Art & Design

Explore Art & Design across the Smithsonian through stories, events, and exhibitions. Use the filters to browse by format, then bookmark events and exhibitions to keep track of what you want to visit or attend.

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Art & Design
Culture & Community
Two black and white vinyl covers showing photos of famed singer Big Mama Thornton.
Two Centennial Vinyl Reissues by Big Mama Thornton
Announcing the LP reissue of rock ‘n’ roll and R&B architect Big Mama Thornton’s two debut albums. Both albums will be released one week before her centennial on December 4, 2026, and both are now available for pre-order.
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Article
A 19th century faded black and white photograph of a town in Paris, France.
Where Exactly Were the First Humans to Be Captured in a Photograph Standing? Three Obsessed Filmmakers Solved the Nearly 200-Year-Old Mystery
The sleuths spent two years digging into archives and building 3D models of 19th-century Paris. The location is now immortalized by a bronze plaque celebrating the historic site and the “poetic” early photograph
Smithsonian Magazine
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Art & Design
A wide, modern spiral staircase with a bright blue sky behind it.
Shanghai’s ‘Audacious’ New Opera House Just Opened Its Doors—and a Gravity-Defying Staircase—to the Public
The riverfront opera house is Shanghai’s latest cultural statement. It features three performance halls and is designed to be accessible to everyone, not just ticket-holders.
Smithsonian Magazine
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Art & Design
The backs of two people in front of a a small, 16th century self portrait of a woman seated while painting.
She Painted the First Known Self-Portrait of an Artist at Work—and Signed It—Nearly 500 Years Ago. Who Was Catharina van Hemessen?
Few women worked as professional artists in the 16th century. A new exhibition in Antwerp, Belgium, seeks to restore this Flemish painter to the pantheon of art history giants.
Smithsonian Magazine
Article
Opaque watercolor painting of a four armed goddess made on paper, with gold, silver, and beetle wing.
Three unexpected ways artists turned nature into art in a 17th-century Indian painting
Find three secrets hidden in this 17th-century Indian painting.
Smithsonian Institution
Article
A 1600s era painting depicting Aristotle.
Rembrandt Turned Ancient Myths Into ‘Supremely Human’ Works of Art. An Upcoming Exhibition Traces the Inspiration He Took From Antiquity
“Rembrandt and the Ancients” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art will unpack an “underexplored but vital” part of the Dutch master’s career, putting his paintings and drawings in conversation with the antecedents that inspired them.
Smithsonian Magazine
Article
An archive space consisting of large paintings.
Madrid’s Renewed and Expanded Sorolla Museum Lets the Paintings of the Spanish ‘Master of Light’ Re-emerge Into Public View
Dedicated to the works of Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida, the museum is centered around his historic home and studio. The first phase of its yearslong renovation is complete, featuring expanded exhibition spaces.
Smithsonian Magazine
Article
An image showing a black and white abstract artwork
Light Is a Plastic Medium: The Photography of Carlotta Corpron
Light Is a Plastic Medium: The Photography of Carlotta Corpron surveys work by the American abstract photographer and educator Carlotta Corpron whose investigations into the poetics of light and form and innovative use of technology supported . Shortened snippet. View full page for more details.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
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Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
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Exhibitions