Art & Artists

Panamanian termites (Termes panamaensis).

Faster Than a Speeding Bullet

Bill Fitzhugh maps the blacksmith’s shop’s floor, 2008. The Smithsonian research vessel PItsuilak rides at anchor in the bay. Fitzhugh and his team live aboard the boat, which takes its name from the Inuit word for a seabird, during their excavations.

The Basques Were Here

In arctic Canada, a Smithsonian researcher discovers evidence of Basque trading with North America

Dedicated donor: In 1925, ten-year-old Orrin Nash gave what he could.

Thinking Ahead

In 1925, 10-year-old Orrin Nash gave all he could to help the Smithsonian

Barbara Ehrenreich, author of "Up Close at Carnival."

Barbara Ehrenreich on “Up Close at Carnival”

Barbara Ehrenreich on “Up Close at Carnival”

Los Angeles-based graphic designer Shepard Fairey.

Shepard Fairey: The Artist Behind the Obama Portrait

A portrait created by a graphic designer ended up becoming the icon for the Obama campaign and an international phenomenon

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Beyond the Photos with Neal Slavin

Photographer Neal Slavin discusses his group portraits and his career as a whole

Van Gogh painted his iconic The Starry Night in 1889, while in an asylum in Saint-Rémy. "One of the most beautiful things by the painters of this century," he had written to Theo in April 1885, "has been the painting of Darkness that is still COLOR."

Van Gogh's Night Visions

For Vincent Van Gogh, fantasy and reality merged after dark in some of his most enduring paintings, as a new exhibition reminds us

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Letters

Readers Respond to the November Issue

Fluid Dynamics by Tina York.

What's Up

Dorothy's Ruby Red Slippers from The Wizard of Oz are back on display at the National Museum of American History.

For Those Ruby Red Slippers, There's No Place Like Home

The newly reopened Smithsonian National Museum of American History boasts a rare pair of Judy Garland's legendary ruby slippers

Ceremonial palanquin that was a form of transport favored by warlords in 19th-century Japan.

Easy Rider

The Battle of Actium, c. 1680.

The Divine Art of Tapestries

The long-forgotten art form receives a long overdue renaissance in an exhibit featuring centuries-old woven tapestries

The Luce Foundation Center is a three-story exploratorium located in the top levels of the American Art Museum. The final quests in "Ghosts of a Chance" took place here on October 25. Nearly 250 people participated.

The End of the Game, a Mystery in Four Parts

In a first-hand account of participating in an alternative reality game, one player gets caught up in the challenge

Harrison: "Practically every product in the Sears, Roebuck line I had a hand in at one time or another."

Interview with Charles Harrison

The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt honors the prolific industrial designer with its Lifetime Achievement Award

David B. Gamble house, Pasadena, 1907-09.

The Splendor of Greene and Greene

A new exhibition celebrates the work of brothers Charles and Henry Greene, masters of American Arts and Crafts architecture

The Madonna’s dress was of the costumes most severally damaged by the poor lighting in the barn, which faded the color of her gown from pink to white. The restorer’s solution was not to discard the original dress, but instead to reverse it, so that the gown’s back is now its front.

A Creche Reborn

In rural Connecticut, a 300-year-old nativity scene is brought back to life by the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Mark Catesby's Blue Jay.

Mark Catesby's New World

The artist sketched American wildlife for Europe's high society, educating them on the creatures living among the unexplored lands

Author of Karsh Reality, Mathew Gurewitsch.

Matthew Gurewitsch on "Karsh Reality"

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Letters

Readers Respond to the November Issue

"Years later, in the Kremlin," Karsh would recall, "[Leonid] Brezhnev agreed to sit for me only if I made him as beautiful as Audrey Hepburn."

From Castro to Warhol to Mother Teresa, He Photographed Them All

Yousuf Karsh took a singular approach to fame and the famous

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