John Gossage: The Pond

August 27, 2010 - January 17, 2011
Graphic Arts Galleries, 2nd Floor, South
John Gossage (b. 1946) photographed a small, unnamed pond between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, between 1981 and 1985. The title was intended to recall Henry David Thoreau's Walden, but Gossage advocated a more all-embracing view of the landscape, exploring the less idealized spaces that border America's cities and suburbs. Although many of the images in The Pond appear unruly or uncared for, Gossage found moments of grace and elegance in even the most mundane of places.

The complete portfolio of The Pond was acquired by the museum in 2007. This exhibition marks the first time the complete series of 53 gelatin silver prints has been on public display.

The Pond: re-issued edition, co-published by the museum, includes an essay by photo historian Gerry Badger and an introduction by Jurovics: $65, hardcover

Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg

July 2, 2010 - January 2, 2011
Osher Galleries, 1st Floor, West
Two of America's best-known modern filmmakers -- George Lucas and Steven Spielberg -- recognized a kindred spirit in the artist Norman Rockwell and formed in-depth collections of his work. Lucas, Spielberg, and Rockwell have perpetuated American ideals about love of country, personal honor, and the value of family through their work. With humor and pathos, they have transformed ordinary people and the quotidian incidents of everyday experience into stories that show us our better selves and the values that have sustained Americans through good times and bad. All three share an ability to communicate visually with mass audiences using popular media of their time. Telling Stories reveals for the first time the connections between Rockwell's iconic images of American life and the movies.

This exhibition showcases 57 major Rockwell paintings and drawings from these private collections that are rarely seen by the public.

Notes:
• Monday through Friday: Enter from the Kogod Courtyard or from the exhibition With Liberty: Folk Art from the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
• Saturday and Sunday: Enter from the Kogod Courtyard only.

See related articles in Smithsonian magazine: August 2010, p. 22; December 2009, pp. 8-10

Related publication: $65 (cloth), $35.95 (paper)

Video: Excerpts from interviews in which Lucas and Spielberg talk about Rockwell and the works in their collections (runs continuously)

Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Remembering the 'Running Fence' (new title)

April 2, 2010 - September 26, 2010
3rd Floor, North Galleries
On view are nearly 50 preparatory drawings and collages, along with photographs, film, and components, that document the creation and installation of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's epic project the Running Fence, Sonoma and Marin Counties, California, 1972-76, a white fabric and steel-pole fence, 24 1/2 miles long and 18 feet high, that ran across the properties of 59 ranchers in Sonoma and Marin Counties north of San Francisco. The project attracted far wider public involvement than any previous work of art, including 18 public hearings, three sessions in the Superior Court of California, and the first environmental impact report ever done for a work of art. Paid for entirely by the artists, the Running Fence existed for only two weeks and survives today as a memory and through the artwork and documentation of the artists.

Films The 'Running Fence' Revisited (2010, 45 min), Running Fence with commentary (2004, 58 min), and Running Fence (1978, 58 min) (3 films run continuously back to back)

See related article in Smithsonian magazine: June 2010, p. 25; Dec. 2008, p. 33

Related publication: $50 (cloth)

Graphic Masters III: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum

January 15, 2010 - August 8, 2010
2nd Floor, South Wing, Graphics Gallery
On view are watercolors, pastels, and drawings from the 1960s to the 1990s to celebrate the extraordinary variety and accomplishment of American artists' works on paper. The works on view reveal the central importance of works on paper for American artists, both as studies for creations in other media and as finished works of art. Artists represented include such masters as Robert Arneson, Jennifer Bartlett, Philip Guston, Luis Jimenez, and Wayne Thiebaud.

Catalogue: $19.95

Thomas Moran Landscapes

May 8, 2009 - Permanent
2nd Floor, North Lobby
On view are three large landscape paintings by Thomas Moran, two on long-term loan from the U.S. Department of the Interior -- The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (1872) and The Chasm of the Colorado (1873-1874) -- and the museum's The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (1893-1901), along with a smaller Moran painting.

Outdoor Sculptures

- Indefinitely
Outside on F & 9th Sts., NW
Outside on F and 9th Sts., NW

• Modern Head (2008): This 31-foot-tall sculpture by pop artist Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) is made of stainless steel painted blue and weighs 13,000 pounds. The sculpture is part of a series Lichtenstein began in the late 1960s that explored the idea of creating images of human figures that look like machines; this concept pervaded the artist's work throughout his career. Lichtenstein created the first Modern Head in 1974 out of wood that was painted blue. In 1989, he produced an edition of four in brushed steel. In 1990, the artist painted one a vibrant blue making it a unique work.

