videos + essays
![Pepón Osorio, <em>En la barbería no se llora (No Crying Allowed in the Barbershop)</em>](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/OsorioBarberThumb.jpg)
Pepón Osorio, En la barbería no se llora (No Crying Allowed in the Barbershop)
Osorio’s art explores the experience of being Puerto Rican in New York City.
![Jean-Honoré Fragonard, <em>The Swing</em>](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/FragonardSwing-570x350.jpg)
Jean-Honoré Fragonard, The Swing
What’s that dog yapping about? This mischievous woman throws caution—and her slipper—to the wind.
![John Singer Sargent, <em>Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose</em>](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/John_Singer_Sargent_-_Carnation_Lily_Lily_Rose_-_Google_Art_Project-570x350.jpg)
John Singer Sargent, Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose
Singer Sargent’s evocative canvas turns a sweet, ordinary scene into a symphony of shapes and colors.
![<em>The Court of Gayumars</em>](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/courtcentersm-570x350.jpg)
The Court of Gayumars
Producing this lush miniature involved many Persian artists—and likely some familiarity with Chinese sources.
![Giorgione, <em>The Tempest</em>](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Giorgione-The-Tempest-thumb-570x350.jpg)
Giorgione, The Tempest
In the distance, lightning strikes. What does it mean? Poetic and evocative, this painting invites interpretation.
![<em>Bamboo in the Four Seasons</em>: painting and poetry in Japan](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Bamboo-in-the-four-seasons-thumb-570x350.jpg)
Bamboo in the Four Seasons: painting and poetry in Japan
Originally a sliding wall, these golden panels use bamboo, a Chinese motif, to illustrate a Japanese poetic trope.
![Still Life with Peaches](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/peachesalone-570x350.jpg)
Still Life with Peaches
Hospitality was key in ancient Rome, and this wall painting shows the gifts that guests may have received.
![Carmelo Fernández, <em>The Strait of Furatena in the Minero River</em>](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Furatena-thumb-570x350.jpg)
Carmelo Fernández, The Strait of Furatena in the Minero River
The Colombian Chorographic Commission mapped the country while also documenting the landscape and its people.
![Chinese porcelain: production and export](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/screen-shot-2017-03-03-at-4-26-07-pm-570x350.png)
Chinese porcelain: production and export
Blue-and-white porcelain was much admired at the Imperial court, but a booming export market also drove production.
![Chinese porcelain: decoration](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Chinese-porcelain-decoration-thumb-570x350.jpg)
Chinese porcelain: decoration
Not all Chinese porcelain is blue and white. Overglaze enamels add touches of pink, green, yellow, and black.
![Diego Rivera, <em>Calla Lilly Vendor (Vendedora de Alcatraces)</em>](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Rivera-Calla-570x350.jpg)
Diego Rivera, Calla Lilly Vendor (Vendedora de Alcatraces)
Rivera celebrates Indigenous culture, but also points to poverty in this melancholy painting of a flower seller.
![Master of the (Fishing) Nets Garden](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/netsthumb-570x350.jpg)
Master of the (Fishing) Nets Garden
Every inch of this contemplative space was carefully crafted—there’s bamboo, patterned paving, and scholar’s rocks.