Accessibility links
Fine Art Fine Art

Fine Art

Thursday

Sally Mann at her home studio in Virginia on August 16, 2025.
See More

Sally Mann at her home studio in Lexington, Va., on August 16, 2025. Zayrha Rodriguez/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Zayrha Rodriguez/NPR

Photography

Photographer Sally Mann warns of 'new era of culture wars' after art seizure

As she reflects on her career in a second memoir, Sally Mann warns of a "new era of culture wars" after police pulled several photographs she took of her children decades ago off the walls of a museum.

Photographer Sally Mann warns of 'new era of culture wars' after her art was removed

Listen · 7:01
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5350583/nx-s1-9466642" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Sunday

The painting by Rigoberto A. González, Refugees Crossing the Border Wall into South Texas, was described in the White House letter as "commemorating the act of illegally crossing." It was a competition finalist at The National Portrait Gallery in 2022.

A painting by Rigoberto Gonzalez, titled Refugees Crossing the Border Wall into South Texas, was singled out by the White House in a list of artworks and exhibitions it found objectionable. Rigoberto A. González hide caption

toggle caption
Rigoberto A. González

Culture

Smithsonian artists and scholars respond to White House list of objectionable art

A page published by the White House entitled "President Trump Is Right About the Smithsonian" lists exhibits, educational sites and more that the administration seems to take issue with.

SMITHSONIAN EXHIBIT LIST

Listen · 5:01
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5511241/nx-s1-9424346" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Thursday

Movie Interviews

For painter Titus Kaphar, forgiveness is 'a weight lifted off of your shoulders'

Kaphar draws on his own painful relationship with his father in his film, Exhibiting Forgiveness. He says the project gave him a new sympathy for his dad. Originally broadcast Oct. 24, 2024.

For painter Titus Kaphar, forgiveness is 'a weight lifted off of your shoulders'

Listen · 43:35
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5436659/g-s1-73599" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Saturday

Ruth Asawa, Albert’s Rose Bouquet (PF.564), 1990; private collection. This bouquet, given to the artist around Mother's Day in May 1990 by her husband, Albert Lanier, was among the many Asawa sketched over the years.

Ruth Asawa, Albert's Rose Bouquet (PF.564), 1990; private collection. This bouquet, given to the artist around Mother's Day in May 1990 by her husband, Albert Lanier, was among the many Asawa sketched over the years. © 2025 Ruth Asawa Lanier Inc., courtesy David Zwirner; photo: James Paonessa hide caption

toggle caption
© 2025 Ruth Asawa Lanier Inc., courtesy David Zwirner; photo: James Paonessa

Mother's Day

Mother's Day flowers don't last, but these bouquet sketches live on

The late artist Ruth Asawa regularly drew the bouquets people gave her. Years later, some of the sketches made it back to those who gave flowers.

RUTH ASAWA'S BOUQUET DRAWINGS

Listen · 2:42
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5385893/nx-s1-5450848-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Artist Arewà Basit poses in front of Trans Forming Liberty (2024), a 10-foot oil painting by Amy Sherald.

Arewà Basit poses in front of Trans Forming Liberty (2024), a 10-foot oil painting by Amy Sherald for which she served as the model. Sansho Scott/BFA.com hide caption

toggle caption
Sansho Scott/BFA.com

Painter Amy Sherald asks: What is American?

Amy Sherald, who painted former First Lady Michelle Obama's portrait in 2018, has a major survey of her work opening this week at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

Painter Amy Sherald reimagines the 'American sublime' in new show

Listen · 3:44
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5351010/nx-s1-5417803-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

John Ahearn and Rigoberto Torres, Jamese Jefferson and Gloria Bollock, 1992, acrylic on Hydrocal plaster life cast

John Ahearn and Rigoberto Torres, Jamese Jefferson and Gloria Bollock, 1992, acrylic on Hydrocal plaster life cast Anacostia Community Museum/Smithsonian Institution hide caption

toggle caption
Anacostia Community Museum/Smithsonian Institution

This art exhibition is 'divisive' or 'eye-opening' — it depends who you ask

A new White House executive order says the exhibition is an example of how the Smithsonian portrays "American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive."

