Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery

Detail of "Nick Cave: Mammoth."
Smithsonian American Art Museum & Renwick Gallery

The Nation’s Home for American Art & Craft

Located in the heart of downtown Washington, DC, SAAM is home to the most comprehensive collection of American visual culture from the 1600s to today, including the largest collection of New Deal art in the world. The Renwick Gallery is a branch of SAAM dedicated to American craft and decorative art.

Featured Exhibitions

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Detail of "Nick Cave: Mammoth."
Nick Cave: Mammoth
Through January 3, 2027
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Artist Nick Cave invites visitors to walk among the fantastical remains of these ancient creatures.
A collage with an illustration of a man with a red waist coat in the center.
Shahzia Sikander: The Last Post
Through November 8, 2026
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Shahzia Sikander’s video artwork The Last Post (2010) critically considers the legacy of British colonialism in Asia using her signature approach of infusing Indo-Persian miniature paintings with a contemporary perspective. 
A person standing on a balcony in a historic museum looks at an undulating artwork made up of 200 golden-cast arms hanging from the ceiling.
Glenn Kaino: Bridge
Ongoing
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Glenn Kaino’s powerful aerial sculpture Bridge, suspended from the ceiling of SAAM’s Luce Foundation Center, evokes the ways that even small acts can ripple through time and alter the course of history. 

Upcoming Featured Events

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Featured Stories

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Abstract watercolor.
From the Collection08/27/2026
The Lost Kusamas
Discovering four watercolors by Yayoi Kusama in SAAM's Joseph Cornell Study Center.
A photograph of Melissa Ho by Jeff Elkins
Melissa Ho
Curator (20th-Century Art)
Betye Saar looking through a branch.
African American ArtFrom the Collection07/30/2026
Remembering Betye Saar
The renowned assemblage artist died just days before her 100th birthday.
SAAM
Hartigan standing in front of framed black and white photographs.
04/21/2026
Lynda Roscoe Hartigan Named Director of SAAM
The Smithsonian announced the appointment of Lynda Roscoe Hartigan as the Margaret and Terry Stent Director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, effective September 8, 2026.
Smithsonian American Art Museum

New Acquisitions

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Aaron Douglas, Inspiration, 1967, oil on canvas panel, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Steven L. Jones in memory of his father Dr. William M. Jones Sr., Chicago educator and a storyteller for the soul, and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2024.36
Inspiration
Artist
Date1967
oil on canvas panel
On view
Cecilia Vicuña, Quipu Viscera, 2017, version 2025, site-specific installation of dyed and unspun wool, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the American Women's History Initiative Acquisitions Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative, 2023.28A-B, © 2023, Cecilia Vicuña
Quipu Viscera
Artist
Date2017, version 2025
site-specific installation of dyed and unspun wool
Not on view
Binh Danh, El Capitan in Winter, Yosemite, June 20, 2014, 2014, daguerreotype, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible in part by the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment and the William and Christine Ragland Family Photography Endowment, 2025.3.4, © Bihn Dahn. Image courtesy of Binh Danh.
El Capitan in Winter, Yosemite, June 20, 2014
Artist
Date2014
daguerreotype
On view
Joey Terrill, A Bigger Piece, 2008, acrylic and mixed media on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2025.5, Image courtesy of the artist, Ortuzar, New York and Marc Selwyn Fine Arts, Los Angeles. Photo: Steven Probert. Artwork © Joey Terrill
A Bigger Piece
Artist
Date2008
acrylic and mixed media on canvas
On view