Installed in 1996 in Battery Park City, one block from the World Trade Center, the sculpture survived the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack with only surface scratches and was temporarily used by the FBI as a message board during the investigation. It has had several homes before coming to the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The museum acquired the sculpture in 2008.

Outside at G St. entrance

• Vaquero (1987): The colorful fiberglass sculpture of a Mexican cowboy on a bucking blue horse by New Mexico artist Luis Jimenez Jr. (1940-2006).

Renovating a Landmark: From Patent Office to Reynolds Center.

- Permanent
Historic Fabric Room, 1st Floor, S. of F St. Lobby, near lockers
This small exhibition commemorates the opening of the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard, the final phase of a major renovation of the National Historic Landmark building that houses the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. It highlights aspects of the renovation with photographs, architectural artifacts from the building, and objects discovered during the excavation of the courtyard. Also included are historic images of the building, a 7-foot segment of one of the 19th-century cast iron fountains from the courtyard, and an architect's model of the building.

Related publication: Temple of Invention: History of a National Landmark by Charles Robertson, who is also the guest curator of the exhibition: $19.95 (paper)

Sculptures by Paul Manship

- Indefinitely
1st Floor, North Corridors, near G St. entrance
From the museum's collection of nearly 500 works by Paul Manship (1885-1966) are 25 graceful sculptures -- including such mythological figures such as Atalanta and Europa, as well as a collection of gilded animal figures. As a young artist studying in Rome, Manship fell in love with both Roman and Greek sculpture and was captivated by animals and mythological figures. He also studied Egyptian, Asian, and Assyrian art. An exponent of Art Deco in the United States, he developed a style that was both representational and highly stylized.

Notes:
• Additional works are on view in the Luce Foundation Center, 3rd floor.
• From time to time, the sculptures in this exhibit may rotate.

Luce Foundation Center for American Art

- Permanent
3rd & 4th Floors and 3rd Floor Mezzanine, West
The Luce Foundation Center for American Art is the first visible art storage and study center in Washington that showcases more than 3,300 artworks from the museum's permanent collection: paintings densely hung on screens; sculptures, contemporary crafts, and art objects arranged on shelves; and portrait miniatures, bronze medals, and contemporary jewelry in drawers that slide open with the touch of a button. The space allows the museum to display five times the number of works on public view.

Highlights include:
• Selected objects from the Rosenak Collection of American Folk Art

Art Since 1945

- Permanent
3rd Floor, North
On view is modern and contemporary art, including works from Color Field, Abstract Expressionism, and Pop Art; a room-size installation Megatron Matrix by Nam June Paik; and 20th-century paintings by such artists as Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, and Helen Frankenthaler.

Related Book America's Art: $65 (cloth), $45 (paper)

David Beck's MVSEVM

- Permanent
2nd Floor, South Center
Commissioned by the museum, David Beck created MVSEVM, an exquisitely crafted world in miniature; the work reflects the neoclassical architecture of the building, from the 1840s when it was the U.S. Patent Office to the present day.

American Experience

- Permanent
1st Floor, Southwest (near Main Lobby)
These introductory galleries feature paintings by Edward Hopper, 19th- and 20th-century landscapes from across the United States that convey a sense of place and the defining role of land in the American imagination, and 56 photographs from Lee Friedlander's series "The American Monument" (1963-2001) -- a new acquisition -- that offer his sometimes ironic, sometimes elegiac record of outdoor sculptures across the country.

With Liberty: Folk Art from the Smithsonian American Art Museum

- Permanent
1st Floor, West
These galleries serve as a reminder that not all artists are formally trained, and that the making of art is as much an act of passion as of intellect. Artists represented range from Mose Tolliver and Howard Finster to Felipe Archuleta and Thorton Dial, Sr. To provide the installation a particular point of view, the museum asked artist William Christenberry to curate -- choose the objects and provide the wall labels and quotes that express his deep regard for folk art.

Highlights include:
• James Hampton's The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations Millennium General Assembly (1950-64), a visionary work made from salvaged materials covered in gold and silver foil.
• Selected objects from the Rosenak Collection of American Folk Art

Related Book America's Art: $65 (cloth), $45 (paper)

American Art through 1940

- Permanent
2nd Floor, East, South, and North
This exhibition links artworks to major moments in America's past in nine thematic sections in 31 galleries. The introductory area features Frederic Auguste Bartholdi's model for the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of America as a place welcoming to all immigrants whose ingenuity and creativity plays a key role throughout America's art.

