Luce Foundation Center

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Open daily, 11:30 a.m.–7 p.m.

The nation’s first collection of American art, an unparalleled record of the American experience.

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Renwick Gallery Stairwwell

Renwick Gallery

Open daily, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.

Located just feet from the White House, a branch of the museum that is home the nation's collection of contemporary craft and decorative art.

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How Do I Research My Art?

Want to learn more about the painting you found while clearing out the attic? For answers, be prepared for a little detective work.

How to Care for Your Collections

Regardless of the monetary value of your artwork, if it is personally meaningful, you should consider having the object conserved.

Recording a Changing Nation

This resource uses images from photographic surveys in 55 communities in 30 states across the United States as source documents to spark sustained inquiry.

Critical Thinking in Action

These 60-to-95-minute units pair thinking patterns with works of art to instill a thinking disposition transferable across classroom curriculum and into the wider world.

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Detail of brown ceramic jar with writing and the signature "Dave" inscribed around the top.

David “Dave” Drake: Potter and Poet

Craftsman David “Dave” Drake, enslaved for most of his life, produced uncommonly large ceramic jars in 19th-century South Carolina adorned by his poetic verses

A black case that is open to reveal smaller compartments and utensils mounted in the lid. Boxes wrapped in brown paper are stacked on the side.

Contemporary Craft in Focus: The Weight of Deferred Gratification

Metalsmith David Harper Clemons creates art that gives new meanings to everyday objects

Director’s Circle

A national membership group of museum friends who share a love of American art and craft and our commitment to celebrating the extraordinary creativity of our nation’s artists.

A membership group for young professionals who are interested in immersing themselves in the American art experience.

Portrait of Mr. Wiley

Media - 1983.114.7 - SAAM-1983.114.7_1 - 7561

Copied Kenyon Cox, Portrait of Mr. Wiley, 1894, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Ambrose Lansing, 1983.114.7

Free to use

Artwork Details

Title: Portrait of Mr. Wiley
Artist: Kenyon Cox
Date: 1894
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum
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Luce Foundation Center
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3rd Floor
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8A
Dimensions: 15 x 17 in. (38.1 x 43.2 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Ambrose Lansing
Mediums: oil
Mediums Description: oil on canvas
Classifications: Painting
Keywords: Object — written matter — book
Architecture Interior — civic — library
Portrait male — Wiley, Mr. — knee length
Object Number: 1983.114.7
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1983.114.7

Artwork Description

Further research might establish the relationship between Mr. Wiley and Kenyon Cox. In the year he painted this portrait, Cox was under contract with Bowdoin College to create mural decorations for the new Walker Art Center, designed by prominent architect Charles F. McKim. Wiley sits in a library, which suggests that he might have been a member of Bowdoin’s academic community.