Find uplifting stories about heroes, innovations, and solutions
18 results for "art history"
%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Ftf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffiler_public%2F37%2Fc8%2F37c8b0a6-9511-4d41-9cf9-f58491a83ab4%2Fgirls-watering-flowers.jpg)
For a century, Edvard Munch paintings have hung in a Norwegian chocolate factory cafeteria, watching over workers during lunch breaks. Now these rarely seen artworks are heading to a museum for the first time, complete with 100 years of nicotine stains and cocoa powder.
When Alfred Joseph Frueh's wife faced an overwhelming Paris gallery visit, he didn't just offer encouragement. He built her a miniature paper museum that unfolds like a map of love.
%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Ftf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffiler_public%2Fea%2Fea%2Feaea3f01-054e-404d-a23c-35d963632fa6%2Fel_bautismo_de_cristo_el_greco_1597.jpg)
For 400 years, experts believed El Greco's son helped finish one of his final paintings. New AI technology analyzed invisible brushstroke patterns and discovered the Renaissance master deserves sole credit for the entire work.
For decades, experts believed El Greco's stunning "The Baptism of Christ" was finished by his son and apprentices after his death. Now AI analysis hints the Renaissance master may have painted it himself.
A priceless 17th-century manuscript that vanished from Valencia over 100 years ago just turned up in an online listing for €71,900. Spanish police spotted it during routine monitoring and reunited it with historians who thought it was lost forever.
%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Ftf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffiler_public%2F67%2F97%2F6797f043-3775-4ef7-8439-3048e9763ced%2Fwdk-03-ven.jpg)
The Dutch-American painter spent decades perfecting his craft before his first solo show at age 44 launched him into art history. A new Princeton exhibition celebrates the breakthrough years that changed modern painting forever.
Margaret Wein wept when she saw her great-great-grandfather's face for the first time in a crayon drawing created 80 years ago. A team of researchers just reunited 810 secret Aboriginal artworks with descendants across the Australian desert, rewriting art history in the process.
%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Ftf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffiler_public%2F59%2Fa0%2F59a0f57c-687e-45f3-991b-a2d9f44f63ff%2F714129.jpg)
A 171-year-old sketch just became available to Americans nationwide. The drawing helped turn Yosemite into one of the nation's most beloved destinations.
A mysterious claw-like handprint in an Indonesian cave has been confirmed as the oldest known art on Earth, created 67,800 years ago. The discovery reshapes our understanding of early human creativity and the journey to Australia.
%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Ftf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffiler_public%2F46%2Fd4%2F46d4a5d8-9864-46a7-8f84-91d0faf15849%2Fsacrario_sala-celeste-regio-ix-3-1200x801.jpeg)
Scientists just discovered that painting one tiny blue room in ancient Pompeii cost as much as six months of a soldier's pay. The vibrant walls reveal just how wealthy some homeowners were nearly 2,000 years ago.
A forgotten masterpiece by Dutch painter Rembrandt has been authenticated after disappearing from public view for more than six decades. The 1633 painting will go on display in Amsterdam this week.
A Dutch woman who kept a folder of inherited "nice pictures" in a drawer for years discovered she owns 35 authentic Rembrandt etchings. What started as a pandemic hobby turned into one of art history's most delightful surprises.
Vincent van Gogh's "The Starry Night" is one of the world's most famous paintings, but few know he painted the same view from his asylum window dozens of times. These five lesser-known works reveal how the troubled artist evolved his technique and found beauty worth painting again and again.
A North Carolina couple discovered they owned a 472-year-old painting by Renaissance master Sofonisba Anguissola after watching a YouTube lecture. The portrait, missing for over a century, is one of only 20 signed works by history's most celebrated female artist of the era.
A rare Rembrandt drawing of a lion just sold for a record $18 million, and every dollar goes toward protecting the endangered animals it depicts. Wildlife conservation meets art history in this remarkable sale that proves passion and purpose can work together.
%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Ftf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffiler_public%2F3e%2F64%2F3e64aeef-a1db-45ee-b524-f47102de7de6%2Fportrait-of-a-canon-regular.jpg)
A 472-year-old masterpiece by one of the Renaissance's rare female artists turned up in a family's collection after being lost for nearly a century. The owners discovered they had a treasure after watching a YouTube lecture about the artist.
Amrita Sher-Gil painted rural Indian women with unflinching honesty in the 1930s, creating masterpieces that still challenge viewers today. Her five most celebrated works show why she remains one of India's most important modern artists nearly a century later.
A new permanent exhibit in Bengaluru lets visitors play a 19th-century version of Snakes and Ladders while exploring 2,000 years of art history. Ancient Buddhist sculptures share space with modern abstract paintings in an exhibit designed for hands-on discovery.