• "The American Colonies" and "The New Republic": The arts of New Spain and New England show how the cultures of colonial Britain, Spain, France, as well as American Indians and African Americans influenced the other while continuing to compete for land well into the 19th century. From independence through the Federal period, American art presented the nation as it wanted to be viewed and appreciated at home and abroad. Highlights include John Singleton Copley's Mrs. George Watson and colonial and federal furniture from the collection of Mrs. George M. Kaufman.

• "Western Art": The nation's westward expansion is explored through majestic landscapes of the western territories and portraits of American Indians. Highlights include Albert Bierstadt's "Great Picture" Among the Sierra Nevada, California and three rows of George Catlin's "Indian Gallery" portraits, all displayed as they would have been when they were first presented to the public.

• "Antebellum Art": Many 19th-century American artists traveled through Europe to pay their respects to the old masters and Antiquity. While there, they saw thousands of years of art that made their young country seem raw and primitive by comparison; many felt America needed a culture to match its political and economic power. This gallery features sculptures by Hiram Powers and others that represent the classical styles of art and architecture these 19th-century artists brought home with them -- styles that would dominate American public life for many decades. The museum has the world's largest collection of American sculpture.

• "Civil War": Prints by Winslow Homer, graphic early photographs, wood engravings, paintings, and sculptures illustrate how the Civil War tore apart the fabric of the nation.

• "Impressionism": American artists in the 1880's were attracted to the light and color of painting outdoors and many studied abroad to absorb the new palette and compositions that were modernizing painting in France. On view are works by Childe Hassam, John Twachtman, William Merritt Chase, and Mary Cassatt, who were influenced by this movement.

• "Gilded Age": The final quarter of the 19th century was dubbed the "Gilded Age" by author Mark Twain. On view to represent the period are signature works by John Singer Sargent, Abbott Handerson Thayer, and Henry Ossawa Tanner. Also on view are rooms devoted to the works of Albert Pinkham Ryder and Thomas Wilmer Dewing. Highlights include a gilded Steinway and Sons piano decorated by Dewing and a stained glass window by John La Farge.

• "Modernism": On view are early 20th-century American paintings and sculptures to show the contrast between abstraction and realism. Highlights include a suite of Ashcan School paintings, works from the Stieglitz Circle and the Harlem Renaissance, paintings from the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project, Everett Shinn's The White Ballet, and Thomas Hart Benton's mural Achelous and Hercules.

• "Southwestern Art": Artists working in eastern cities around 1900 saw the Southwest almost as a foreign country, where the age-old Spanish Catholic culture seemed like an antidote to the pressure of "progress." Painters from New York and Chicago, attracted by the clear light, ancient rhythms, and rich artistic traditions of the Pueblo communities, settled and developed artists' colonies around Santa Fe and Taos. Highlights include works from the Dallas Nine and the Taos Society.

Related Book America's Art: $65 (cloth), $45 (paper)

Lunder Conservation Center

- Permanent
3rd Floor Mezzanine & 4th Floor, West
The Lunder Conservation Center -- shared with the National Portrait Gallery -- is the first facility that provides a unique opportunity for the public to view through glass walls conservators at work in several labs examining, treating, and preserving art.

Modern and Contemporary Art

- Permanent
3rd Floor, East, in the Lincoln Gallery
Located in the Lincoln Gallery with soaring arches, this exhibition features modern and contemporary art.

Highlights include:
• Newly acquired room-size acquisitions, including David Hockney's Snails Space with Vari-Lites, Painting as Performance, Nam June Paik's Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, and Edward and Nancy Kienholz's Sollie 17
• Large-scale works by Alfred Jensen, Sean Scully, Edward Kienholz, and James Rosenquist
• Duane Hanson's Woman Eating

Additions include:
• November 3, 2007:
For SAAM (2007) by Jenny Holzer: Commissioned by the museum, this new contemporary site-specific light sculpture is a 28-foot-tall, floor-to-ceiling cylindrical column of LEDs (light-emitting diodes) with text -- varying in height, font, and intensity -- that is programmed to swirl and travel around the body of the piece. The text is from four of the artist's series -- Truisms, selections from Living, selections from Survival, and Arno. This sculpture is the only work by the artist on public view in the city. Located near Nam Paik's Electronic Superhighway.

Related Book America's Art: $65 (cloth), $45 (paper)

Outdoor Sculpture: Vaquero by Luis Jimenez Jr.

- Permanent
Outside at G St. entrance
Vaquero (1987): The colorful fiberglass sculpture of a Mexican cowboy on a bucking blue horse by New Mexico artist Luis Jimenez Jr. (1940-2006).