Books
Matching the Smells of Musty Manuscripts with Chemical Compounds
Researchers at University College London studied the scents of old books to better understand how to identify and protect "heritage smells."
Latest
Film
A Long Overdue Biopic Tells Tom of Finland’s Life Story
A biographical film about the Finnish adman and expert draughtsman who made exquisite drawings of explicit gay erotic encounters is playing at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Art
Watch a Female Animator’s Abstract Films from the Mid-20th Century
On April 30, the Cinefamily is presenting a selection of Mary Ellen Bute's films in which vibrant shapes dance across the screen to soundtracks by classical composers.
Film
A Long-Censored Chilean Filmmaker Revisits a Documentary 30 Years Later
Playing at Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Art of the Real series, This Is the Way I Like It II is a playful, entangled follow-up to Ignacio Agüero's 1985 film.
News
Discover Your Ancient Sculptural Doppelgänger
On the website of Quebec's Musée de la Civilisation, facial recognition software will match your visage with a 2,000-year-old work of art.
Art
A Meditation on the Ineffable Grandeur of Churches
I find that crossing the narthex of a cathedral is like starting a great book: You simply aren’t in your home world anymore.
Art
The Timeless Blackness of Balenciaga’s Dresses
An exhibition at the Musée Bourdelle showcases some 60 pieces designed by Cristóbal Balenciaga, highlighting his sculptural manipulations of black fabric.
Performance
Fruits of a Fictitious Expedition Fill the Oldest Built Museum in the United States
H.T. Darling's Incredible Musaeum in Baltimore's 1814 Peale Museum, the first built museum in the United States, offers visitors a complex narrative of time travel and colonialism.
Art
Sculptor Camille Claudel Finally Gets Her Own Museum
In the French town of Nogent-sur-Seine, the Musée Camille Claudel opened last month with 43 of the artist’s sculptures, the largest collection anywhere in the world.
Art
A 1792 Mexican Novel Shows Early Day of the Dead Iconography
Engravings by Francisco Agüera Bustamante in The Astounding Life of Death show the bony figure in a variety of roles, from a baby to a king.
Art
Carroll Dunham’s Erotic Paintings of Male Nudes at Blum & Poe
Carroll Dunham's latest paintings of men acting out masculine rituals in his signature landscapes opens this Friday at Blum & Poe in Los Angeles.
Books
A Designer’s 1977 Road Map to Better Visual Literacy Gets Rereleased
A new edition of George Nelson's How to See shows that his guide to the human-made landscape is as relevant as ever.