New Acquisitions

The Smithsonian American Art Museum’s collection, which includes artworks in all media—from paintings, sculpture, prints, and drawings to time-based media, photographs, self-taught art, and contemporary craft—reveals key aspects of the rich artistic and cultural history of the United States from the colonial period to today. The museum's curators in recent years have focused on bringing into the nation's collection artworks made by a broadly representative and diverse group of American artists including Black, Latinx, Asian American, LGBTQ+, Indigenous and women artists.

In 2020, SAAM began an acquisition campaign to celebrate the 50th anniversary in 2022 of the museum’s Renwick Gallery as the nation’s premier museum dedicated to American craft. Many of these artworks are featured in the exhibition This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World.

Selected recent acquisitions are highlighted below. Learn more about artworks new to SAAM on our blog.  

2023

Media - 2022.44.2A-C - SAAM-2022.44.2A-C_1 - 146330
Lady Interbellum
Date2020
white marble on custom cedar plinth
Not on view
Media - 2022.44.1 - SAAM-2022.44.1_1 - 146329
whence wince
Date2020
antique quilts and charcoal
Not on view
Media - 2023.4.2 - SAAM-2023.4.2_1-000001 - 146791
Pond & Waterfall
Date1982
16mm film transferred to video, color, silent; 14:53 minutes
Not on view
Media - 2023.4.1 - SAAM-2023.4.1_1-000001 - 146788
Optic Nerve
Date1985
16mm film transferred to video, color, sound; 16:43 minutes
Not on view
Media - 2023.6.1 - SAAM-2023.6.1_1 - 146902
Floating Clouds
Date1944
oil on canvas
On view
Media - 2023.6.3 - SAAM-2023.6.3_1 - 146906
Autumn
Date1970
oil on canvas
Not on view

2022

Media - 2022.31.1.1-.8 - SAAM-2022.31_1 - 146324
Metabolizing the Border
Date2018-2020
Performance. Unique objects worn by artist/performer (glass, neoprene, rusted metal fragments of U.S./Mexico border fence, leather, cotton twine, flashlight) and photodocumentation of the performance (digital files)
On view
Media - 2022.6 - SAAM-2022.6_1 - 144028
From Traditional to Contemporary
Date2021
sweetgrass
On view
Media - 2022.25 - SAAM-2022.25_1 - 146159
Don’t Tread on Me, God Damn, Let’s Go! — The Harlem…
Date2021
cottons, silk, wool, and velvet
On view
Media - 2022.13 - SAAM-2022.13_1 - 146150
Monumental
Date2019
woven linen with madder dye and tea stain
On view
Media - 2022.52A-B - SAAM-2022.52A-B_1 - 146874
Y entonces el mar te habla (And the Sea Will Talk to You)
Date2012
installation with single-channel digital film, color, sound; 45:00 minutes
Not on view
Media - 2022.34 - SAAM-2022.34_1 - 146896
Bridge
Date2013-2014
fiberglass, steel, wire and gold paint
Not on view
Media - 2022.3 - SAAM-2022.3_1 - 144048
Untitled (239_2016)
Date2016
acrylic and ink on paper
On view
Media - 2022.51 - SAAM-2022.51_1 - 146372
The Island
Date2017
single-channel video, color, 5.1 surround sound; 42:00 minutes
Not on view
Media - 2022.35 - SAAM-2022.35_1 - 146368
Picking Cotton with Boss Men
Date2007
dye on carved and tooled leather
Not on view

