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Art & Design NPR explores the visual arts including design, photography, sculpture, and architecture. Interviews, commentary, and audio. Subscribe to the RSS feed.

Art & Design

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A Tale Of Two Sisters And Their Serious Eye For Art

The Cone sisters typically forged strong patron-artist relationships, but they were particularly close with Henri Matisse. While working on Large Reclining Nude, Matisse sent 22 photographs of the work in progress to Etta Cone. The Baltimore Museum of Art hide caption

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The Baltimore Museum of Art

Fine Art

A Tale Of Two Sisters And Their Serious Eye For Art

The Cone sisters of Baltimore had a passion — and a talent — for art collection. In the early 20th century, they patronized and befriended great contemporary artists such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. An exhibition of their collection is now on display at the Jewish Museum of New York.

A Tale Of Two Sisters And Their Serious Eye For Art

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Friday

Robert Wittman's 'Priceless' Pursuit Of Stolen Art

A self-portrait by Rembrandt, valued at $36 million, was taken from the Swedish National Museum in 2000. Robert Wittman, founder of the FBI's Art Crime Team, went undercover — as an authenticator for an Eastern European mob group — to recover it. Swedish National Museum hide caption

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Swedish National Museum

Author Interviews

Robert Wittman's 'Priceless' Pursuit Of Stolen Art

Fresh Air

Robert Wittman founded the FBI's Art Crime Team and tracked down more than $225 million worth of stolen art and cultural property — including a $36 million self-portrait by Rembrandt. He describes the heists in his memoir, Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures.

Robert Wittman's 'Priceless' Pursuit Of Stolen Art

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Wednesday

'That's How' Illustrator Christoph Niemann Explains It All

A creation of Christoph Niemann's. Christoph Neimann/Greenwillow Books hide caption

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Christoph Neimann/Greenwillow Books

Author Interviews

'That's How' Illustrator Christoph Niemann Explains It All

Fresh Air

Illustrator Christoph Niemann's work ranges from whimsical children's books to poignant cover art for The New Yorker, but he's not interested in ending up in a museum. "I get a much bigger kick out of having my image seen like a million times for like 20 seconds," he says.

'That's How' Illustrator Christoph Niemann Explains It All

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For Essence Magazine, A New Direction With A New Chief

Essence's new Editor-in-Chief Constance C.R. White Courtesy of Essence hide caption

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Courtesy of Essence

Culture

For Essence Magazine, A New Direction With A New Chief

Essence's new Editor-in-Chief Constance C.R. White is putting her first official stamp on the magazine for its July issue, which features Beyonce's debut cover story and profiles of socially influential women abroad. To learn more about these articles and how Essence plans to better capture the lives of everyday black women, host Michel Martin speaks with its new Chief Constance C.R. White.

For Essence Magazine, A New Direction With A New Chief

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Wednesday

A Romantic Anthology Of Comically 'Agonizing Love'

Author Interviews

A Romantic Anthology Of Comically 'Agonizing Love'

Fresh Air

Romance comics flourished in the 1940s and '50s, with titles like Was I a Wicked Wife? and Kisses Came Second. Pop culture writer Michael Barson collects some of his favorites in the new anthology, Agonizing Love: The Golden Era of Romance Comics.

A Romantic Anthology Of Comically 'Agonizing Love'

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Saturday

A Spirited Celebration Of America's 'Cocktail Culture'

Lillian Bassman's photograph The V‐Back Evenings shows model and actress Suzy Parker having a drink (and some fun) in 1955. Lillian Bassman/Harper's Bazaar hide caption

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Lillian Bassman/Harper's Bazaar

A Spirited Celebration Of America's 'Cocktail Culture'

Walking through the exhibit at the Rhode Island School of Design's Museum of Art is like attending an elegant, witty cocktail party over the course of six decades. There's a lot to drink in.

A Spirited Celebration Of America's 'Cocktail Culture'

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Gertrude Stein Through Artists' Eyes

Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, Aix-les-Bains, France, circa 1927 Yale Collection of American Literature/Contemporary Jewish Museum hide caption

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Yale Collection of American Literature/Contemporary Jewish Museum

The Picture Show

Gertrude Stein Through Artists' Eyes

Gertrude Stein, doyenne of American letters, is the center of two exhibitions in San Francisco.

Gertrude Stein Through Artists' Eyes

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Wednesday

Yemeni Photographer Turns Her Lens On The West

Amira Al-Sharif photographs Matt Logan, a regular at Tompkins Square Park in New York City. Shereen Marisol Meraji/NPR hide caption

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Shereen Marisol Meraji/NPR

Hidden World Of Girls

Yemeni Photographer Turns Her Lens On The West

Earlier this year, Amira Al-Sharif came to New York City to document the lives of young American women. The 28-year-old was born in Saudi Arabia, grew up in Yemen and was the first person from her family to graduate from university. And while Western journalists often document Arab women, Al-Sharif wanted to flip the script.

Yemeni Photographer Turns Her Lens On The West

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Friday

Gustave Caillebotte: Impressions Of A Changing Paris

Impressionist paintings of Paris often depict a city full of sun-dappled socialites: dancing, shopping, boating and schmoozing. But for painter and art patron Gustave Caillebotte, Paris was a darker, lonelier place. His 1877 work, Paris Street; Rainy Day, shows Parisians making their way down a vast street on a dreary day. (Click enlarge to see the full painting.) The Art Institute of Chicago hide caption

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The Art Institute of Chicago

Fine Art

Gustave Caillebotte: Impressions Of A Changing Paris

Impressionist paintings of Paris often depict a city full of sun-dappled socialites: dancing, shopping, boating and schmoozing. But for painter and patron Gustave Caillebotte, Paris was a darker, lonelier place.

Gustave Caillebotte: Impressions Of A Changing Paris

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Thursday

Art As 'Smart Power' At The Venice Biennale

Former Olympian Gary Morgan runs on a treadmill atop an overturned tank in Track and Field, by Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla. The piece is part of the American Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Tascha Horowitz/Courtesy of the Indianapolis Museum of Art hide caption

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Tascha Horowitz/Courtesy of the Indianapolis Museum of Art

Fine Art

Art As 'Smart Power' At The Venice Biennale

The Venice Biennale opens to the general public on June 4. And this Biennale's American Pavilion — created by artists Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla — might raise a few eyebrows. It features an overturned tank topped by a U.S. Olympic athlete on a treadmill.

Art As 'Smart Power' At The Venice Biennale

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History

Britain Sees Boom In Citizen-Discovered Artifacts

Some 90,000 archeological objects were reported across Britain in 2010. The British Museum in London says this is the largest increase in archaeological finds discovered by the public. Much of this bump is attributed to improvements to the museum's systems that help keep track of all the finds. Michele Norris speaks with Michael Lewis, the deputy head of portable antiquities and treasure for the British Museum. Lewis talks about how ordinary citizens are helping transform British archeology.

Britain Sees Boom In Citizen-Discovered Artifacts

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Friday