View source for Smithsonian American Art Museum

{{short description|Museum in Washington, D.C., United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox museum
| name            = Smithsonian American Art Museum
| logo            = Smithsonian American Art Museum logo.png
| logo_size       = 160
| image           = Modern and Contemporary Art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.jpg
| caption         = The Lincoln Gallery at the Smithsonian American Art Museum with ''[[Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii]]'' by [[Nam June Paik]] in the background
| mapframe        = yes
| mapframe-caption = Interactive fullscreen map
| mapframe-zoom   = 12
| mapframe-marker = museum
| mapframe-wikidata = yes
| coordinates     = {{WikidataCoord|display=it}}
| established     = 1829<ref name="SAAM Web site">{{Cite web |url=http://americanart.si.edu/visit/about/history/ |title=Museum History |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |access-date=11 May 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140820024139/http://americanart.si.edu/visit/about/history/ |archive-date=20 August 2014 }}</ref>
| dissolved       =
| location        = 8th and F Streets NW, [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref name="T-D Calos">{{cite news|last=Calos|first=Katherine|title=Heads will turn|newspaper=Times-Dispatch}}</ref>
| type            = [[Art museum]]
| visitors        = 1.1 million (2022)<ref>Smithsonian Institution News Desk, consulted July 22, 2023</ref>
| director        = [[Jane Carpenter Rock]]<ref name="Smithsonian Staff Bio">{{cite web| url=https://www.si.edu/about/bios/jane-carpenter-rock/| title=Jane Carpenter-Rock, Acting Director, Smithsonian American Art Museum |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |access-date=November 14, 2024}}</ref>
| publictransit   = {{WMATA link logo}} {{rint|washington|red}} {{rint|washington|yellow}} {{rint|washington|green}} [[Gallery Place (WMATA station)|Gallery Place-Chinatown]]
| website         = {{URL|americanart.si.edu}}
}}
The '''Smithsonian American Art Museum''' ('''SAAM'''; formerly the '''National Museum of American Art''') is a museum in [[Washington, D.C.]], part of the [[Smithsonian Institution]]. Together with its branch museum, the [[Renwick Gallery]], SAAM holds one of the world's largest and most inclusive collections of art made in the [[United States]] from the colonial period to the present. More than 7,000 artists are represented in the museum's collection. Most exhibitions are held in the museum's main building, the [[Old Patent Office Building]] (which is shared with the [[National Portrait Gallery (United States)|National Portrait Gallery]]), while craft-focused exhibitions are shown in the Renwick Gallery.

[[File:Smithsonian American Art Museum National Portrait Gallery Exterior.jpg|alt=Exterior of a large building made of grey stone. Columns mark the entrance and a wide set of stairs lead up to the columns. Three cars are parked in front of the building. The sun peeks through the cloudy sky above. Several people are walking toward the entrance.|thumb|Exterior of the building shared by the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery]]
The museum provides electronic resources to schools and the public through its national education program.  It maintains seven online research databases with more than 500,000 records, including the Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture that document more than 400,000 artworks in public and private collections worldwide. Since 1951, the museum has maintained a traveling exhibition program; as of 2013, more than 2.5&nbsp;million visitors have seen the exhibitions.

== Attendance ==
In 2022 the museum received 1,100,000 visitors, ranking it seventh in the [[List of most-visited museums in the United States]].<ref>[https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/about/stats]|Smithsonian Institution News Desk, retrieved July 22, 2023</ref>

==History==
The museum's history can be traced to the creation of the Smithsonian Institution in 1846. The act of Congress establishing the Smithsonian called for it to include "a gallery of art".<ref>{{cite book|title=Catalogue of Collections|publisher=Smithsonian Institution National Gallery of Art|author=William H. Holmes|date=1922|page=3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SDoBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA3}}</ref> In its early years, however, little effort was put into developing the art collection, as Smithsonian Secretary [[Joseph Henry]] preferred to focus on scientific research.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Smithsonian Institution, 1846–1896: The History of Its First Half Century|author=George Brown Goode|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|year=1897|page=324|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y8FMYl5DBsgC&pg=PA324}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Helena E. Wright, The First Smithsonian Collection: The European Engravings of George Perkins Marsh and the Role of Prints in the U.S. National Museum|journal=Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide|author=Jane Van Nimmen|date=Spring 2016|url=https://www.19thc-artworldwide.org/index.php/spring16/van-nimmen-reviews-european-engravings-of-george-perkins-marsh|access-date=2021-07-05}}</ref> The collection was first on display in the original [[Smithsonian Institution Building|Smithsonian Building]] (now known as the Castle). In 1865, a fire destroyed much of the collection.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Harriet Lane Johnston and the Formation of a National Gallery of Art|journal=Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C.|author=Homer T. Rosenberger|date=1969–1970|volume=69/70|page=402|jstor=40067721}}</ref> Those art holdings that survived were mostly loaned to the [[Library of Congress]] and the [[Corcoran Gallery of Art]] in the following decades.<ref>{{cite book|title=Catalogue of Collections|publisher=Smithsonian Institution National Gallery of Art|author=William H. Holmes|date=1922|page=4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SDoBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA4}}</ref> In 1896, the artworks were brought back to the Smithsonian, after Congress appropriated money to construct a fireproof room for them.<ref>{{cite report|title=Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|year=1906|page=21|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_00hAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA21}}</ref>

