T/museums

Jean Widmer, Designer of Celebrated French Graphics, Dies at 96

His minimalist road signs became a visual hallmark of France’s highways. He also created logos for cultural institutions like the Pompidou Center.

With Bends, Crinkles and a Cool Decor Makeover, Carol Bove Takes the Guggenheim

She extracts something new from steel, dispelling its aura of brawn. Her signature form is a rumpled ribbon of metal painted to look as soft as suede.

Noguchi Envisioned a More Open New York. New York Wasn’t Interested.

Isamu Noguchi became one of the most successful artists of the 20th century, but the city met his plans for public spaces with indifference.

36 Hours in Las Vegas

Visitors seeking all manner of newfangled, over-the-top thrills won’t be disappointed.

Behind the Chaos at the Louvre, a French Leader’s Legacy Hangs in the Balance

President Emmanuel Macron has championed a refurbishment of the museum, but the fallout from a sensational heist has put his plans at risk.

A Seasoned French Museum Chief Takes Over a Louvre in Crisis

Christophe Leribault, who runs the Palace of Versailles, will replace Laurence des Cars, who resigned months after an audacious jewel heist.

Phil Collins, Wu-Tang Clan and Shakira Are Among Rock Hall Nominees

Jeff Buckley, Lauryn Hill, New Edition and INXS are also included on the ballot for the first time.

Louvre Director Resigns, Months After Burglars Stole Crown Jewels

Laurence des Cars’s departure is the latest setback for the world’s largest museum. Her tenure was marred by labor strikes, water leaks, a ticket scam and security lapses, which led to the heist in October.

How Bookbinders Used Old Records to Help the Nazis Find Their Victims

Conservation experts helped the Nazi regime inspect church and civil archives to track down people they sought to persecute, a researcher concluded.

For Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock, Equal Footing at the Met

Krasner was typecast as the wife of the breakout artist of the Abstract Expressionist movement, no matter how renegade her own work. At the Met this fall, she emerges from his giant shadow.

A Chimney in Search of a Home Lands 3,000 Miles Away

Kelly Akashi, an artist, was one of thousands who lost their houses in last winter’s Eaton wildfire in Los Angeles. Her new sculpture for the Whitney Biennial marks one year of slow recovery.

What Brontë Country Tells Us About Britain Today

Whatever you make of Emerald Fennell’s R-rated “Wuthering Heights” movie, the region where the original novel was written is worth revisiting in its own right.

Met Gala Dress Code Makes a Statement of Its Own: ‘Fashion Is Art’

Three words of guidance is all guests will have to go on when preparing for this year’s Costume Institute benefit, celebrating a cerebral exhibition about the “dressed body.”

Make This Year’s Spring Break a Great Escape

Need an idea for a family vacation? Here are five destinations that fit the bill, whether you’re looking for culture, adventure or a great beach.

See a Museum Through His Eyes? He’d Rather You Not.

For three generations, Bruno Goppion’s family has supplied display cases to the world’s top museums. What others look through, he can’t look past.

Russia Takes the Gulag Out of the Gulag History Museum in Moscow

The museum had preserved the history of brutality inflicted by the Soviet Union on its people. It will now focus on Nazi war crimes.

Melania Trump Presents Her 2025 Inaugural Gown to the Smithsonian

The dress joined an exhibit of gowns belonging to first ladies stretching back to Helen Taft in 1909, and Mrs. Trump spoke about how high fashion reflected humanity.

Van Gogh y el significado del amarillo

El artista dio protagonismo a este color durante un periodo optimista de su vida, en el que produjo algunas de sus obras más famosas. Una nueva exposición en Ámsterdam muestra sus distintas interpretaciones.

China’s ‘King of Banned Films’ Wants to Change the Subject

Acclaimed overseas for defying censors, Lou Ye is more interested in reaching Chinese audiences, as he holds up a cinematic mirror to their lives in modern China.

Van Gogh and the Meaning of Yellow

The artist gave prominence to the color during a happy period that produced some of his most famous works. But it can have many different associations, a new exhibition shows.

Writing an Ancient Egyptian Afterlife, in 21 Feet of Scroll

How would a New York Times obituary writer measure up to the scribes of the Book of the Dead? He found out at the Brooklyn Museum.

36 Hours in Savannah, Ga.

The present and past coexist in a Southern city unlike any other.

Michael Heizer Measures His Art in Miles and Tons

It took the artist half a century of toil in the most remote parts of Nevada to build what may be the most extreme contemporary monument ever made. Now what?

In Memphis, mourning for the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who kept coming back.

Bernice King and Al Sharpton Among Leaders Paying Tribute to Jesse Jackson

In states including South Carolina, where Mr. Jackson was born, and Illinois, officials also ordered flags to be flown at half-staff.

Was This Painting Looted by Nazis? After 19 Years, the Debate Goes On.

The fuzzy provenance of a Franz Marc masterwork once owned by a Jewish banker, but now held by a German museum, has fueled a lengthy dispute over its ownership.

At 85, Lucinda Childs Still Has a Full Dance Card

The choreographer has a busy spring: early works at the Guggenheim’s swirling rotunda, a new appointment at Gibney Dance and a robust program at Bard.