2021

2020

2019

Media - 2019.32.4 - SAAM-2019.32.4_1 - 138048
Forlorn Spot
Date1953
watercolor, pastel, ink on paper
Not on view
Media - 2019.32.3 - SAAM-2019.32.3_1 - 138046
Fire
Dateca. 1954
watercolor, pastel, ink, tempera on paper
Not on view
Media - 2019.1 - SAAM-2019.1_1 - 137743
Victory in Zimbabwe
Date1980
mixed media on cardboard
Not on view
Media - 2019.6.10 - SAAM-2019.6.10_1 - 136677
Portrait of Helen (Lena) Ten Broeck
Date1834
oil on canvas
On view
Media - 2019.6.11 - SAAM-2019.6.11_1 - 136679
Portrait of Mrs. Robinson
Dateca. 1819
oil on canvas
On view
Media - 2019.7.3 - SAAM-2019.7.3_1-000001 - 137307
Patent Model for a Good Life
Date1995
soap stone, ebony, rosewood, polychrome, leather, silver, brass, and bone
Not on view
Media - 2019.8 - SAAM-2019.8_1 - 137326
I Saw Othello’s Visage in His Mind
Date2013
Murano glass and wood
Not on view
Media - 2019.30.2 - SAAM-2019.30.2_1 - 138059
A Girl and Boy Sitting on a Stoop
Date1989, printed 2018
inkjet photograph
Not on view
Media - 2019.30.1 - SAAM-2019.30.1_1 - 138058
Two Boys at Carrolburg Place, Washington, D.C.
Date1989, printed 2018
inkjet photograph
Not on view
A still from the video shows a woman reclining with her head covered in stones
My Dreams, My Works Must Wait Till After Hell
Date2011
single-channel digital video, color, sound; 07:14 minutes
Not on view
Media - 2019.33.2 - SAAM-2019.33.2_1 - 138073
Breakdown
Date2011
single-channel digital video, color, sound; 09:00 minutes
Not on view
Media - 2019.50.29 - SAAM-2019.50.29_1 - 138128
El Coyote
Date2010
screenprint on paper
Not on view
Media - 2019.50.2 - SAAM-2019.50.2_1 - 138138
Breaking the Fast, 1968
Date2012
screenprint on paper
Not on view
Media - 2019.26A-F - SAAM-2019.26A-F_1 - 141217
Uprising of the Mujeres
Date1979
acrylic on six wooden panels
Not on view
Media - 2019.55 - 2019.55_1a.jpg - 141210
We Are Resting
Date1951
oil on pressed wood
Not on view
Media - 2019.53.2 - SAAM-2019.53.2_1 - 142444
Shopping in Vinings, Georgia
Date1981
watercolor, crayon, and graphite on paper
Not on view

2018

2017

Media - 2017.18 - SAAM-2017.18_1 - 126679
Vessel
Date1997-2002
Eastern white pine, mesh, tar
Not on view
Media - 2017.37.1 - SAAM-2017.37.1_1 - 133895
Christian Pilgrim in Sight of Rome
Date1847
marble and bronze
Not on view
Media - 2017.35.1 - SAAM-2017.35.1_1 - 133410
The Old Mill
Dateca. 1930
oil on canvas
Not on view
Media - 2017.34.2 - SAAM-2017.34.2_1 - 133409
Out for Christmas Trees
Date1946
oil on pressed wood
Not on view
Media - 2017.34.1 - SAAM-2017.34.1_1 - 133408
Turkeys
Date1958
oil on pressed wood
Not on view
Media - 2016.40.12 - SAAM-2016.40.12_1 - 124251
Man, Tenancingo de Degollado
Date1933, printed ca. 1933
platinum print
Not on view
Media - 2016.40.4 - SAAM-2016.40.4_1 - 124798
Butterfly Boy, New York City
Date1949, printed ca. 1949
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Media - 2017.40 - SAAM-2017.40_1 - 133467
Ground rules. Free throw
Date2015
wooden flooring
Not on view
Media - 2017.22 - SAAM-2017.22_2 - 130145
Carnival
Date1936
gouache on paper
Not on view
Media - 2017.20 - SAAM-2017.20_1 - 129484
Acrylic No.6
Date1975
acrylic on canvas
Not on view

2016

Media - 2016.13 - 2016.13_1a.jpg - 124817
Volume (Renwick)
Date2015
white LEDs, mirror-finished stainless steel, custom software, and electrical hardware
On view
Media - 2016.26 - 2016.26_1a.jpg - 124930
Folding the Chesapeake
Date2015
fiberglass marbles
Not on view
Media - 2017.7 - SAAM-2017.7_1 - 128808
1.8 Renwick
Date2015
knotted and braided fiber with programmable lighting and wind movement above printed textile flooring
On view
Media - 2016.14.5 - SAAM-2016.14.5_2 - 129305
Untitled (Yellow and Blue House with Figures and Dog)
Date1939
colored pencil on paperboard
Not on view
Media - 2016.14.4 - SAAM-2016.14.4_2 - 129304
Untitled (Radio)
Dateca. 1940-1942
opaque watercolor and pencil on printed advertising paperboard
Not on view
Media - 2016.14.3 - SAAM-2016.14.3_2 - 129302
Untitled (Legs Construction with Blue Man)
Dateca. 1940-1942
opaque watercolor, pencil, and charcoal on paperboard
Not on view
Media - 2016.14.2 - SAAM-2016.14.2_2 - 129301
Untitled (Dog Fight with Writing)
Dateca. 1939-1940
opaque watercolor and pencil on paperboard
Not on view
Media - 2016.14.1 - SAAM-2016.14.1_2 - 129300
Untitled (Construction with Yawping Woman)
Dateca. 1939-1942
opaque watercolor and pencil on paperboard
Not on view
Media - 2016.15 - SAAM-2016.15_2 - 129307
Untitled (Red Goat with Snake)
Dateca. 1940-1942
opaque watercolor and pencil on paperboard
Not on view