Arts & Culture

New fractal technique spots fake Van Goghs without touching the paintings

A new non-invasive method using fractal mathematics can distinguish authentic Van Gogh paintings from forgeries by analyzing the microscopic texture of brushstrokes, according to research published on June 11 in the journal Surface Topography: Metrology and Properties.

T-rex leather handbag goes under the hammer in Paris

A one-of-a-kind luxury handbag made from lab-grown material derived from Tyrannosaurus rex fossils is being auctioned today at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris, with estimates between €300,000 and €500,000 — roughly $347,000 to $578,000.

Pope to inaugurate Sagrada Família’s tallest tower on Gaudí centennial

Barcelona's Sagrada Família has reached its final height of 172.5 meters with the completion of the Tower of Jesus Christ, making it the tallest church building in the world. Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to bless and inaugurate the tower…

Pace Gallery drops 50 artists, lays off 50 staff

Pace Gallery, one of the art world's most prominent institutions, announced Thursday that it is cutting approximately 50 artists from its roster and laying off around 50 staff members in what CEO Marc Glimcher called a rejection of the mega-gallery…

Marjane Satrapi, ‘Persepolis’ author, dies at 56

Franco-Iranian graphic novelist, filmmaker, and illustrator Marjane Satrapi, whose autobiographical graphic novel Persepolis became one of the most celebrated works of comics literature, has died in Paris at the age of 56. Her family announced her death on Thursday, June…

Cattelan’s $6.2M banana artwork stolen from French museum

A banana duct-taped to a wall — the perishable core of one of the most polarizing works in contemporary art — was stolen from a museum in eastern France on May 30, prompting the institution to file a criminal complaint…

Sotheby’s to auction T. rex skeleton ‘Gus’ for up to $30M

Sotheby's announced on Tuesday that it will auction a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton named "Gus" as the centerpiece of its annual Geek Week sales this July, carrying an estimate of $20 million to $30 million — the highest pre-sale estimate ever…

37 sets of remains in one jar solve Laos burial mystery

Archaeologists working in northern Laos have discovered the remains of at least 37 people inside a single massive stone jar, offering the first direct evidence that the enigmatic vessels scattered across the country's highlands were used as multigenerational communal burial…

JR begins building giant inflatable cave over Paris’s Pont Neuf

French artist JR is in the process of erecting what he calls the "largest immersive installation ever created" over the Pont Neuf, Paris's oldest bridge. The work, titled "La Caverne du Pont Neuf," will envelop the 17th-century crossing in a…

First Mandarin novel wins International Booker Prize

Taiwanese author Yang Shuang-zi and translator Lin King won the 2026 International Booker Prize on Tuesday for "Taiwan Travelogue," making history as the first book translated from Mandarin Chinese to claim the award and the first win by a Taiwanese…

Real Monet painting labeled as AI fools thousands of online critics

An anonymous conceptual artist turned social media into an unwitting psychology lab this week, posting an authentic Claude Monet painting on X with a fake "Made with AI" label — and watching as users lined up to tear it apart…

Arts engagement slows aging as much as exercise, UCL study finds

Visiting museums, reading books, and listening to music may slow the pace of biological aging to a degree comparable to regular physical exercise, according to the first study to draw such a connection at the molecular level.

France charges Tunisian man over alleged Louvre attack plot

French anti-terrorism authorities on Monday charged a 27-year-old undocumented Tunisian national with plotting a jihadist attack targeting the Louvre Museum and the Jewish community in Paris, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT) confirmed.