Ticket Scam Cost the Louvre $12 Million, Investigators Say

The Paris prosecutor’s office said a network involving museum employees and tour guides had been operating for a decade.

Abe Lincoln Fans Gather for Mutton Hunks and a Vintage American Flag

An old Manhattan steakhouse is the new home for the Stars and Stripes that draped the 16th president’s casket.

Shedding Light on a Roma Artist, and the Fate of Her People

Ceija Stojka, who made visible the historical injustices to the Roma people during and after the Holocaust, is the subject of a stirring show at the Drawing Center.

Jerry Kennedy, Who Helped Define Music in Nashville, Dies at 85

A guitarist and record producer, he played a role in creating hits by popular singers like Roger Miller, Roy Orbison, Tom T. Hall and Tammy Wynette.

In the East Village, Hiding in Plain Sight: A Secret Passage to the Underground Railroad

A passageway hidden below a dresser at the Merchant’s House Museum had long been a mystery. Then researchers learned that the home’s original builder was an abolitionist.

Texas University Closes Exhibition With Anti-ICE Artwork

The exhibition at the University of North Texas by a Mexican-born artist included the language “Immigration and Cruelty Enforcement.”

Trump Wants Smithsonian to Create a Different Official Portrait

The painted portrait from President Trump’s first term was completed more than four years ago, but never unveiled. Now he wants the National Portrait Gallery to commission a new one.

Improbably Famous, Then Perpetually Forgotten. Now, the Renaissance of Edmonia Lewis

A 19th-century sculptor of Black and Indigenous ancestry was acclaimed, then overlooked. But a groundswell of scholars and artists are keeping her flame alive in new projects.

Grand Theft Artifact? A New Game Asks Players to Steal Stolen Art.

Museum heists have a higher calling in Relooted, a video game where players take the repatriation of African artifacts into their own hands.

36 Hours in Seville, Spain

Few European cities combine history, beauty and walkability as seductively as this Andalusian capital.

Look for Your Neighborhood in This Mini-New York City

The Museum of the City of New York will display a miniature New York built of balsa wood and Elmer’s glue. It has bridges, brownstones and One World Trade Center.

The Artist Nick Cave Couches His Critique in Dazzle

For “Mammoth,” a new show at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, he takes up contentious issues of race and climate change in beads, sequins and Lite-Brite colors.

They Use MetroCards to Make Art. They’re Starting to Run Out.

The fare card is dead. How much longer can these New York artists stretch a finite supply?

White House Suggests Smithsonian Add a Trump Display

Administration officials met with staff at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and discussed putting multiple artworks of the president in a section of the museum.

Italy’s Occult Capital Keeps Its Secrets Hidden

Turin has Baroque architecture, ‘light-as-an-angel’ pizza and a flourishing contemporary art scene.

Los ladrones del Louvre dejaron caer esta corona. Así luce ahora

La corona de la emperatriz Eugenia quedó tirada en la acera tras el atraco al Museo del Louvre en octubre. El museo ha publicado fotos de los daños.

The ‘Little Scorpion’ of the French Riviera

An eccentric watch heiress wants to revoke her grandfather’s donation of Jean Cocteau artworks after the museum built to display them was overwhelmed by a freakish storm.

After Failed Rebrand, Philadelphia Museum of Art Returns to Its Old Name

After an unpopular name change, and its firing of the director responsible for it, the museum is working to rehabilitate its image.

The Louvre Thieves Dropped This Priceless Crown. Now It Looks Like This.

Empress Eugénie’s crown was left lying on the sidewalk after the Louvre Museum heist in October. The museum has now released pictures of the damage.

How Trump Brought the Fight Over American History to Philadelphia

The administration took a crowbar to a site that focused on George Washington and slavery. But can the contradictions of the Founding Era be erased?

At the Bronx Biennial, the Promise of New Voices

This group show is less self-conscious than slicker surveys, but its offerings are just as worthwhile.

36 Hours in Lagos, Nigeria

Nigeria’s mega metropolis is gaining attention for its youth culture and Afrobeats music scene.

Rethinking Shakespeare in Shanghai

A recent production of “Othello” proves that small creative flowers can grow between the dreary slabs of cultural concrete laid by the Communist Party.

Former Whitney Chief Resigns From Art School After Epstein Email Release

David A. Ross said he remained “ashamed” for having been “taken in” by Jeffrey Epstein. Mr. Ross resigned his position at the School of Visual Arts in New York.

The Bedazzling, Wild Designs of Modernism’s Forgotten Genius

The architect Bruce Goff built a mind-blowing array of eccentric, occasionally campy buildings, which are featured in a joyful new show.

Jewish Heirs Say Met Museum Pissarro Was Sold Under Nazi-Era Duress

The museum says a Jewish art dealer received a fair price for the work in 1941. The heirs say sales from that time are considered to have been forced and void under French law.

