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Find behind-the-scenes museum stories about artworks, artists, and more.
Taking a closer look at the making of Duane Hanson's iconic sculpture
Danielle O'Steen
Taking a closer look at Paul Thek's work that investigates the physical body and the body politic.
Paisid Aramphongphan
Research and Scholarship02/28/2019
Tanner was the first internationally renowned African American painter. "Abraham’s Oak" memorializes a pilgrimage site that the artist likely visited during his travels in the 1890's.
Jeffrey Richmond-Moll
Research and Scholarship02/13/2019
Jill Vaum takes a close look at Thomas Waterman Woods' painting, "Sunday Morning," as part of the Art Bites series.
Jill Vaum Rothschild
Luce Curatorial Fellow
Research and Scholarship10/23/2018
Susana Rodriguez, a Visiting Student at SAAM and NPG, discusses Teresita Fernández's work, Nocturnal, (Horizon Line), 2010.
Susana "Xuxa" Rodríguez
Research and Scholarship10/18/2018
The author looks at Ernest Lawson's painting, "Gold Mining, Cripple Creek," with the environment in mind.
Michaela Rife
If you have ever visited a centuries-old Roman church or an Islamic mosque, you may have glimpsed the role visual arts play in the beliefs, practices and narratives concerning the sacred. In the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Luce Foundation Center, three pieces of art provide a snapshot of the different ways art has connected individuals and community to spirituality.
Madeline
Research and Scholarship05/05/2016
E. Carmen Ramos, curator of Latino Art at SAAM was recently in Mexico to research her upcoming exhibition on the acclaimed 20th-century Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo's lengthy residence and production in New York City, Tamayo: The New York Years. This is the fifth in a series of posts Carmen scribed from the road. Stay tuned for more updates. Read all of Carmen's notes from her research trip.
E. Carmen Ramos
Former Curator of Latinx Art
The museum recently acquired The Brown Sisters, an intimate series of forty photographs that spans four decades and captures the poignancy of family relationships and bonds between siblings.
Howard Kaplan
Writer
Research and Scholarship10/01/2015
On October 16th–17th, the Smithsonian American Art Museum will hold the final event in its five-part series: "The Terra Symposia on American Art in a Global Context." This fall's capstone event, "Shifting Terrain: Mapping a Transnational American Art History," speakers will discuss the transformation of the field over the past decade and suggests future directions for scholarship.
SAAM Staff
Blog Editor
Karen Lemmey, SAAM's sculpture curator, has organized an installation entitled Measured Perfection: Hiram Powers' Greek Slave. Powers' Greek Slave was one of the most popular sculptures of the 19th century. As part of her preparation, Karen worked with Smithsonian X 3D, part of the Institution's Digitization program, to create a 3D model of the this sculpture. Karen continues to explain the process. You may also read her first post on creating a 3D model of the sculpture, as well as a piece about conserving the Greek Slave.
SAAM Staff
Blog Editor
This blog post is adapted from an essay written by Michael Mansfield, associate curator of film and media arts, to accompany the exhibition, Watch This! Revelations in Media Art, opening April 24 and running through September 7.
SAAM Staff
Blog Editor
Research and Scholarship09/23/2014
On September 24, the Smithsonian American Art Museum will co-host a national conference that examines the importance of preserving WPA-era murals using the work of celebrated American muralist Tom Lea as a case study.
SAAM Staff
Blog Editor
If you've been following Eye Level for a while, you won't be surprised to know we love Nam June Paik. We celebrate his birthday every summer and held a comprehensive exhibition of more than 60 of his artworks, some of which were on public view for the first time. This month, we completed the installation of the Paik Archive case in the Luce Foundation Center. If you were able to see the exhibition you might remember some of these pieces from our Paik archive wall, including the sitting red Buddha and four martial arts figurines.
Bridget Callahan
Luce Program Coordinator
Research and Scholarship06/17/2014
Recently, the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art opened an exhibition of archival photographs and documents dedicated to the untold stories of artists' models. Elizabeth Botten, who curated the exhibition, Artists and Their Models, points out that models are "too often given short shrift in art history, their names and stories left unknown unless their fame came by way of scandal."
Sara Snyder
Former Head of External Affairs & Digital Strategies
What do a southern Baptist minister, a professional boxer, and a vaudeville gymnast have in common? They are all folk artists in the American Art Museum's collection. But what is folk art?
Mary