Gustav Klimt featured a lot of gold leaf in his art

Gold has no nutritional value or flavor—but edible gold is still popular

Gold is a pretty expensive topping. Nonetheless, luxury menus around the world are offering food staples—think bagels, chocolate, and burgers—wrapped or dusted with gold. What's the deal with this fascination?

Georgia O'Keeffe's flower paintings are often assumed to be sexual, though the artist claimed she was simply interested in highlighting the beauty of flowers that most people neglect

Pop artist Yayoi Kusama is arguably the most famous living female artist

The Japanese pop artist is one of many figures whose work challenged ideas of traditional fine art. Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, Takashi Murakami, and Claes Oldenburg are among the other artists known for defining pop art.

The world's most famous portraits

"Afghan Girl" (1984), "Migrant Mother" (1936), and Marilyn Monroe in a billowing skirt (1954) are among the most famous portraits of all time. Capturing both unbelievable tragedy and delight, these 15 images are some of the most captivating in human history.

Picasso’s legacy is often intertwined with his personal relationships

Family revelations and quotes show the legendary artist as both tender and cruel, and his fame and romantic advances sometimes had disastrous effects on those around him.

O’Keeffe made more than 2,000 pieces of art in her lifetime

See an interactive timeline that provides insight into just how prolific the artist was. Differentiated by year, the visualization shows when she was particularly active, and allows you to see the artwork from each year. Below is "Oriental Poppies" from 1928.

22 fascinating discoveries of massive gold coin hoards

The gallery highlights major gold coin treasures from ancient to modern times, from the Saddle Ridge hoard in California in the 1800s (now worth $10M) to finds in Baltimore, Kentucky, and more. Each discovery reveals something about the period, with some buried and others left in vaults.

Friedrich's paintings embody the romantic notion of 'the sublime'

Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich’s art uses vast, massive scale and masterful compositions to convey complex ideas of power, decay, permanence, and more. But his landscapes also present beautiful, overwhelming portraits of nature that perfectly embody philosopher Edmund Burke’s concept of “the sublime.”

Scientists used mass spectrometry to determine the materials in a 1690 painting

Previously used to map the distribution of molecules on biological tissue samples, researchers combined the technique with machine learning to uncover six layers of pigments, binders, and a thin gold leaf layer within *The Marriage of the Virgin*, from a collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The technique may help identify and track artists' material use to learn about pieces of unknown provenance. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Learn how to make a print like Andy Warhol

Warhol's signature printing style was a practiced balance of mass-production silk-screen techniques and deliberately introduced hand-painting and imperfections.

Browse some of the most iconic Bauhaus furniture

The Bauhaus style has become so commonplace that you might not have realized its influence on modern furniture, but the German school's impact is profound, from the Wassily and Barcelona chairs to Gropius' industrial style door knob.

David Hockney's 'Splash' paintings depicted the Brit's adoration for California

Bradford-born David Hockney saw the lure of California as an escape from the dreariness of London and a symbol of social and sexual freedom. Sotheby’s reflects on Hockney’s series of three "Splash" paintings, capturing ephemeral moments and the magic of America as a cultural export in the 1960s.

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

Mini-portraits were shared as love tokens in Elizabethan England

Art historians are identifying previously unknown works by Nicholas Hilliard, Elizabeth I's court painter, whose thumb-sized watercolors on vellum served as love tokens, diplomatic currency, and status symbols. They were believed to be passed secretly between courtiers and monarchs.

Purchasing art is a common money laundering technique

Art is easy to transport internationally, susceptible to price inflation, and usually paid for with cash, making it a frequently used money laundering tactic. Additionally, loose regulations surrounding art transactions allow buyers to remain anonymous, adding an additional layer of ease for people trying to launder money.

Salvador Dalí designed the Chupa Chups lollipop logo

The ubiquitous lollipop design actually comes from the mind of Salvador Dalí. Dalí had no problem creating commercial work for the right price and agreed to create the eye-catching logo. Dalí's skill for attracting attention explains why the logo is placed on top rather than the side.

The Oscar statue was created in 1927

The statue of the golden knight that Academy Award winners receive (aka the Oscar) might be nearly as recognizable as the winners themselves. Oscar was born when art director Cedric Gibbons sketched him out and handed him over to sculptor George Stanley to bring to life.

