer), 1890-1, is one of 25 in a series by Impressionist painter Claude Monet, who frequently created similar depictions of a single subject in different lights, seasons and atmospheres.

How Chicago Became a Monet Destination

A new exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago explores the Impressionist painter’s connection to the Midwestern city

This month's selections include A Traitor to His Species, The Tsarina's Lost Treasure and The Daughters of Yalta.

Books of the Month

Catherine the Great’s Lost Treasure, the Rise of Animal Rights and Other New Books to Read

These five September releases may have been lost in the news cycle

Head of a Bearded Man is believed to have been painted by a member of Dutch master Rembrandt's studio. Further research is necessary to determine if the work was painted by the artist himself.

Art Meets Science

Painting Deemed Fake, Consigned to Storage May Be Genuine Rembrandt

New analysis confirms the famed Dutch painter’s studio—and perhaps even the artist himself—created “Head of a Bearded Man”

Speaking with BBC News, Frans Hals specialist Anna Tummers described the painting as a "wonderful example of his loose painting style. ... It was very playful, daring and loose."

Thieves Steal 17th-Century Masterpiece for Third Time in 32 Years

Frans Hals’ “Two Laughing Boys with a Mug of Beer” was previously purloined in 1988 and 2011

El Greco, The Assumption of the Virgin, 1577–79

A History of El Greco’s Masterful—and Often Litigious—Artistic Career

A 57-work retrospective at the Art Institute of Chicago charts the evolution of the 16th-century painter’s distinctive style

The pairing of Francisco de Zurbarán’s The Martyrdom of Saint Serapion and Jan Asselijn’s The Threatened Swan in the Rijksmuseum's "Rembrandt and Velazquez" exhibition inspired MosAIc's creators.

Art Meets Science

How an Algorithm Draws Unexpected Connections Between Works of Art

Given a starting image, the artificial intelligence can identify objects that match its colors, textures and themes

A 1905 postcard overlaid with Vincent van Gogh's 1890 painting of the same spot

Cool Finds

Art Historian Identifies the Spot Where Vincent van Gogh Painted His Final Work

The Dutch artist died 130 years ago today

New research posits that Johannes Vermeer painted View of Delft in September 1659 or 1658.

Art Meets Science

Astronomy Offers Fresh Look at Vermeer’s ‘View of Delft’

Analysis of sunlight and shadows suggests the Dutch masterpiece portrays the city around 8 a.m. in early September 1659 or 1658

Researchers have discovered a hidden painting beneath Picasso's Still Life (1922).

Cool Finds

Abandoned Artwork Discovered Beneath Pablo Picasso Painting

The artist, who regularly reused canvases, covered a neoclassical still life with a Cubist one

Frans Snyders' Fruit Stall features a vast spread of produce from the 17th century.

Art Meets Science

Centuries-Old Paintings Help Researchers Track Food Evolution

Art inadvertently documents the domestication of carrots, wheat, watermelon and other culinary delights

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, I See Red: Target, 1992

National Gallery of Art Acquires Its First Painting by a Native American Artist

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith’s work addresses questions of identity and appropriation

Frida Kahlo, circa 1950

Why Scholars Are Skeptical of Claimed Rediscovery of Lost Frida Kahlo Masterpiece

“The Wounded Table,” a 1940 work by the Mexican painter, disappeared 65 years ago

The "restored" painting may be a copy of this 17th-century work by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo.

Botched Art Restoration Renders Virgin Mary Unrecognizable

The failed makeover—one of several to surface in Spain in recent years—has prompted calls for stricter regulation of the field

John Everett Millais, The Bridesmaid, 1851

Covid-19

U.K. Museum Reimagines Classic Art With Face Masks

The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge has released greeting cards of six paintings adapted for this “most unusual year”

Researchers recently identified the unnamed sitter in this portrait as Mary Boleyn, older sister of Anne Boleyn.

After Hundreds of Years, Unknown Woman in Tudor Portrait Identified as Mary Boleyn

New evidence suggests the painting depicts Anne Boleyn’s older sister, the one-time mistress of Henry VIII

New research suggests that humidity is making the painting's yellow cadmium sulfide degrade into white.

Art Meets Science

Humidity Is a Nightmare for ‘The Scream’

Moisture in the air—not light—has made the yellow pigments in Edvard Munch’s masterpiece degrade

Although the painting is dubbed The Night Watch, research suggests that it was originally a daylight scene.

Art Meets Science

Explore a Hyper-Resolution Rendering of Rembrandt’s ‘The Night Watch’ Online

More than 500 individual photographs make up the new image of the Dutch artist’s 17th-century masterpiece

Evoca1 for PUBLIC Silo Trail, Pingrup (2018)

Virtual Travel

See How Artists Have Turned Farm Silos Into Stunning Giant Murals

The projects are helping Australia’s drought-stricken rural towns find new life as outdoor art galleries

A composite image combines ten new scans of Johannes Vermeer's Girl With a Pearl Earring.

Art Meets Science

Researchers Reveal Hidden Details in Vermeer’s ‘Girl With a Pearl Earring’

New scans revealed the figure’s now-faded eyelashes and green backdrop, but her identity remains a mystery

Designer, illustrator, painter, cultural force: in New York City, 1962.

How Andy Warhol Came to Paint Campbell’s Soup Cans

He was talented and prosperous, but the young visionary worried the art world had left him behind. Then he discovered soup

Page 34 of 51