Smithsonian Art exhibition deemed 'divisive'

Listen · 3:08
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5345933/nx-s1-5409726-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

A sculpture of Aphrodite is displayed during an exhibition of ancient Greek art in 2007 in Beijing, China. The collection is from the 5th and 4th centuries BC. Many ancient statues were scented, a researcher says.

A sculpture of Aphrodite is displayed during an exhibition of ancient Greek art in 2007 in Beijing, China. The collection is from the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. Many ancient statues were scented, a researcher says. China Photos/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
China Photos/Getty Images

History

Ancient Greek and Roman statues often smelled like roses, a new study says

Ancient Greek and Roman statues didn't originally look like they do now in museums. A new study says they didn't smell the same, either.

Thursday

The Wichita Art Museum in Wichita, Kan. says more young people have been attending exhibitions since it decided to stop charging admissions for its permanent collection in 2023.

The Wichita Art Museum in Wichita, Kan., says more young people have been attending exhibitions since it decided to stop charging admissions for its permanent collection in 2023. Naama Marcos
/Wichita Art Museum hide caption

toggle caption
Naama Marcos
/Wichita Art Museum

Culture

Report: (Smaller) Museums should make admission free

A new study out this week from the museum think tank Remuseum suggests free admission attracts more visitors without increasing costs.

FREE MUSEUM ADMISSION

Listen · 2:46
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5328747/nx-s1-5396564-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

"50 Years of Hope and HA-HAs" is the first Vietnamese American art exhibit to open in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia region, according to the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

"50 Years of Hope and HA-HAs" is the first Vietnamese American art exhibit to open in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia region, according to the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Maansi Srivastava for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Maansi Srivastava for NPR

Fall of Saigon, 50 years on

A new art exhibit examines 50 years since the Vietnam War and looks forward with hope

April 2025 marks 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War. In Washington, D.C., a new art exhibit offers counter-narratives of what it means to be Vietnamese American.

Monday

A diptych from Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst’s "xhairymutantx". The work, originally commissioned as part of a larger piece for the 2024 Whitney Biennial, is among those offered for sale at Christie's landmark AI art auction.

A diptych from Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst's "xhairymutantx." The work, originally commissioned as part of a larger piece for the 2024 Whitney Biennial, is among those offered for sale at Christie's landmark AI art auction. Christie's Images Ltd. 2025 hide caption

toggle caption
Christie's Images Ltd. 2025

Art & Design

Christie's AI art auction inspires protests – and more art

The upcoming Augmented Intelligence sale represents the first time a major auction house is focusing entirely on works created using machine learning. Artists have mixed feelings about it.

Christie’s AI art auction inspires protests – and more art

Listen · 2:36
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5296911/nx-s1-5360663-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

An infrared image of Portrait of Mateu Fernández de Soto, revealing another portrait underneath.

An infrared image of Portrait of Mateu Fernández de Soto, revealing another portrait underneath. The Courtauld Institute of Art/The Courtauld Institute of Art hide caption

toggle caption
The Courtauld Institute of Art/The Courtauld Institute of Art

The Brief

A hidden Picasso painting from the early Blue Period is revealed by new technology

Experts analyzing the painting have several theories about why this unidentified woman has remained submerged for more than a century.

Wednesday

State of the World from NPR

Greenland, Still Not For Sale. And the Mona Lisa Gets Its Own Room.

Even if Greenland were for sale, buying the Artic territory would be complicated. And French President Emmanuel Macron promises to renovate the Louvre, which is falling into disrepair.

Greenland, Still Not For Sale. And the Mona Lisa Gets Its Own Room.

Listen · 7:28
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1227543287/1265605147" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Louvre visitors in front of The Wedding at Cana by Paolo Veronese in June 2024.

Louvre visitors in front of The Wedding Feast at Cana by Paolo Veronese in June 2024. The painting is among several masterworks that may soon cease to play "second fiddle'" to the Mona Lisa. Antoine Boureau/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Antoine Boureau/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images

Mona Lisa's roommates may be glad she's moving out

Now that Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece is moving to another room at The Louvre, other Renaissance masterpieces hanging in the same space by Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese may finally get their due.

Mona Lisa's roommates may be glad she's moving out

Listen · 2:33
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5277578/nx-s1-5341897-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript