ARTS

America’s cultural map looks very different when you stop following the obvious route. The Smithsonian, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the monuments of Washington and the great houses of Newport deserve their reputations. But they can also create the impression that serious American culture is concentrated in a handful of famous destinations. Travel farther, or simply look more closely, and another America appears: one of unexpected museums, eccentric collectors, historic es

Diplomatic anniversaries tend to belong to official rooms: speeches, flags, handshakes, commemorative photographs and carefully chosen words about friendship. But when France and Mexico mark 200 years of diplomatic relations this autumn, much of the celebration will take place somewhere else entirely; in theaters and museums, cinemas and concert halls, libraries and universities, festivals and kitchens across 21 cities in Mexico. From September 1 through November 30, 2026, La

There is something almost irresistible about the word treasure. It promises gold, rarity, discovery; the intoxicating possibility that somewhere beneath centuries of dust, history has been waiting for us to find it. At San Francisco’s de Young museum, Treasures of the Pharaohs certainly delivers that spectacle. On view from August 1, 2026, through January 31, 2027, the exhibition brings together 130 objects spanning some 3,000 years of ancient Egyptian civilization, from monu

Can a dance performance become a matter of international policy? At first glance, the question seems improbable. Dance belongs to the realm of beauty, music, movement, and artistic expression. Governments negotiate treaties, impose sanctions, and debate legislation. Rarely do the worlds of choreography and geopolitics appear to intersect. Yet on Capitol Hill this summer, lawmakers, artists, journalists, and policy experts gathered around precisely that question, suggesting th

America's greatest museums were not built overnight. Nor were they created solely through public commissions or royal patronage, as was often the case in Europe. Their foundations were laid by a remarkable generation of industrialists who looked across the Atlantic and saw more than beautiful paintings and magnificent furniture. They saw civilization itself. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as the United States emerged as the world's foremost industri

France has never regarded its museums as mere repositories of beautiful objects. They are, instead, guardians of memory. Within their galleries rest not only paintings, sculptures, manuscripts, tapestries, archaeological treasures, and decorative arts, but the accumulated story of civilizations that continue to shape the modern world. A Greek marble, a medieval tapestry, an Impressionist masterpiece, or an Egyptian sarcophagus each represents far more than artistic achievemen

Some journeys begin with a plane ticket. Others begin with a painting. Every year, museums around the world unveil exhibitions that become destinations in their own right, inspiring travelers to plan an entire itinerary around a single masterpiece or artist. Summer and Fall 2026 are proving to be particularly rewarding for art lovers. From Paris to Los Angeles, San Francisco to St. Louis, museums are inviting us to see familiar artists through fresh eyes while introducing ext

Few encounters in the history of art have proven as enduring as that between Salvador Dalí and Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote. More than three centuries after Spain's greatest novelist introduced the world to the idealistic knight from La Mancha, Dalí offered his own extraordinary interpretation; one that remains among the most celebrated artistic tributes to Cervantes' masterpiece. Through bold color, fluid movement, and unmistakable Surrealist imagination, Dalí transforme

How Canto Vocal Programs Is Reimagining Kurt Weill Through Music, Memory, and Humanity Few composers have lived a life as extraordinary or as emblematic of the twentieth century as Kurt Weill. Born in Germany, shaped by the vibrant artistic world of Weimar Berlin, welcomed for a time in Paris, and ultimately reinvented in the United States after fleeing Nazi persecution, Weill transformed every chapter of his life into music. His works crossed borders as effortlessly as he di