The Smithsonian began to refer to its art collection as the National Gallery of Art in 1906, in connection with efforts to receive [[Harriet Lane Johnston]]'s art collection, which she had bequeathed to the "national art gallery".<ref>{{cite book|title=The National Gallery of Art|author=Richard Rathbun|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|year=1909|page=87|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kVoYAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA87}}</ref> The collection grew as the Smithsonian buildings grew, and the collection was housed in one or more Smithsonian buildings on the National Mall.<ref name="fact sheet">{{Cite web |url=http://newsdesk.si.edu/factsheets/smithsonian-american-art-museum |title=Smithsonian American Art Museum Fact Sheet, February 2023 |access-date=22 July 2023 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>

In 1920, the National Gallery of Art was separated from the National Museum, becoming its own branch of the Smithsonian, with [[William Henry Holmes]] as its first director.<ref>{{cite news|title=National Gallery of Art is made separate unit|work=The Evening Star|location = Washington, D.C.|date=July 3, 1920|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79866655/national-gallery-of-art-is-made/|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The First Smithsonian Collection|author=Helena Wright|year=2015|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press|page=256|isbn=9781935623632 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KiHpBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT256}}</ref> By this time, space had become critical:  "Collections to the value of several millions of dollars are in storage or temporarily on exhibition and are crowding out important exhibits and producing a congested condition in the [[National Museum of Natural History|Natural History]], [[Arts and Industries Building|Industrial Arts]], and Smithsonian Buildings".<ref name=Proceedings-page654-5>{{citation| title=Proceedings of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution at the Adjourned Meeting held Monday, January 5, 1925| date=January 5, 1925| publisher=Smithsonian Institution| location=Washington, D.C.| pages=654–655| url=https://transcription.si.edu/transcribe/11810/SIA-SIA_000001_BORMTG_1920-1931_212}}</ref> In 1924, architect [[Charles A. Platt]] drew up preliminary plans for a National Gallery of Art to be built on the block next to the Natural History Museum.<ref name=Proceedings-page654-5 /> However, this building was never constructed.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_arc_216699| title= SIA RU000092, Smithsonian Institution, Prints and Drawings, 1840–| publisher=Smithsonian Institution| access-date=January 30, 2018| quote=Also included are... copies of drawings for the proposed National Gallery of Art (never constructed) by Charles A. Platt, 1924....}}</ref>

In 1937, the National Gallery of Art became the National Collection of Fine Arts (NCFA), because [[Andrew Mellon]] insisted that the previous moniker be given to [[National Gallery of Art|a new institution]] formed through his donation of a large art collection.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Harriet Lane Johnston and the Formation of a National Gallery of Art|journal=Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C.|author=Homer T. Rosenberger|date=1969–1970|volume=69/70|pages=435–436|jstor=40067721}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=U.S. Statutes at Large, 75th Congress, 1st Session, Chapter 50|url=https://www.loc.gov/law/help/statutes-at-large/75th-congress/session-1/c75s1ch50.pdf|publisher=Library of Congress|page=3|access-date=2021-06-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=The nation's greatest art gift|work=The Baltimore Sun|author=Gerald Griffin|date=May 9, 1937|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79516096/the-nations-greatest-art-gift/|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

By the 1950s, the NCFA still occupied a small space in the Natural History Building.<ref name=sampson>{{cite news|title=Exhibit to tell American art story|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=April 2, 1958|author=Paul Sampson|page=A3|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/149078166|id={{ProQuest|149078166}}}} {{subscription required}}</ref> In 1958, Congress finally granted the NCFA a home, the [[Old Patent Office Building]], which was about to be vacated by the [[U.S. Civil Service Commission]].<ref name=sampson /><ref>{{USStatute|85|357|72|68|1958|3|28|S|1984}}</ref> The building would be shared with the planned National Portrait Gallery, with the NCFA occupying the northern half of the building.<ref>{{cite news|title=Government and the world of art|newspaper=The Washington Post|author=Leslie Judd Portner|date=August 3, 1958|page=E7|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/149043005|id={{ProQuest|149043005}}|quote=Rep. Thompson introduced a bill providing that the building be transferred to the Smithsonian for its art collection and for a National Portrait Gallery. This bill became law on March 28.}} {{subscription required}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=A new home for galleries is big step|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=April 22, 1962|page=G6|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/141730425|id={{ProQuest|141730425}}}} {{subscription required}}</ref> Renovation work on the building began in 1964.<ref>{{cite news|title=Patenting a grand gallery|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=October 9, 1966|author=Leroy F. Aarons|page=G11|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/143004144|id={{ProQuest|143004144}}}} {{subscription required}}</ref> The NCFA opened in its new home on May 6, 1968.<ref>{{cite news|title=National art gets a new home|work=The Morning Call|location=Paterson, NJ|author=Mark Stuart|date=May 6, 1968|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79870947/national-art-gets-a-new-home/|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