Billy Bass Nelson, Original Bassist for Funkadelic, Dies at 75

George Clinton, while working as a barber, recruited him. Mr. Nelson went on to name the group and, with his bandmates, to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

28 Things to Do in New York City in February

This month offers a Valentine’s Saturday, a Fat Tuesday and a month of Black history, plus the Harlem Globetrotters and a last call for Gumby.

Art for All: A Smithsonian Museum Spreads Its Bounty for America’s 250th

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden will loan scores of modern and contemporary masterworks in storage to museums in 50 states.

28 Ways to Entertain Your Kids in New York City This Winter

Keep boredom and cabin fever at bay with hot chocolate excursions, Lunar New Year festivities and a sleepover on the Intrepid.

Clark Art Institute Announces Its Next Director

The current deputy director and chief curator, Esther Bell, will become director in July.

The Shakers’ Utopian World Sees a Surge of Modern Interest

A show at ICA Philadelphia joins a surge of Shaker-inspired projects: films, dances, a museum’s expansion. Refracted through new interpreters, Shaker culture bends, and twists.

Newark Museum of Art Names a New Leader

Lisa Funderburke will be chief executive and director of the state’s largest art museum.

Rediscovered Warhols That Warhol Never Saw

Filmed 60 years ago, the new trove includes footage from Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests series and explicit rolls that reveal the artist as a ‘porn-oisseur.’

Rama Duwaji Joins New Yorkers at an Art Party

The city’s first lady showed up for a night out with artists, writers and celebrities at the Whitney Museum’s winter fund-raiser.

Trump Cuts and Orders Have Broad Impact on American Museums, Report Finds

A survey of museum directors reveals the impact of federal cutbacks: reduced arts programs for rural areas, students and people who are elderly or disabled.

How the Intrepid Moved a World War II Fighter Plane

The 33-foot Corsair, on loan from Florida, had to be “rigged up on skates” to get to the Intrepid’s hangar deck.

5 Years After Covid Closed the Theaters, Audiences Are Returning

Broadway is almost back, and pop music tours and sports events are booming. But Hollywood, museums and other cultural sectors have yet to bounce back.

Brooklyn Museum Will Lay Off Employees and Scale Back Exhibitions

The museum, which faces a projected $10 million deficit, said it planned to cut more than a tenth of its employees and mount fewer exhibitions.

California Historical Society to Dissolve and Transfer Collections to Stanford

The society faced financial challenges that were exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. Its nearly 600,000 items stretch back before the Gold Rush.

The Met Museum Is Rebounding, but Not With International Visitors

The museum said it attracted more local visitors during the past year than it did before the pandemic, but only half the international visitors.

San Francisco’s Arts Institutions Are Slowly Building Back

Although attendance remains down from prepandemic levels, the city’s arts groups are having some success getting audiences to return.

A Steadying Force for the Africa Center Is Stepping Down

Uzodinma Iweala, chief executive of the Harlem institution, will leave at the end of 2024 after guiding it through pandemic years and securing funds.

Downtown Los Angeles Places Another Big Bet on the Arts

The pandemic was tough on city centers and cultural institutions. What does that mean for Los Angeles, whose downtown depends on the arts?

Audience Snapshot: Four Years After Shutdown, a Mixed Recovery

Covid brought live performance to a halt. Now the audience for pop concerts and sporting events has roared back, while attendance on Broadway and at some major museums is still down.

Through Catastrophe, and in Community, the Art of Daniel Lind-Ramos

A storm, a pandemic, and Black Puerto Rican history pervade his work at MoMA PS 1, with materials sourced from daily life.

Spider-Man, We Know Where You Live

Letters on display at a small museum in Brooklyn were sent to the same address in Queens as where the comic book hero lived.

Looking for Elbow Room, Louvre Limits Daily Visitors to 30,000

With attendance surging back, the museum wants to offer “a moment of pleasure” — and relieve that Mona Lisa problem.

Why One World Trade Is Winning R.T.O.

The tower, next to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, is doing something right; it's at 94 percent occupancy.

Your Thursday Briefing: Iran’s Protests Intensify

Plus Myanmar gets closer to Russia and a dire climate report.

After a Covid Contraction, Museums Are Expanding Again

Projects all over the country include renovations and new wings as institutions continue to bet on bricks and mortar.

San Francisco’s Art Market Struggles in the Shadow of Los Angeles

Though some small galleries are opening or expanding, the mega dealers have closed shop, a blow to an area with a vibrant artistic history.

In the Mile High City, Festivals and Food Are on the Rise

Denver has regained its prepandemic vibrancy, with a plethora of new restaurants and hotels, and the return of some old favorites.

Covid. A Coma. A Stroke. José Parlá Returns From the Edge.

After a lengthy recovery, the artist comes back with the most vigorous work he’s made: “It took me a really long time to understand what had happened to me.”

Covid Memorials Offer a Place to Put Our Grief

From “anti-monuments” to ephemeral sand portraits, four art exhibitions encourage viewers to slow down and take stock of our pandemic losses.

Manhattan Springs Back to Life

Broadway enthusiasts, art aficionados and food lovers will find new offerings in and around Times Square and in neighborhoods below 42nd Street, heralding the promise of a vibrant recovery.