Smithsonian American Art Museum

Robert S. Duncanson, Landscape with Rainbow, 1859, oil on canvas

A Curator Decodes the Powerful Messaging in This Landscape Painting

Curator Eleanor Harvey shares the story of Robert Duncanson and his artwork

Robert S. Duncanson's Landscape With Rainbow (1859) “carries with it an unmistakable ray of hope,” per the Los Angeles Times. “Rainbows typically appear after a storm has passed, not before.”

Smithsonian Curator Reflects on Joe Biden's 'Poignant' Inaugural Painting

Eleanor Harvey posits that the 1859 landscape's message of hope resonated with First Lady Jill Biden, who helped select the artwork

Still from the 1974 film Julie by Robert and Ingrid Wiegand

Women Artists Reflect on How They Helped Shape SoHo

A Smithsonian online event kicks off a new monthly series exploring the pioneering art films and videos made by women

Will Cotton, Molasses Swamp II, 1999, oil on linen

Top Ten Favorite Holiday Movies as Seen in American Art

What is cozier than watching old holiday movies on a chilly winter’s night? Pairing them up with favorite artworks from SAAM's collection, that’s what

The books Smithsonian experts recommend this year are, in a word, relevant.

Smithsonian Scholars Pick Their Favorite Books of 2020

This wide-ranging list offers much-needed context for the issues at the forefront of the national conversation

Smithsonian locations closing November 23, 2020 include: The National Zoo, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Museum of American History, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Renwick Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and the Udvar-Hazy Center.

Smithsonian Museums and the National Zoo to Close Due to Increased Cases of Covid-19

In an official statement, the Institution announced a temporary closing of all its public facilities beginning November 23

In the ninth edition of the Renwick Invitational, artists Lauren Fensterstock, Timothy Horn (above: Gorgonia 12, 2016), Debora Moore and Rowland Ricketts offer viewers entrancing new perspectives on the natural world.

Nature and Artifice Collide at the 2020 Renwick Invitational

In an era of isolated anxiety, “Forces of Nature” offers room to breathe

Keara Teeter treating William H. Johnson’s Historical Scene with Mary McLeod Bethune, ca. 1945, oil on paperboard

A Conservator Weighs in on the Preserving of Artist William H. Johnson’s 'Fighters for Freedom' Series

By preserving these artworks, the artist’s message will continue to inspire future generations and elicit meaningful dialogue about the meaning of freedom

Carlos A. Cortéz, "José Guadalupe Posada," 1981, signed 1983, linocut on paper mounted on paperboard

How Día de los Muertos Is Celebrated in the United States

Chicano artists and activists blend cultural and visual traditions

Jennifer Angus, "In the Midnight Garden," 2015.

Twelve Artworks and the Spooky Movies They Bring to Mind

Undead animals, creepy kitties, cyanotype cemeteries and other ghouls and creepy stuff to be found at the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Jacob Lawrence, There are combustibles in every State, which a spark might set fire to. —Washington, 26 December 1786, Panel 16, 1956, from Struggle: From the History of the American People, 1954–56

Long-Lost Jacob Lawrence Painting Spent 60 Years Hanging in NYC Apartment

A museum visitor realized she'd seen the missing work—part of the artist's "Struggle" series—in her neighbor's living room

Paul Lester Wiener and an unidentified advisor for the U.S. Pavilion murals, Private archive of Eduard “Buk” Ulreich, St. Louis, MO.

Help This Scholar Reverse the Erasure of Native Contributions in the Creation of These 20th-Century Murals

Native artists working on monumental, public works of art remain unidentified and unrecognized; it's time to change that

Ken Jennings, known to millions as a game show champion, is also is a fan of Alexander von Humboldt, a Prussian naturalist with an endless curiosity.

'Jeopardy!' Champion Ken Jennings on Lessons Learned From Alexander von Humboldt

“I’ll take Alexander von Humboldt for $500, Alex”

Some exhibitions, galleries, interactives, theaters or indoor spaces may be closed or operating at limited capacity, but the Kogod Courtyard at Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery is always a pleasant place to relax.

Here's What's New to Explore as Smithsonian Museums Reopen

Two more museums, the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of the American Indian, open Friday

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Alexander von Humboldt: The Man History Forgot

Rediscover the 19th-century naturalist who traveled on four continents, wrote 2,500 letters, 36 books and hugely influenced early America

When Alexander von Humboldt (right) traveled to England in 1790, he met a young chemist named James Smithson, the founder of the Smithsonian. Humboldt's influence still resonates throughout the massive museum and research complex.

How the Revolutionary Thinker Alexander von Humboldt Helped to Create the Smithsonian

The 19th-century polymath continues to influence the Institution’s research; a major Smithsonian exhibition explains how and why

"Halo 2600" game map.

How the Smithsonian Is Documenting and Preserving Video Games

At the Smithsonian American Art Museum, a researcher develops strategy for digital preservation

The frame is the "mother holding its child,” says the Smithsonian's Martin Kotler. Many frames are works of art in their own right—and deserve to be seen as such.

Is It Time to Recognize Frames as an Independent Art Form?

In a fairly new field, the picture frame may finally be coming into its own

Love is the Message, The Message is Death,by Arthur Jafa
, film still, 2016

Now for the First Time, Arthur Jafa’s 'Love Is the Message, The Message Is Death' Streams Online

The seminal work, a contemporary <em>Guernica</em>, is the first joint acquisition for the Hirshhorn and the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Fatherhood can appear in a myriad of ways in art; one constant is love.

Fourteen Works of Art Portray the Bonds of Fatherhood Across Time and Culture

Celebrate Father’s Day with works pulled from the Smithsonian collections

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