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Stories from Roger Catlin

It wasn’t until the 1964 elections that city residents could participate in presidential elections. “It’s only then that Washingtonians got two electoral seats,” says historian Marjorie Lightman.

The History of D.C.’s Epic and Unfinished Struggle for Statehood and Self-Governance

Control of the federal city was long dictated by Congress until residents took a stand beginning in the 1960s

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

The minute-or-so videos offer philosophy, empathy or simply updates on what artists (above: Ragnar Kjartansson and Christine Sun Kim) are up to while quarantined.

These Video Diaries Document Quarantine Stories From Artists All Around the World

Hirshhorn Museum releases weekly peeks inside the studios of prominent artists, to create a living archive of the global pandemic

Celebrate Mother’s Day With These Artworks From the Smithsonian Collections

These paintings, sculptures and illustrations honor the bonds of motherhood

Double Self-Portrait by John Singer Sargent, 1902

John Singer Sargent ‘Abhorred’ Making His Lavish Portraits, So He Took Up Charcoal to Get the Job Done

Sargent made his portraits in charcoal—a medium that allowed completion in less than three hours rather than the weeks it took for his full-length oils

Spectacular offerings include (clockwise from top left): John Singer Sargent; art in response to the Age of Humans; Preston Singletary; Yayoi Kusama; and the mighty influence of Alexander von Humboldt.

Twenty Smithsonian Shows to See in 2020

Women inventors, baseball stamps and a new Kusama Infinity Room are among the offerings

The 1906 Kunstdommere (Art Judges) (detail) by Michael Ancher, group portrait captured a handful of Danish cultural luminaries of Scandanavia’s Modern Breakthrough movement of the 1870s and 1880s.

Rare Chance in 2020 to See This Classic Danish Masterwork

At the Portrait Gallery, a new show gets at the visual heart of competitive camaraderie roiling within artist colonies

The cubs are a male named Paitoon and a female named Jilian. They were born April 29 and March 24, respectively, at the Nashville Zoo.

The Smithsonian’s Ten Splashiest New Acquisitions of 2019

This year marks the arrival of a brilliant diamond, a hybrid space rocket, exciting paintings and two darling clouded leopard cubs

Boy Viewing Mount Fuji by Katsushika Hokusai, 1839

A Great Wave of Hokusai

The Freer Gallery—home to the largest collection of the popular Japanese artist’s paintings—unveils 120 rarely seen works

Marcel Duchamp by Henri Cartier-Bresson, 1968

Marcel Duchamp Played With the Definition of Art and Now the Public Can, Too

Art connoisseurs Aaron and Barbara Levine amassed a formidable body of the artist’s works; they’d like nothing better than for you to see it

The Anacostia Community Museum is just reopening its doors after a seven-month, $4.5 million improvement project amplifies the 52-year-old museum's welcoming outreach to the nearby neighborhoods and community.

At the Anacostia Community Museum, a Sleek New Look Comes with a New Director

With a hyper-local focus on neighborhood concerns, this Smithsonian museum is a mighty influencer

In an interview before the opening of his show, sculptor Lee Ufan (above: searching for materials on Long Island) says the significance for viewers is the "pure experience."

Lee Ufan’s Transformative Sculptures Are in Dialogue With the Spaces They Inhabit

For the first time in the Hirshhorn Museum’s history, the 4.3-acre outdoor gallery is devoted to a single artist

Sai Mado (The Distant Gaze) (detail) by Aida Muluneh, Ethiopia, 2016

Women’s Voices Ring With a Resounding Roar in This New Show

The African Art Museum raises the profile of female artists showcasing their works from its collections

Chelsea Children by James McNeill Whistler, ca. 1997

After More Than Eight Decades, These Exquisite Whistler Watercolors Make Their Public Debut

Freer Gallery also revamps its popular Peacock Room, returning it to the way it looked a century ago

The colors of the curry refer to political groups at odds in contemporary Thailand—the red for the rural activists, the yellow for the royalists and the green for the ever-pervasive military.

This Performance Art Piece Is Being Served Up With Tasty, Warm Bowls of Curry

Amid evolving images of protest and strife, Rirkrit Tiravanija’s art at the Hirshhorn satisfies both visually and nutritionally

“In order to interpret the past," says Matternes (above), "you have to have a pretty good working knowledge of conditions in the present.”

Meet the Master Muralist Who Inspired Today’s Generation of Paleoartists

The treasured Jay Matternes murals of lost Mesozoic worlds are featured in a new Smithsonian book

Curious sculptures have popped up throughout the Smithsonian campus in its gardens and are meant to show the inner-workings and relationships of insect and plant habitats.

The Gardens Around the National Mall Are Growing Giant Nests and Fanciful Tunnels

The new exhibition “Habitat” is a whimsical, art-filled lesson on ecosystems and how they work

Lead curator Tom Joyce traveled to Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, the Republic of Bénin and Togo (above: blacksmiths Kao Kossi and Ide Essozimna) to conduct research, film a half-dozen videos and help amass the 225 objects in the show.

How Blacksmiths Forged a Powerful Status Across the Continent of Africa

Iron tools, weapons, musical instruments and sculptures tell a tale of centuries of the craft’s influence

Marking the entry point for Section 14 is the sculpture Agua Caliente Women by artist Doug Hyde.

How the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians Held On in Palm Springs

The one-mile square area, known as Section 14, competes for sovereignty with the wealthy in Southern California

"Tiffany Chung's exhibition opens our eyes to a history hidden in plain sight, illuminating the war and its aftermath from the perspective of those who lived through it," says curator Sarah Newman.

For Tiffany Chung, Finding Vietnam’s Forgotten Stories Began as a Personal Quest

To map the post-war exodus, the artist turned to interviews and deep research, starting with her own father’s past

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