Renovations to the Smithsonian Castle will be on the Fine Arts Commission's agenda. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Art & Design NPR explores the visual arts including design, photography, sculpture, and architecture. Interviews, commentary, and audio. Subscribe to the RSS feed.
Art & Design
Painting by David Bowie on auction. Cowley Abbott hide caption
A David Bowie Painting That Sold For $4 At A Thrift Store Is Now Up For Auction
NPR x PPW Loveis Wise hide caption
Junior Court Official is one of two 16th-century plaques produced at the Court of Benin that will be returned to Nigeria by the Met. Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art hide caption
A photograph of the 1856 One-Cent Magenta used an infrared filter to suppress the stamp's red surface, making the black printing more visible. Smithsonian's National Postal Museum hide caption
In January 2020, Arizona artist Ann Morton put out a call on social media asking people to create 8 inch by 8 inch textile squares that use equal parts red and blue. The squares and the project as a whole stands for a set of values: respect for the other, citizenship, compromise, country over party and corporate influence, and creativity. Bill Tillerman hide caption
The art installation Equilateral Network by Lisa Marie Thalhammer now graces the lawn of the National Building museum in Washington, D.C. Lisa Marie Thalhammer hide caption
Taking on Skin Color, Art and Politics in 'White'
The National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture in Chicago cut some programming but retained its small staff during the pandemic. National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture hide caption
A New Report Shows Museums Had A Bad Year — But Not The Worst Possible
Artist Paul Rucker is creating a new multimedia work to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre. That's when a thriving African American community was destroyed in a horrific act of violence that wiped out hundreds of Black-owned businesses and homes. Above, an aerial view of Tulsa, Okla., Fowler & Kelly, 1918. GHI/Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images hide caption
Artist's Black Wall Street Project Is About Tulsa 100 Years Ago — And Today
Adelyn Dohme Breeskin studio portrait, 1961 Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution Photo by Leonard L. Grief, Jr. hide caption
An aerial view of Washington, D.C., shows the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument as well as the U.S. Capitol. Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images hide caption
Adri Quiñones, center, leads the prayer during Saturday morning Shabbat services at Beth Shalom on Jan. 18, 2020. Rachel Wisniewski hide caption
The 'Forever Marilyn' statue by artist Seward Johnson was first in Palm Springs from 2012 to 2014. Now, she's headed back to the resort town permanently. But her return is sparking a backlash. Frederic J. Brown /AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Giant Marilyn Monroe Statue Returns To Palm Springs, But Its Backside Faces Backlash
Alice Neel, Self‑Portrait, 1980 National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C/The Estate of Alice Neel hide caption
An untitled photo from 1956-57. Seydou Keïta/SKPE—Courtesy CAAC—The Pigozzi Collection hide caption
A rendering of new signage designed for the National Gallery of Art. Pentagram/National Gallery of Art hide caption
Album Leaf of Flowers and Insects, bequest of the Hofer Collection of the Arts of Asia, 1985.904.6 Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College/Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum hide caption
Brood X Is Back — But Cicadas Have Been In Chinese Art For Millennia
"Recycle art activist" Thomas Dambo makes gentle giants from scrap wood, old pallets, twigs and debris. Above, the troll Marit in It Sounded Like a Mountain Fell in Wulong, China. Jacob Keinicke/Thomas Dambo hide caption
Far From The Internet, These Big, Benevolent Trolls Lure Humans To Nature
A basic hand-sewing kit includes thread, hand-sewing needles, a thimble, beeswax, a pair of fabric scissors, an iron and ironing board. Photo illustration by Becky Harlan/NPR hide caption
Italian officials have announced a project to build and install a high-tech, retractable floor inside the ancient Roman Colosseum by 2023, some two centuries after archaeologists removed the arena's stage. Domenico Stinellis/AP hide caption
tk Leica Women Foto Project Winners 2020 hide caption