The Guerrilla Girls Are Back for Hollywood
These anonymous activists have been stirring things up in the art world since the 1980s, and they've just released another thought-provoking poster.
A Phrenologist’s Dream of an Octagon House
Orson S. Fowler thought houses without right angles would offer a better life, but his own architectural experiments did not end well.
How Impressionist Berthe Morisot Painted Women’s Lives
Berthe Morisot never became as famous as her counterparts Claude Monet and Édouard Manet, but her work has an important place in art history.
The Painting That Changed New York City
Classical nudes were once reserved for learned men in elite spaces. Then a hotelier hung Nymphs and Satyr in a public bar, shaking up NYC's bourgeoisie.
Frida Kahlo’s Forgotten Politics
Museum exhibitions of Frida Kahlo's work tend to focus on her personal style and persona. But Kahlo was intensely political, as were her paintings.
How Mary Colter Made the Grand Canyon an Experience
Architect Mary Colter created buildings that incorporated local materials and indigenous motifs, blending with the environment rather than dominating it.
Love, Obsession, and Sophie Calle
The conceptual artist Sophie Calle creates art that urges us to ask, is attention the same as love?
How American Artists Have Portrayed Haiti
In the early 20th century, African American artists created work that expressed solidarity with Haiti--whether they had been there or not.
A Decades-in-the-Making Artwork in a Dormant Volcano
James Turrell is building an observatory that uses the human eye instead of optical instruments. It may soon be open to the public for the first time.
The Silkwomen of Medieval London
A group of skilled women ran the silk-making industry in 15th century London. So why didn't they protect their workers' rights by forming a guild?