American Art Everywhere

On "1934," a Poem by Philip Levine

June 10, 2009

In the Barber Shop by Ilya Bolotowsky The May 25th edition of the New Yorker features a poem by Philip Levine, an American poet who can count among his numerous awards the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. He...

In Memoriam: Sam Maloof (1916-2009)

May 27, 2009

Sam Maloof's Rocker As I'm writing this quick post so that we can ask those of you who knew Sam Maloof, or just admired his work, to share your stories about him, I'm surprised at how hard it is. I...

The Inauguration

January 15, 2009

The Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln as President, from Harper's Weekly, March 4, 1861, attributed to Winslow Homer Greetings from D.C. where change comes every four—or sometimes eight—years. It's an interesting time to be in the nation's capital. On January 20th,...

A Day Without Art/A Day With Art

December 1, 2008

Where Tears Can't Stop by Carlos Alfonzo December 1 is World AIDS Day as well as what was once known as A Day Without Art. That began December 1, 1989, in response to the AIDS crisis and in honor of...

Robert Storr: Make New Friends, but Keep the Old

April 11, 2008

"Contemporary art," says Robert Storr, "is simply the most recent of modern art and modern art is an ongoing phenomenon." That line from a recent lecture on museums and collecting modern and contemporary art delivered by Storr, the artist, critic,...

Merce C

April 4, 2008

Merce C by Franz Kline Merce Cunningham, at 87, is still going strong. The esteemed choreographer, who has collaborated with John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, and many others, is one of the pioneers of contemporary dance. He was also...

Stephen Colbert Hung at the National Portrait Gallery!

January 22, 2008

The media's all over this one. Stephen Colbert's portrait hangs to the left of the men's room. Washington... Lincoln... Kennedy... and now Colbert. Just in case a writers' strike and a presidential campaign in full swing weren't enough to keep...

Seeing Things (2): Art and Love

January 15, 2008

This is the second in a series of personal observations about how people experience and explore museums. Albert Bierstadt; Among the Sierra Nevada, California; 1868; oil; 72 x 120 1/8 in.; Smithsonian American Art Museum; Bequest of Helen Huntington Hull,...

Lucelia Artist Award Class of 2007

August 3, 2007

This year marks the seventh Lucelia Artist Award, an annual award in which the Smithsonian American Art Museum recognizes an artist under age 50 for his or her contribution to contemporary art. Funded by the New York–based Lucelia Foundation, the...

Tear Down That Wall!

July 19, 2007

It's a favorite pastime of curmudgeons everywhere: Setting faux-naive paintings alongside naive paintings and asking supposed art experts to pick the real from the fake. Radar magazine gets in on the act here, daring savvy readers to prove through an...