This website from the de Young Museum (a 293,000 sq. ft. museum located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park) presents a happy ending to what started as a story of looted cultural heritage. Harald Wagner, 1903 - 1976, was an architectural draftsman and property developer, as well as a painter and art collector, who loved and traveled to Mexico frequently, and bought a home there in the 1950s. In...

Decorated paper has served bookmakers and others quite well for centuries, and this digital collection pays tribute to that artistic tradition and practice. Created by the University of Washington Libraries, this database showcases decorated and decorative papers from Germany, France, and Italy. Visitors can browse the collection by keyword, though they may wish to begin their journey through the...

From New Castle to Sussex County, this very thorough collection of Delaware-themed postcards covers the entire state. Created by the University of Delaware Library Digital Collections group, this digital offering covers a wide variety of the Blue Hen state's history. Visitors can view the front and back of a variety of postcards, many of which contain historical correspondence. Users may also use...

The Morgan Library and Museum was originally the private library of financier Pierpont Morgan, the father of J.P. Morgan, who gifted the library to the public eleven years after Pierpont died. The elder Morgan concentrated on collecting "illuminated, literary, and historical manuscripts, early printed books, and old master drawings and prints." One of the most famous manuscripts held by the...

The Design Museum in London "concentrates on temporary exhibitions that cover the range of its interests, from graphic design and furniture to fashion, industrial design and architecture." On their site the museum provides several web versions of current exhibitions which include a few views of the works in each show. For example, click on Sustainable Futures to see five pioneering designs, such...

Learning about the world of design can be rather fun, and for persons interested in entering this industry, it can be essential to stay on top of ongoing developments. Design Week launched their site in November 2006, and as the publication is based in Britain, the coverage of design events and trends is primarily focused on the British and Continental scenes. From those thinking about looking for...

The DesignUSA exhibition from the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum celebrates ten years of the Museum's National Design Awards program. The National Design Awards program was founded in order to "celebrate contemporary American design and to increase national awareness of design through education and promotion of excellence and innovation." The exhibition is organized according...

In a previous life, Colin Purrington taught evolutionary biology at Hudson University for fourteen years. Today, he engages in a wide range of pursuits, including offering high-quality tips on designing conference posters. He bills his suggestions as "gratuitous advice on how to prepare posters for scientific meetings, research conferences, and similar gathering of nerds." His humorous tone belies...

Grab your kids and join a couple of space aliens on a mission to explore modern art from MOMA's permanent collection (and at its satellite PS1), a former public school building. (Notably, the five works and associated activities at MOMA amused a seven-year-old for at least 25 minutes!) These activities include Listen (especially good on Van Gogh's _Starry Night_), Tools (make your own collage...

Visit this interactive site from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) to explore eight murals by the Mexican artist Diego Rivera. In 1931, MoMA created studio space in the Museum for Rivera to paint five mural panels with themes drawn from Mexican history, intended to be part of a major retrospective of the artist's work. The subsequent exhibition was wildly popular, and after it closed, Rivera painted...