How Van Gogh painted 'Irises' in an asylum

Van Gogh’s painting titled “Irises” (1889) remains one of his most-recognized works. Created soon after the artist checked himself into an asylum, the oil painting depicts flowers from the overgrown garden in the institution. Discover more about the work and other masterpieces Van Gogh constructed during a personally tumultuous time.

Basquiat's crown appears throughout several works

The artist first used the crown in 1981’s "Red Kings," which placed crowns over two heads. He’d continue using the motif throughout his career, often to highlight important figures, many of them Black, whom he believed had been overlooked.

Ancient Greek and Roman sculptures were likely colorful, not white

Archaeologists stumbling upon statues from ancient Greece often found weathered creatures, their faces and figures marred by age and conflict. But evidence of polychromy—painting sculptures with color—has continued to mount.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Raphael's 'School of Athens' visually contrasts the views of Plato and Aristotle

As part of a commission from Pope Julius II to decorate his private library (and while Michelangelo was painting the Sistine Chapel), Raphael created four frescoes representing different branches of knowledge: theology, philosophy, law, and poetry. "The School of Athens" depicted philosophy, staging classic thinkers Plato and Aristotle alongside others from intellectual history.

The Easter story in paintings from the National Gallery

Walk through the entire narrative of Holy Week, painting by painting, from the "Agony in the Garden" to the "Supper at Emmaus" from masters like Titian and Caravaggio.

An early literary mention of a New Year's kiss dates to the 14th century

The medieval poem “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” includes a description of a New Year’s party where women are planning on giving “New Year’s gifts” to men. Scholars say it’s implied that the “gifts” are kisses.

How Cassatt experimented with the then-new medium of pastels

Cassatt is primarily noted for her paintings and prints, though she also experimented with pastels, a novel medium for the 19th century. Art scholar Marjorie Shelley walks through one of Cassatt's pastel works with a close analysis of 1914's "Mother and Child."

A popular tag in World War II announced 'Kilroy was here'

The graffito appeared seemingly everywhere throughout the 1940s and followed a similar pattern: A man with an oversized nose peering over a ledge, with the phrase written below it. Scholars believe it was an American form of similar tags that appeared in Australia and England, making "Kilroy" a meme long before the word had entered the lexicon.

Lunar New Year has a rich tradition of visual symbolism

Explore centuries of art related to the holiday—from the dragon robes worn by royalty to the calligraphy symbols thought to bring prosperity and fortune. Ancient artistic practices like woodblock printing, painting, and dance weave together to create the visual language of the Lunar New Year.

The Gold Rush helped turn Napa into wine country

In the 1830s, the arrival of settlers carrying European rootstock grapevines to Napa kick-started the valley's wine industry. Ten years later, the Gold Rush brought scores of wine-loving Europeans and their descendants to the area. Recognizing an opportunity, Charles Krug opened the valley's first commercial winery in 1861, which produces bottles to this day.

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

Graffiti dates back to at least ancient Pompeii, where citizens scrawled messages to one another on public walls

See these 16 pieces of art evoking phobias of snakes, flying, spiders, and more. 

In 1945, Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí and legendary animator Walt Disney began collaborating on a short film that was not completed until 2003, years after both men had died.

American dance legend Martha Graham, sometimes called 'the Picasso of dance,' refused to perform at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and conceived the piece 'Chronicle' in response to the experience.

Poison ivy was sent to Europe in the 1600s as an exotic, ornamental oddity, where it was purposefully grown in the English royal gardens at Kew, the Faculty of Medicine in Paris, and a few other locations.

'Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,' a work by American painter Thomas Moran, inspired Congress to establish Yellowstone National Park.

Frank Lloyd Wright's houses are historically hard to sell because they're old, subject to local landmark commissions, and often unfashionable

Tattoos remain visible on your skin thanks to immune cells called macrophages

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

The original copy of the Declaration of Independence is not a pristine document, and even features a smudged anonymous handprint in the bottom left corner.

Prince's sexually explicit 1984 track 'Darling Nikki' attracted the ire of the Parents Music Resource Center, an advocacy group that inspired the Parental Advisory sticker, even though the song ends with a Christian message.

Objects can be 3D printed with light by projecting 2D computerized tomography (CT) scans onto rotating cylinders of resin, which solidify upon exposure.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

See photos of Meteora, a mountainous site in central Greece, home to 14th-century monasteries perched atop soaring outcroppings.

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.