Stories for July 2006

The Science

July 31, 2006

Ann Creager uses microtweezers to restore Gene Davis's Two Part Blue. Photo by Michael Mansfield. Gene Davis's Two Part Blue was given to American Art in the ‘90s as part of the late artist’s estate. The painting came with a...


Responsive Architecture

July 28, 2006

Architects' depiction of the proposed Parrish Art Museum. © 2006 Herzog & de Meuron From the NYT write-up of the new design for the Parrish Art Museum in Long Island: Typically, architects design museums with the art collection in mind;...


Museum Lighting: How We Do It

July 24, 2006

Color Field Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum. Scott Rosenfeld: "I think the entrance view works well. All three artworks, Anne Truitt's 17th Summer (left), Paul Reed's #1D (center) and Gene Davis's Wall Stripes No.3 (right) read as dynamic fields of...


Picture This: Conserving a Lady

July 21, 2006

Over the past week I've paused several times in front of this project in progress at the Lunder Conservation Center. What was that yellow splotch on the woman's face? I spoke to conservator Ann Creager, who explained that she was...


Picture This: A Courtyard Duo

July 18, 2006

With our opening festivities complete we're turning our attentions upward —to the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard being designed by renowned British architect Norman Foster and scheduled for completion by the fall of next year. The top image is a...


Picture This: Mega Kick

July 17, 2006

SAAM visitors getting a kick out of Nam June Paik's masterpiece Megatron Matrix. Photograph by Joanna Champagne. Nam June Paik, Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, Smithsonian American Art Museum


Picture This: Pictures of the Day

July 14, 2006

Seems the Eye Level team wasn't the only one documenting our reopening. Take a look at this Flickr photostream. Although not all the images are correctly identified as to title or museum, they are fun to browse and will give...


Tell Us About Your Visit

July 10, 2006

Visitors to the Reynolds Center Thousands of you have streamed through our doors since we opened on July 1st, and Eye Level wants to hear from you. We told you our impressions —what are yours? Please leave a comment. Donald...


Trout Fishing in America

July 5, 2006

Albert Bierstadt's Among the Sierra Nevada, California Peer closely at Albert Bierstadt's Among the Sierra Nevada, California—you need to be standing up close and personal, because you won't find it even in a large image—and you will see, in the...


Countdown to the Opening

July 3, 2006

Museum staff encountered this countdown clock when entering and leaving work every day. Rachel Allen, our Deputy Director, reminded us today of another milestone: "999 days ago, the museum started counting the days until reopening. (The original opening date was...


Picture This: A Docent Tour

July 2, 2006

A docent tour on the first floor of the Donald W. Reynolds Center. We've been noticing that the building can absorb a lot of people without feeling claustrophobic. I think it's because there are no dead ends: when it starts...


Not Your Usual Museum Experience

July 2, 2006

Mr. Imagination at a demonstration on opening day. Photo by Michael Mansfield. From Eye Level's command center here in the recesses of the Luce Foundation Center yesterday, we were amazed at the surge of energy and people in our halls....


Picture This: 18,744 Art Fans

July 2, 2006

There were 18,744 visitors to the Donald W. Reynolds Center yesterday on its opening day. Photo by Joanna Champagne. Update: We just got word that the number of visitors on opening day set a record for opening day attendance at...


Picture This: Marilyn and Marilyn

July 1, 2006

Visitors to The National Portrait Gallery can see Andy Warhol's famous portrait of Marilyn Monroe. On opening day we had a wandering Monroe impersonator grace the portrait. Andy Warhol, Charlie Chaplin, George Washington and Uncle Sam could be seen walking...


This is Only a Test

July 1, 2006

David Hockney, Snails Space with Vari-Lites, "Painting as Performance", 1995-1996, oil on two canvases, acrylic on canvas, covered masonite, wood dowels, 84 1/4 x 264 x 135 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Nan Tucker McEvoy, 2003.31A-X Offset from...


Our First Podcast

July 1, 2006

Edward Hopper, Cape Cod Morning, 1950, oil, 34 1/8 x 40 1/4 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.92 Here, in the middle of opening day hubbub, we proudly present the first installment of our...


Opening Day

July 1, 2006

The crowds await the opening of SAAM and NPG. Photo by Jeff Gates. A crowd of hundreds waited outside, everyone hoping to be the first to enter. Waving fans and folded papers, people were surely eager to escape the heat...


Ready for Opening Day

July 1, 2006

Venerable American Art Icons Await the Opening of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Photos by Jeff Gates. Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, Smithsonian American Art Museum