Assuming the emergence of consciousness in artificial minds is possible, those minds will feel the urge to create art. But will we be able to understand it?

Michel Cohen made millions selling art and lost it all trading stocks. Desperate and in debt, he stole more than $50 million by double-selling famous paintings. Then he disappeared. In her new documentary, Vanessa Engle recounts Michel’s story and her 17-year search for the missing art dealer.

As part of our Year in Review, we’re happy to share the Top-25 photos uploaded to Flickr in 2019.

Some 44,000 years ago, an artist climbed high onto a cave ledge on an Indonesian island, paintbrush in hand. Perhaps inspired by spiritual visions, the artist sketched a dynamic scene featuring tiny, animal-headed hunters armed with spears cornering formidable wild hogs and small buffaloes. In a new study, researchers argue that the scene's visionary storytelling—which they claim represents the oldest known figurative art made by modern humans—shows that people already had imaginations much like our own at the time of the cave painting, and likely much earlier.

There’s a reason so many people find the art world to be impenetrable and elitist - it’s designed to be. Don’t get me wrong, I love visiting my local art gallery; it’s a great place to take the kids, and often, I discover beautiful and thought-provoking pieces. But sometimes, I feel downright frustrated by the works that have been chosen for inclusion.

According to Artnet , a banana duct-taped to a wall at Basel Miami Beach this week – was sold at $120,000. This, not one of a kind art installation, presented by an artist Maurizio Cattelan is already sold to two different buyers, with the third now going for $150,000.

The head of a major Italian museum says a bronze owned by a friend was made in 1597 by a revered sculptor, but others say it was cast a century later and is worth far less.

Excess fungus slices

A few speedcubers have jumped from participating in competitions and exhibitions to creating mosaics. There are also some artists and designers who use Rubik’s Cubes in their masterpieces.

American painter Jackson Pollock is remembered for his abstract-expressionist art and "drip technique." But researchers who studied his work wanted to take a deeper look at the science behind his art.

The painting was found hanging above a hotplate in an elderly woman's home in northern France.

Plautilla Nelli was likely the first woman in history to paint the iconic biblical scene.

Once a brilliant hue, the pigment verdigris is now mostly brown.

Finding beauty in 'ugly' animals could help conserve weirdest looking wildlife.

Stormzy's stab vest and a cradle surrounded by CCTV cameras appeared overnight at a shop in London.

Artist Daniel Monnier spent a couple of decades away before returning to complete his vision.

“People have been upset about nude women for years.” That’s what Mike Edison, who has a knack for stating the obvious, has to say. The author of Dirty! Dirty! Dirty! Of Playboys, Pigs, and Penthouse Paupers, Edison literally wrote the book on nude women and the exact ways people have been upset about them ever since a naked Marilyn Monroe first graced the pages of Playboy back in 1953.

Christ Mocked, by the 13th-century painter Cimabue, could be worth up to €6m

Immediate excitement has greeted one of the first sign of life from the hugely popular franchise since the publicity-shy artist retired it in 1995

Edward Burtynsky travels the world trying to capture striking images of humanity's impact on the planet, from the fossil-like shapes left behind by drills in a Potash mine to the luminescent colours of lithium ponds.