You’ve heard of Jackson Pollock and know of his infamous “drip paintings,” but what is it that you’re supposed to do when you look at his work today? Why did it cause shockwaves in 1947, and what does it mean now? We explore the life, evolution, and legacy of Jackson Pollock.

EARTHWORKS. LAND ART. EARTH ART. Whatever you call it, we look at what it means to make art out in nature and in the world from the 1960s to today.

You've probably seen a few cubes sitting in an art gallery and questioned why they were there. How could cubes be important? How did we get here? This is the case for Minimalism.

The powerful and privileged have hoarded precious artifacts in museums for centuries, and it's only recently that these treasures were made available to the rest of us. What purpose did museums serve? And why does every city have one today?

Dubious of performance art? Break into a cold sweat when you realize it’s about to begin? There’s a reason. Here we present you with a brief history of performance art and attempt to sway you to its potential charms. Let us know if you buy it. The paintings in the first scene are by Candida Alvarez (www.candidaalvarez.com), from her exhibition 'mambomountain' at Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago. Photo by Tom van Eynde.

Yoko Ono was an established artist before most of the world heard of her in 1968, and she continues to make groundbreaking work to this day. Who is Yoko Ono? What is her work? And why should you take her seriously? This is the case for Yoko Ono.

Find out how hair simulation tools were used in the film the Good Dinosaur.

Mary Cassatt, Breakfast In Bed, 1897 (Huntington Library) Speakers: Beth Harris and Steven Zucker. Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.

Mary Cassatt, In the Loge, 1878, oil on canvas, 81.28 x 66.04 cm / 32 x 26 inches (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), speakers: Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker. In nineteenth century France, the gaze of the observer—whether on Napoleon's grand new boulevards or in the opera—was very much structured by issues of economic status. Mary Cassatt's remarkable painting In the Loge (c. 1878-79) clearly shows the complex relationship between the gaze, public spectacle, gender, and class privilege. Cassatt was a wealthy American artist who had adopted the style of the Impressionists while living in Paris. Here she depicts a fashionable upper-class woman in a box seat at the Paris opera (as it happens, the sitter is Cassatt's sister, Lydia). Lydia is shown holding opera glasses up to her eyes; but instead of tilting them down, as she would if she were watching the performance below, her gaze is level. She peers straight across the chamber perhaps at another member of the audience. Look closely and you will notice that, in turn, and in one of the boxes across the room, a gentleman is gazing at her. Lydia is then, in a sense, caught between his gaze and ours even as she spies another.

Mary Cassatt, The Child's Bath, 1893, oil on canvas, 100.3 x 66.1 cm / 39-1/2 x 26 inches (Art Institute of Chicago). Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.

Mary Cassatt, The Loge, oil on canvas, 1882. 31-7/16 x 25-1/8 inches (National Gallery of Art) Speakers: Beth Harris and Steven Zucker. Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.

Mary Cassatt, Woman with a Pearl Necklace in a Loge, 1879, oil on canvas, 32 x 23-1/2 inches or 81.3 x 59.7 cm (Philadelphia Museum of Art). Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.

These challenging paintings visually separate indigenous Americans from the Spanish elite; most were exported. Francisco Clapera, Set of Sixteen Casta paintings, c. 1775, 51.1 x 39.6 cm (Denver Art Museum). Speakers: Sabina Kull, Meyer Center Fellow, Denver Art Museum and Beth Harris. Find learning related resources here: https://smarthistory.org/seeing-america-2/

Adriaen de Vries, a 17th century Dutch sculptor, often used "direct lost-wax casting." Because the wax is "lost," each bronze cast is unique. If the casting fails, the sculptor begins again. Created by Getty Museum.

Bronze, a combination of copper, tin, and other metals, has long been prized for its ability to register fine details. Watch indirect lost-wax casting, a technique developed by artists in the 1500s. Created by Getty Museum.

Catacomb of Priscilla, Rome, late 2nd century through the 4th century C.E. Speakers: Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker

The Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Paris, begun 1163 (recorded before the fire). speakers: Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker. Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.

Video by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. On the occasion of her exhibition Figure and Landscape, Opie talks about the series. Created by Smarthistory.

How did events in the years after 1980 affect national identity in the United States? In this video, Kim discusses changes in US foreign policy, economics, and politics, attempting to place the developments of this era into a broader historical context.