Pussy Riot storms Russia’s pavilion at Venice Biennale

Members of the Russian punk collective Pussy Riot and the Ukrainian feminist group FEMEN swarmed the Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale on Wednesday, May 6, staging a protest against Russia's return to the international art exhibition for the first…

Over 3,000 Viking coins unearthed in Norway’s largest hoard

Two metal detectorists sweeping a farm field near the village of Rena in eastern Norway stumbled upon what archaeologists have confirmed is the largest Viking Age coin hoard ever discovered in the country. The find, dubbed the Mørstad Hoard, has…

Banksy claims new London statue depicting blind patriotism

Street artist Banksy on Thursday claimed responsibility for a large sculpture that appeared before dawn on a traffic island in Waterloo Place, central London, depicting a suited man striding off a plinth with his face completely obscured by a billowing…

Georg Baselitz, painter who turned art upside down, dies at 88

Georg Baselitz, the German painter and sculptor who became one of the most influential figures in postwar European art through his radical practice of painting his subjects upside down, has died at the age of 88. His death on Thursday,…

Archeologists use AI to reconstruct Pompeii eruption victim

Archaeologists in Italy have used artificial intelligence for the first time to reconstruct the appearance of a man killed during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, offering a vivid glimpse into the catastrophe that buried the ancient Roman…

Tate names four artists to 2026 Turner Prize shortlist

Tate Britain on Thursday named four artists to the 2026 Turner Prize shortlist: Simeon Barclay, Kira Freije, Marguerite Humeau, and Tanoa Sasraku. Their work spans spoken word performance, sculpture, installation, and film, and will be exhibited at the Middlesbrough Institute…

Amazon road digs reveal 6,000 years of Indigenous history

Road-building in the Amazon rainforest has long been synonymous with environmental destruction, but archaeological surveys required before paving begins are now yielding a trove of artifacts that illuminate thousands of years of Indigenous life in the region. The latest discoveries,…

Carol Guzy’s ICE family separation image wins World Press Photo of the Year

American photojournalist Carol Guzy has been named the 2026 World Press Photo of the Year winner for "Separated by ICE," a photograph capturing the moment a family was torn apart by immigration agents inside a New York City federal building.…

Algeria sentences Kamel Daoud to 3 years over Goncourt-winning novel

French-Algerian writer Kamel Daoud announced on Wednesday that an Algerian court has sentenced him to three years in prison and fined him 5 million Algerian dinars — roughly $38,000 — for his novel "Houris," winner of France's most prestigious literary…

EU moves to cut Venice Biennale funding over Russia’s return

The European Union escalated its standoff with the Venice Biennale on Tuesday, with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas declaring that Russia's participation in the storied art exhibition is "morally indefensible" as the bloc moves to strip funding from the…

Homer’s Iliad papyrus found inside Egyptian mummy in archaeological first

Archaeologists have discovered a papyrus fragment of Homer's Iliad deliberately placed inside an ancient Egyptian mummy during embalming — the first time a Greek literary text has been found incorporated into the mummification process.

V&A removed catalogue materials at request of Chinese censors

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London deleted maps and photographs from at least two exhibition catalogues after they were flagged by Chinese censors, according to an investigation by the Guardian published on Monday. The revelations have prompted alarm among…

France unanimously passes bill to return colonial-era looted art

France's National Assembly on Monday unanimously approved a bill to streamline the return of cultural artefacts looted during the colonial era, advancing a promise President Emmanuel Macron first made nearly nine years ago. The vote, 170 in favor with zero…

Spanish debut of Frida Kahlo collection delayed amid Mexican backlash

A collection of 160 works by some of Mexico's most celebrated artists — including 18 by Frida Kahlo — is at the center of a cultural firestorm after plans emerged to transfer the trove to a new cultural center in…

Trump pushes to dismantle EU’s protected cheese names

The United States and the European Union are locked in an escalating trade battle over who gets to use names like feta, Parmesan, and Asiago — a dispute that has moved from trade policy circles to the center of transatlantic…

Two Monet paintings unseen for a century head to auction at Sotheby’s Paris

Two Claude Monet landscape paintings that have been hidden in private collections for more than a century are set to go under the hammer at Sotheby's Art Moderne et Contemporain Evening Auction in Paris on April 16. The works, "Les…

Dutch police recover stolen 2,500-year-old golden Helmet of Cotofenesti

Dutch authorities on Thursday unveiled the golden Helmet of Coțofenești, more than 14 months after the priceless 2,500-year-old artifact was stolen in a brazen heist at the Drents Museum in the northern Netherlands. Two of the three gold Dacian bracelets…