Art
How Visual Propaganda Helped Build the Statue of Liberty
Long before it became one of New York City's most photographed landmarks — before it was even completely erected, in 1886 — the Statue of Liberty featured in countless pictures.
France
Art
175,000-Year-Old Cave Structures Suggest Neanderthals Were Quite Advanced
Sure, the 14,000-year-old cave paintings recently found in Spain are impressive, with their romping bison and horses, but a far older ancient art mystery is being untangled in France.
Art
19th-Century French Caricatures Reinvented in a Game About Bird Lawyers
Aviary Attorney is a game based on the caricatures of 19th-century French artist J. J. Grandville, who skewered the aristocrats and politicians of his time by illustrating society figures as animals.
Art
Archeologists Discover 400-Year-Old Hearts in Lead Boxes
Five heart-shaped lead boxes dating to the 16th and 17th centuries were exhumed from the basement of the Convent of the Jacobins in Rennes, France.
In Brief
The Louvre Is Empty
One week after terrorists killed 129 people in Paris, the French capital remains quiet, including its museums.
Art
The Pomp and Mockery of Louis XIV’s Propaganda Medals
Louis XIV, like politicians of today, knew the value of controlling his public image.
Art
A French History of Gold, Gilded, and Fancy Frames
Walk into a gallery of 17th- or 18th-century French paintings and prepare to be blinded by the gilding that encircles each work like an overwrought halo.
News
A Petition to Stop "Irresponsible" Restoration of Chartres Cathedral
A new petition against the cathedral's restoration claims work done over the past six years has irreversibly damaged the 800-year-old building and erased centuries of the history that makes it so special.
Art
The Story of France’s Mini Bastilles, Made from the Infamous Prison’s Rubble
Today is France's national holiday, known abroad as Bastille Day, and perhaps you have wondered: what became of all that stone after the goliath Bastille prison was stormed on July 14, 1789?
News
French National Railroad's Open Call for Art Offers Neither Money Nor Rights
In May, France's national railroad, the SNCF (or Société nationale des chemins de fer français), put out an open call for artists to propose temporary projects for 16 of its properties that are disused or currently awaiting renovation.
News
French National Railroad's Open Call for Art Offers Neither Money Nor Rights
In May, France's national railroad, the SNCF (or Société nationale des chemins de fer français), put out an open call for artists to propose temporary projects for 16 of its properties that are disused or currently awaiting renovation.
News
In Place of Love Locks, a Paris Bridge Gets Street Art
Francophiles were heartbroken last week when French authorities removed the iconic padlocks that lovers have been attaching to the Pont des Arts bridge for decades.