We believe art has the power to transform lives and to build understanding across time and across cultures, and that the brilliant histories of art belong to everyone.
Hunefer’s (Hw-nfr) Judgement in the presence of Osiris, Book of the Dead (sheet 3), 19th Dynasty, New Kingdom, c. 1275 B.C.E., papyrus, Thebes, Egypt (British Museum)
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Smarthistory is a tiny not-for-profit that collaborates with more than eight hundred art historians, curators, archaeologists, knowledge-bearers, and artists committed to making the history of art accessible to more people, in more places, than any other publisher. We work hard to make our essays and videos engaging while retaining depth, nuance, and analytic rigor.
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Art and life, pain and joy, past and present, profound and prosaic. All, in an instant, folded into one. What could have been boring and didactic instead hits a kind of pedagogical sweet spot — that priceless moment when a lesson becomes an event. Even if its author had wanted it to, an art history textbook could never produce such a moment.
Sebastian Smee, “How two professors transformed the teaching of art history,” The Washington Post (May 3, 2020)
Tomb of the founder of the Ming dynasty, Nanjing, China, 1381–1405
