Smarthistory

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Marisol's "The Party": Fashion and Alienation in 1960s New York
Critiquing the performative nature of high society, Marisol Escobar's "The Party" (1965-66), shows that despite looking the part, it can still be lonely at the top.
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A Close Look at Henry Moore's "Reclining Figure"
Art historians use careful observation and description to begin their analyses of a work of art. Here, Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker take a close look at Henry Moore's sinuous…
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A Beacon of Hope: Aaron Douglas's "Aspiration"
Painted for the Hall of Negro Life at the Texas Centennial Exposition, Aaron Douglas's Aspiration (1936) shows a way for African Americans to forge a hopeful future.
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Martyr or murderer? Hovenden's The Last Moments of John Brown
Thomas Hovenden's The Last Moments of John Brown (c. 1884) captures the complex and controversial place John Brown holds in American history.
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Masami Teraoka's "American Kabuki" Confronts the AIDS Crisis
Masami Teraoka uses a traditional Japanese art form to confront the AIDS crisis in American Kabuki (1986).
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Cheap Thrills: Coney Island during the Great Depression
Reginald Marsh captures the excitement of 1930's Coney Island in his dramatic depiction of a steeplechase, Wooden Horses (1936). Curator Erin Monroe discusses this moment in American history…
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Homage to JFK: Rauschenberg's "Retroactive I"
Robert Rauschenberg was in the middle of creating this portrait of John F. Kennedy when the president was assassinated. Hear Steven Zucker and Patricia Hickson, Emily Hall Tremaine…
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A celebration of beauty and love: Botticelli's "Birth of Venus"

Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris discuss Sandro Botticelli's Birth of Venus (c. 1485) one of the most popular works at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

Albrecht Dürer, Melancholia 1, 1514. Engraving. Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Decoding Art: Albrecht Dürer's "Melencolia I"
This famous image is packed with meaning. Find out what each of these objects symbolizes, and how they relate to the overall theme of melancholy.
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American History in a Painting: Richard Caton Woodville's "War News from Mexico"
Dr. Mindy Besaw, curator, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and Dr. Steven Zucker discuss Richard Caton Woodville's War News from Mexico (1848, oil on canvas) at the Crystal Bridges Museum…
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Thought the Puritans Were Dour? Think Again!
Brandy Culp, Richard Koopman Curator of American Decorative Arts at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, and Beth Harris discuss a Court Cupboard (1665-73, red oak with cedar and maple (moldings),…
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A Harlem street scene by Jacob Lawrence, "Ambulance Call"
Jennifer Padgett, assistant curator, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and Beth Harris discuss Jacob Lawrence's Ambulance Call (1948, tempera on board) at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American…
Titus Kaphar's "The Cost of Removal"

Beth Harris and Lauren Haynes, Curator, Contemporary Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, discuss Titus Kaphar's The Cost of Removal (2017, oil, canvas, and rusted…