Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Smithsonian Institution was established by an act of Congress in 1846. That law called for a gallery of art to be included within the new organization. Joseph Henry served as the first Secretary and preferred scientific research over developing art collections. The few artworks that existed were displayed inside the original Smithsonian Building, now known as the Castle. A fire in 1865 destroyed much of the collection before it could grow. Surviving pieces were loaned to the Library of Congress and the Corcoran Gallery of Art during the following decades. Congress appropriated money in 1896 to build a fireproof room for these returned artworks. The institution began calling its collection the National Gallery of Art in 1906. This name change coincided with efforts to receive Harriet Lane Johnston's bequest. Space became critical by 1920 when millions of dollars worth of art crowded existing buildings. William Henry Holmes became the first director of the separated National Gallery of Art branch in 1920. Architect Charles A. Platt drew preliminary plans for a new building next to the Natural History Museum in 1924. That planned structure never materialized.
Congress granted the National Collection of Fine Arts a home in 1958. They selected the Old Patent Office Building which was about to be vacated by the U.S. Civil Service Commission. The museum opened in this new space on the 6th of May 1968 after renovation work began in 1964. The neighborhood had been devastated by Martin Luther King assassination riots just one month prior. Streets around the building remained bleak and lonely for several decades. Revitalization arrived in the late 1990s through the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation. The MCI Center now known as Capital One Arena opened across the street from the museum. January 2000 marked the start of a three-year closure for a $60-million renovation project. Plans broadened during construction to restore much of the building's original elegance. Porticos modeled after the Parthenon in Athens were restored along with curving double staircases. Vaulted galleries and skylights as long as a city block returned to their former glory. New features included the Lunder Conservation Center and the Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium. Offices moved to the nearby Victor Building freeing up valuable display space. The six-year restoration cost $283 million total. The Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture reopened on the 1st of July 2006.
More than 7,000 artists are represented within the museum's permanent collection today. Holdings span all regions and art movements found throughout the United States. SAAM contains the world's largest collection of New Deal art available anywhere. The institution also holds significant collections of contemporary craft and American impressionist paintings. Masterpieces from the Gilded Age fill specific galleries alongside photography works. African American and Latino artists receive dedicated representation within these vast holdings. Images of western expansion appear alongside realist art from the first half of the twentieth century. Nam June Paik created video installations that define early digital art history. Jenny Holzer produced text-based sculptures challenging viewers about power structures. David Hockney contributed large-scale paintings exploring California landscapes during the 1970s. Georgia O'Keeffe painted flowers and bones with distinctive modernist precision. Ching Ho Cheng documented Chinese immigrant experiences through detailed portraiture techniques. John Singer Sargent captured society figures in elegant oil portraits. Albert Pinkham Ryder painted moody seascapes filled with symbolic meaning. Edmonia Lewis carved marble sculptures depicting Native American and African American subjects. Thomas Moran depicted dramatic mountain ranges in the American West. James Gill created etchings documenting daily life in nineteenth-century cities. Edward Hopper painted lonely urban scenes featuring isolated individuals. Winslow Homer illustrated Civil War battles and coastal life with realism.
The Luce Foundation Center for American Art opened its doors in July 2000. This facility occupies 20,400 square feet on the third and fourth floors of the museum. Visitors can browse more than 3,300 works displayed within 64 secure glass cases. The center quadruples the number of artworks from the permanent collection available to the public. Paintings hang densely on screens while sculptures rest on shelves nearby. Folk and self-taught artists arrange their crafts on open shelving units throughout the space. Large-scale sculptures occupy the first floor area near the entrance. John Gellatly's European collection of decorative arts resides alongside American pieces here. The Lunder Conservation Center opened in July 2006 as a second innovative public space. Floor-to-ceiling glass walls allow visitors to see conservation staff at work inside five laboratories. Specialized tools like hygrothermographs maintain optimal temperature and humidity levels for preservation. Staff examine treat and preserve paintings prints drawings photographs and folk art objects daily. The center serves both the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery simultaneously. Public access allows viewers to witness techniques conservators use to protect cultural heritage.
The museum has maintained a traveling exhibition program since 1951 without interruption. During the 2000s renovation over 1,000 major artworks traveled to 105 venues across the United States. More than 2.5 million visitors saw these exhibitions before they returned home. Since 2006 thirteen additional exhibitions have toured to more than 30 cities nationwide. Electronic resources reach schools and the public through national education programs. Artful Connections provides real-time video conference tours of American Art collections online. Summer Institutes offer week-long professional development workshops introducing educators to new methods. These sessions incorporate American art and technology into humanities curricula effectively. Seven online research databases contain more than 500,000 records of artworks worldwide. Researchers and millions of virtual visitors utilize these digital archives annually. Save Outdoor Sculpture documents and preserves outdoor sculpture through joint projects with Heritage Preservation. A peer-reviewed periodical titled American Art started publication in 1987 for new scholarship. The journal gained an online presence starting in 1993. EyeLevel became the first blog at the Smithsonian Institution when launched in 2005. Approximately 12,000 readers accessed that blog each month by 2013.
The museum received 1,100,000 visitors during 2022 alone. This figure ranked it seventh among most-visited museums in the United States that year. Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi designed conservators' denim work aprons in 2006. An alternate reality game called Ghosts of a Chance appeared in 2008. City Mystery created this experience allowing patrons to engage with the collection differently. The game ran for six weeks inside the Luce Foundation Center space. More than 6,000 participants joined the interactive narrative over its duration. The institution celebrates extraordinary creativity reflecting both American experiences and global connections. Strategic plans from 2012-2016 outline goals for collecting understanding and enjoying art. Hundreds of exhibitions have promoted groundbreaking scholarship within the field since founding. Selected shows include Cecilia Vicuña's Quipu Viscera presented in 2025. Composing Color featured paintings by Alma Thomas through 2024. We Are Made of Stories highlighted self-taught artists in the Robson Family Collection. The Art of Video Games exhibition opened in 2012 exploring digital creativity.
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Common questions
When was the Smithsonian American Art Museum established?
The institution began calling its collection the National Gallery of Art in 1906. Congress granted the National Collection of Fine Arts a home in 1958, and the museum opened in this new space on the 6th of May 1968 after renovation work began in 1964.
Where is the Smithsonian American Art Museum located?
The museum occupies the Old Patent Office Building which was about to be vacated by the U.S. Civil Service Commission. The building is situated next to the Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C., United States.
What does the Smithsonian American Art Museum collect?
More than 7,000 artists are represented within the museum's permanent collection today with holdings spanning all regions and art movements found throughout the United States. SAAM contains the world's largest collection of New Deal art available anywhere alongside significant collections of contemporary craft and American impressionist paintings.
How much did the six-year restoration of the Smithsonian American Art Museum cost?
The six-year restoration cost $283 million total. Plans broadened during construction to restore much of the building's original elegance including porticos modeled after the Parthenon in Athens and curving double staircases.
When did the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture reopen?
The Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture reopened on the 1st of July 2006. This reopening followed a three-year closure that began in January 2000 for a $60-million renovation project.