The Brooch, Edvard Munch, 1902

Edvard Munch Is Known as the Painter of ‘The Scream.’ His Many Haunting Portraits Show That He Was Much More Than His Masterpiece

Through 45 artworks made between the 1880s and the 1920s, a new exhibition spotlights the Norwegian artist’s sometimes divisive style of portraiture

Prince William Nii Nortey Dowuona, Gustav Klimt, 1897

Cool Finds

This Dusty Painting Turned Out to Be Gustav Klimt’s Long-Lost Portrait of an African Prince

Experts think the renowned Austrian Symbolist painted the artwork in 1897. An art gallery in Vienna has priced it at $16 million

Postman Joseph Roulin, Vincent van Gogh, 1888

Why Did Vincent van Gogh Paint 26 Portraits of a Postman and His Family While Staying in the South of France?

The artist met Joseph Roulin, a 47-year-old postal worker, in the late 1880s. The series of artworks will be reunited at upcoming exhibitions in Boston and Amsterdam

Curator Katherine Carter with the restored Marlborough portrait in Chartwell's main staircase

Restoration Reveals the Secrets of One of Winston Churchill’s Most Beloved Paintings

Long thought to be a family heirloom, the artwork was actually gifted to the British prime minister in 1942 during the darkest days of World War II

This George Romney sketch was discovered in a dumpster in upstate New York.

Cool Finds

This 18th-Century Sketch by a Renowned English Portraitist Was Hiding in a Dumpster in New York

The tiny drawing by artist George Romney depicts Henrietta, Countess of Warwick. It will be sold at an upcoming auction in London

Researchers think the portrait depicts a businessman, lawyer or banker.

Cool Finds

Experts Say They’ve Found a Portrait of a Mysterious Businessman Hidden Beneath a Titian Masterpiece

When the Renaissance artist painted his famous “Ecce Homo” around 1570, he covered up a portrait of an “an unknown professional man” standing at a desk

Washington at Princeton, Charles Willson Peale, 1779

This Historic Portrait of George Washington Is Being Restored to Its Former Glory

The 18th-century painting by Charles Willson Peale had previously been the subject of mismanaged restoration attempts. Now, experts in Versailles are bringing it back in line with the artist’s original intent

The painting measures less than 15 inches tall and just over 5 inches wide. The verso of the panel includes part of a Marian prayer.

See the Miniature Portrait of Mary Magdalene That Raphael Painted When He Was Only 20

Created around 1503, the painting—which just sold at auction for $3.1 million—depicts the saint after the crucifixion of Jesus, when she entered a period of repentance

A portrait of Ian McKellen (center) hanging alongside depictions of (from left to right) Frances Barber, Charles Dance, Harriet Walter and Simon Callow

See How Talking Portraits Bring the Greatest Living Shakespearean Actors to Life

A collection of ten digital portraits of famous thespians—including Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart and Harriet Walter—are on view at the Red Eight Gallery in London

Allied soldiers rescued the portrait and other works from Germany's Neuschwanstein Castle in 1945.

A Nazi-Looted Painting Recovered by the Monuments Men During World War II Is Going on Sale

When the war ended, Allied soldiers tracked down Nicolas de Largillierre’s “Portrait de femme à mi-corps” with the help of a savvy French curator who had been working for the resistance

A view of the exhibition "Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Always to Return" at the National Portrait Gallery

From Candy to Lightbulbs, Felix Gonzalez-Torres Showed Life and Loss Through Everyday Objects

A new exhibition co-presented by the National Portrait Gallery and the Archives of American Art explores the seminal artist’s work

The Roaring Lion, Yousuf Karsh, 1941

A Thief Replaced This Iconic Churchill Portrait With a Fake. Two Years Later, the Original Has Been Recovered

Investigators discovered that the original print of “The Roaring Lion” had been sold to a buyer in Italy

Painted in the 1640s or 1650s by Flemish artist Erasmus Quellinus II, the portrait first arrived at Chatsworth House in 1838.

Cool Finds

Missing for Four Decades, This Unusual Double Portrait of Rubens and van Dyck Has Finally Resurfaced

The 17th-century painting, stolen in a 1979 heist, turned up at an auction in France in 2020. It recently returned home to Chatsworth House in England

Portrait of George the Bearded, Duke of Saxony (circa 1534) is attributed to Lucas Cranach the Elder and his workshop.

Museum Settles With Heirs of Jewish Couple Who Sold a 16th-Century Painting as They Fled the Nazis

A Pennsylvania museum will auction the portrait—and split the proceeds with the descendants of Henry and Hertha Bromberg

Andreane Rellou is an actor and filmmaker who saw the photos at the museum and took it upon herself to identify the two women.

Cool Finds

Amateur Sleuth Identifies the Mystery Women in a Museum’s Fabergé Frames

The portraits were on display at a museum in England, where staffers had been wondering about the two subjects for years

This portrait of Henry VIII was one of 22 in a set commissioned by Ralph Sheldon in the late 16th century.

Cool Finds

Art Historian Discovers Long-Lost Portrait of Henry VIII in Background of Social Media Post

Commissioned by a wealthy tapestry maker in the 1590s, the Tudor king’s likeness features a distinctive frame with a rounded top

The newly discovered self-portrait by Norman Cornish

Cool Finds

Hidden Self-Portrait by Norman Cornish Discovered Behind Another Painting

A conservator in northern England stumbled upon the work on the reverse side of a piece called “Bar Scene”

A circa 1846 portrait of Dolley Madison by John Plumbe Jr.

Women Who Shaped History

The Smithsonian Acquires the Earliest Known Photograph of an American First Lady

The National Portrait Gallery purchased an 1846 daguerreotype of Dolley Madison for $456,000

The artworks are the only pendant marital portraits of an Amsterdam couple that Hals ever created.

These Dutch Newlyweds Had Their Portraits Painted Nearly 400 Years Ago. But Who Were They?

A curator has finally figured out the identity of the couple painted by Frans Hals around 1637

New Orleans’ first Gay Pride Parade was held in 1980, and the tradition continues today. 

LGBTQ+ Pride

Celebrate Pride Month With 15 Photos of LGBTQ Joy

These images from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest capture vibrant parades and festivals around the world

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