Watch This! New Directions in the Art of the Moving Image

Permanent Exhibit
3rd Floor, North

In this rotating gallery dedicated to the media arts, the museum takes stock of the cutting-edge tools and materials used by video artists during the past 50 years. This installation features key artworks from the history of video art and works by a new generation of artists on the cutting edge of new media art practices. 

The following works are on view:

• John Baldessari, Six Colorful Inside Jobs (1977)
• Bruce Nauman, Walk with Contrapposto (1968)
• Charlemagne Palestine, Running Outburst (1975)
• Bill Viola, The Fall into Paradise (2005)

Pictures in the Parlor

Now - June 30, 2013
2nd Floor, South

More than 50 objects -- painted tintypes, hand-colored photographs, and folios from a Victorian collage album -- reveal how decorative images from the mid-19th century through the early 20th century were used in domestic interiors. Photography was introduced to the United States in the 1840s, democratizing home décor by allowing more families to display art. The parlor became the center of middle-class domestic life, a place where pictures that reflected a family’s aesthetics, status, and history were prominently displayed.

Nam June Paik: Global Visionary

Now - August 11, 2013
3rd Floor, North

This exhibition -- the first in a series of exhibitions to be drawn from the Nam June Paik Estate Archive -- offers an unprecedented view into the artist's creative method. It presents artworks and documentary materials from the archive to examine Paik's creative process and to tell the story of his groundbreaking ideas. On view are key artworks in the museum's collection, including Zen for TV (1963/1976), and Technology (1991), and Megatron Matrix, as well as works on loan from public and private collections.

 

Inventing a Better Mousetrap: Patent Models from the Rothschild Collection

Now - November 3, 2013
Allan J. and Reda R. Riley Gallery, 2nd Floor, South

Thirty-two models illustrate the variety of 19th-century patented inventions submitted by inventors from across the United States. All of the models on view were originally displayed in large cases in the grand galleries on the third floor of the building, which originally housed the Patent Office. Nineteenth-century American patent law required the submission and public display of a model with each patent application; these scale models in miniature illustrate not only the imaginative fervor of the era but also the amazing craftsmanship required to fabricate these often intricate works of art.

The models are grouped by category, including domestic life, leisure, agriculture, and machinery; they are complemented by drawings, illustrations, a rare early patent signed by George Washington, and a full-scale model of a "better" mousetrap -- with questions about its advantages over more conventional mousetraps. The installation also includes a case of "mystery models," each accompanied by a clue, which allows visitors to guess their purpose.

Thomas Moran Landscapes

Permanent Exhibit
2nd Floor, North

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.

Sculptures by Paul Manship

Permanent Exhibit
1st Floor, North

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.

David Beck's MVSEVM

Permanent Exhibit
2nd Floor, South

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.

Related book: $16.95 (cloth)

American Art through 1940

Permanent Exhibit
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. 
• "Western Frontier 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 (east wing).
•  "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)

American Experience

Permanent Exhibit
1st Floor, South

These introductory galleries feature 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, paintings by Edward Hopper, and 56  photographs from Lee Friedlander's series "The American Monument" (1963-2001) of  outdoor sculptures across the country.

Modern and Contemporary Art

Permanent Exhibit
Lincoln Gallery, 3rd Floor, East

On view in the Lincoln Gallery are modern and contemporary artworks from the museum's permanent collection. New acquisitions are often featured.

Highlights include:

• 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, and James Rosenquist
• Duane Hanson's Woman Eating
• For SAAM (2007) by Jenny Holzer: Commissioned by the museum, this 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 (added November 3, 2007).

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

Lunder Conservation Center

Permanent Exhibit
3rd Floor Mezzanine and 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 five different labs and studios examining, treating, and preserving art: Frames Studio, Paintings Studio, Paintings Lab, Paper Lab, and Objects Lab.

With Liberty: Folk Art from the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Permanent Exhibit
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 Thorton Dial Sr. to Mr. Imagination to Malcah Zeldis. 

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)

Preamble by Mike Wilkins

Permanent Exhibit
1st Floor, North, near Museum Store

See how artist Mike Wilkins (b. 1959) used 51 "vanity" license plates -- arranged alphabetically by state and including the District of Columbia -- to phonetically spell out the preamble to the Constitution of the United States.

Luce Foundation Center for American Art

Permanent Exhibit
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 3,000 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 paintings and sculptures on public view.

Highlights include:

• selected objects from the Rosenak Collection of American Folk Art
• a selection of Presidential Inaugural medals
• in-depth collections of paintings by the African American modernist William H. Johnson
• paintings by 19th-century artists Albert Pinkham Ryder and Henry Ossawa Tanner
• John Gellatly's European collection of decorative arts

Art Since 1945

Permanent Exhibit
3rd Floor, North

On view is modern and contemporary art, including works from Color Field, Abstract Expressionism, and Pop Art 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)

Outdoor Sculptures: Modern Head, Vaquero, and Tableau Noir

Permanent Exhibit
Near entrances

• 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. It is on view outside at F & 9th Sts., NW.
• Vaquero (1987): The colorful fiberglass sculpture of a Mexican cowboy on a bucking blue horse by New Mexico artist Luis Jimenez Jr. (1940-2006). It is on view outside at the G St. entrance.
• Tableau Noir (The Blackboard) (1970): Alexander Calder’s large painted stabile sculpture. It is on loan from a private collection and is on view outside at the G St. entrance.