ART

An illustration of cochineal insects, which brought vivid red hues to Europe.

The Bug the World Fought Over

The Cochineal insect creates a red dye so incredible, Europe nearly went to war over it.

Activist Ida B. Wells now has a monument in her honor.

Chicago Just Unveiled a Monument for Journalist Ida B. Wells—the City's First Honoring a Black Woman

The sculpture pays tribute to Wells, who shed light on discrimination as a reporter and activist until her death in 1931.

Some artists have won Olympic medals for making medals.

When the Olympics Gave Out Medals for Making Medals

In the 1920s and 1930s, the Olympics bestowed medals on artists for excellence in medal-making. Even if they were dead.

Pallavi Padukone with her citronella-scented textile.

"Reminiscent": How One Designer Used Scented Textiles to Capture the Fragrances of Home

For her project 'Reminiscent,' designer Pallavi Padukone infused textiles with smells that remind her of people and places from her home in India.

David Bowie at his first solo art exhibition in London in the 1990s.

A Painting by David Bowie Bought at a Thrift Store for $4 Will Sell for More Than $60,000

Original David Bowie artworks don’t surface often—but one was recently unearthed in a donation bin in Canada.

N.C. Wyeth's The Duel was recovered from a Beverly Hills, California pawn shop in 2014, thanks to the FBI's National Stolen Art File database.

How the FBI's National Stolen Art File Reunites Lost Works With Their Rightful Owners

Works by Monet, Warhol, and Dalí; Super Bowl rings; Stradivarius violins; and 1930s comic books are just some of the items you'll find in the FBI's National Stolen Art File, a public database of more than 5500 missing items of cultural value.

A High Schooler Will Have Their Hannibal Fan Art Displayed at the U.S. Capitol

A high school student's 'Hannibal' fan art was selected as a winner of the Congressional Art Competition and will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol building.

The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen or Spring Garden by Vincent van Gogh, stolen from the Singer Laren museum in March 2020.

Interpol’s New App Allows Anyone to Help Track Down Stolen Art

The next time you come across a portrait stolen from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, you can alert Interpol without making a single phone call.

A reconstruction of the skull of Peking man (Homo erectus pekinensis)

16 Priceless Things We've Lost Forever

From natural wonders like Guairá Falls to literary works from Hemingway and Byron to paintings by Picasso and Renoir, here's a list of just a few priceless things that are gone forever.

An FBI photograph of the crime scene after the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum robbery, as seen in This is a Robbery: The World's Biggest Art Heist (2021).

12 Facts About the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Robbery—the World's Biggest Art Heist

On March 18, 1990, two men—dressed as police officers—talked their way into the side door of Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Less than 90 minutes later, they had pulled off the largest art heist in history—which remains unsolved to this day.

The Staffordshire Hoard contains the one of the richest collections of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found.

20 Amazing Historical Discoveries in the Last 20 Years

Scientists and historians have made incredible finds—from the oldest human-made art to long-lost shipwrecks—in the 20 years since Mental Floss began.

The Great Sphinx with the Pyramids of Giza in the distance.

Visit the Pyramids of Giza Without Even Leaving Your Couch

The Great Pyramid, the Great Sphinx, and the rest of the Giza Plateau’s many wonders are a few clicks away.

The Cut River off Higgins Lake in Roscommon, Michigan.

You Can Plant Trees and Paint Like Bob Ross as Part of Michigan’s 'Happy Little Getaway' Vacation Package

The happy little program includes Bob Ross painting classes and tree-planting around Michigan state park lands.

This Creepy Human Eye Webcam Reminds You That You're Being Watched

Designer and researcher Marc Teyssier has built an unsettling human eye webcam that's impossible to ignore.

In March 2021, digital artist Beeple sold a JPG of Everydays: The First 5000 Days for a record-setting $69.3 million.

What Are NFTs Anyway?

There are three kinds of people in the world: those who know what an NFT is, those who don't, and those who don't care.

The Louvre Just Launched a New Online Database With Its Entire Collection—More Than 480,000 Artworks

The Louvre’s online database includes literally everything, from artworks in storage to those on display at other museums.

When Picasso’s Weeping Woman Was Stolen By Art Terrorists

To this day, the theft of the 'Weeping Woman' has not been solved. The case remains lodged in popular imagination in Australia.

Vincent van Gogh painted Olive Trees in 1889 perhaps without realizing it contained a dead grasshopper.

The Reason a Grasshopper Wound Up Stuck in Vincent van Gogh's Painting Olive Trees

The 1889 painting of the olive groves outside an asylum Van Gogh was staying in has been hiding a secret for years—a dead grasshopper stuck in the paint.

The lotus bowl, worth much more than $35.

A Rare Chinese Porcelain Bowl Found at a Yard Sale Could Fetch $500,000 at Auction

The blue and white porcelain bowl is one of only seven known “lotus bowls” from the early 15th-century Ming dynasty.

Scène de rue à Montmartre, painted by Vincent van Gogh in 1887.

Vincent van Gogh’s Rarely Seen Scène de rue à Montmartre to Be Put on Public Display for First Time Ever

The painting shows Vincent van Gogh’s early experimentation with Impressionism during a two-year stint in Paris.

Tasha Marks created This Sea of Sugar Knows No Bounds, a mixed media piece made of sugar, rosewater, and wood, for the Istanbul Design Biennial.

The Decadent Art of Renaissance-Era Sugar Sculptures—and Their Not-So-Sweet History

Food has been used as an artistic medium since ancient times, but its sweetest period may have been the Renaissance, when sugar sculptures graced the tables of Europe’s most elite—but at what price?

Fanny Eaton, as painted by Joanna Boyce Wells.

8 Facts About Fanny Eaton, Jamaican Muse to the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood

Fanny Eaton, the Jamaican-born British art model, was the exception to the pale rule that dominates pre-Raphaelite art, but her place in its history has been largely forgotten.

Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night Is Getting the 3D LEGO Treatment

Vincent van Gogh's "The Starry Night" has been reimagined as a blocky, 3D model that amateur LEGO artists can put together at home.

Comic book artists are drawn to their work.

12 Secrets of Comic Book Artists

Comics are the indispensable source material for a good portion of the entertainment industry. We asked a few artists for their perspectives on panels.

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