The museum's relocation came at an unfortunate time, as the neighborhood had been devastated a month earlier by the [[1968 Washington, D.C., riots|Martin Luther King assassination riots]].<ref>{{cite news|title=How the Washington Wizards saved the National Portrait Gallery|work=WAMU-FM|author=Ally Schweitzer|date=August 23, 2017|url=https://wamu.org/story/17/08/23/washington-wizards-saved-national-portrait-gallery/|access-date=2021-06-27}}</ref> The NCFA struggled to attract visitors over the following decades, as the streets around it remained bleak and lonely.<ref>{{cite news|title=The galloping gallery|newspaper=The Washington Post|author=Jo Ann Lewis|date=July 25, 1999|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1999/07/25/the-galloping-gallery/f1e8ebc2-2ba5-4a9b-a514-d72be1484a7a/|access-date=2021-06-27}}</ref> This would remain a factor until the late 1990s, when the work of the [[Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation]] and the opening of the [[MCI Center]] (now Capital One Arena) across the street from the museum sparked a revitalization of the neighborhood.<ref>{{cite news|title=After years of revitalization, Penn Quarter's personality shines|work=The Washington Diplomat|author=Jacob Comenetz|date=August 31, 2011|url=https://washdiplomat.com/after-years-of-revitalization-penn-quarters-personality-shines/|access-date=2021-06-27}}</ref>

The NCFA gained a new branch in 1972, opening the [[Renwick Gallery]], dedicated to design and crafts, in a historic building near the [[White House]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Renwick Gallery joins Smithsonian|work=Asbury Park Press|date=January 31, 1972|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80301201/renwick-gallery-joins-smithsonian/|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

In 1980, the name was changed to the National Museum of American Art, to better distinguish it from other federal art museums and to emphasize its focus on American artists.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Smithsonian Institution today announded changes in the names...|work=United Press International|date=October 16, 1980|url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=1028A39C75C2B899&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F1554DF0311F80D48|via=NewsBank}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=National Collection gets a new name|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=October 17, 1980|author=Paul Richard|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/147158340|id={{ProQuest|147158340}} }} {{subscription required}}</ref> From 1982 to 1988, [[Charles C. Eldredge]] served as the museum director, followed by the tenures of [[Elizabeth Broun]] and [[Stephanie Stebich]].

In January 2000, the museum closed to begin a planned three-year, $60-million renovation of the Patent Office Building.<ref name=sands>{{cite news|title=Museums to exhibit new look, new space|work=The Washington Times|date=January 15, 2000|author=Ellen Sands|url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=1028A39C75C2B899&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F0EB08BC287A65107|via=NewsBank}}</ref> To keep the museum's collection accessible to the public during the closure, many of the artworks were sent out in a "Treasures to Go" series of traveling exhibitions, billed as "the largest museum tour in history".<ref>{{cite news|title='Treasures' tour shares the wealth of America's art|work=USA Today|author=Maria Puente|date=January 21, 2000|url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=1028A39C75C2B899&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F0EB773E57B92D62E|via=NewsBank}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Capital idea|work=South Bend Tribune|author=Michael Kilian|agency=Chicago Tribune|date=January 23, 2000|url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=1028A39C75C2B899&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F13EF973E4A2BF160|via=NewsBank}}</ref> The museum's name was changed to the Smithsonian American Art Museum in October 2000 so that the museum and its traveling exhibitions could benefit from the Smithsonian's brand recognition.<ref>{{cite news|title=American art museum adds Smithsonian to its name|agency=Associated Press|date=October 31, 2000|url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=1028A39C75C2B899&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F0F89CAAF893230CC|via=NewsBank}}</ref>

After renovations were underway, the plans were broadened in an effort to restore much of the building's original elegance.<ref>{{cite news|title=Reinventing the Old Patent Building|work=Insight on the News|author=Stephen Goode|date=November 12, 2002|url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=1028A39C75C2B899&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F1750179352CFB068|via=NewsBank}}</ref> Many of the building's exceptional architectural features were restored: porticos modeled after the Parthenon in Athens, a curving double staircase, colonnades, vaulted galleries, large windows, and skylights as long as a city block.<ref name="O'Rourke">{{cite news| last=O'Rourke| first=Ronald| title=Through a Glass More Clearly| newspaper=Architecture DC}}</ref><ref name="15 March SI arch info">{{cite web| title=About the American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery| url=http://www.americanart.si.edu/visit/about/architecture/| publisher=Smithsonian Institution| access-date=15 March 2013}}</ref><ref name="NPR 13 April 2006">{{cite episode| last=Neary| first=Lynn| title=D.C. Museums Near End of Pricey Facelift| access-date=2 April 2013| network=[[NPR]]| series=All Things Considered| date=13 April 2006| url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5337628| format=Transcript of Radio Show}}</ref> New features added to the building included the Lunder Conservation Center, the Luce Foundation Center for American Art, Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium, and the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard.<ref name="15 March SI arch info"/> Meanwhile, the museum's offices, library, and storage were moved to the nearby Victor Building, freeing up valuable space and allowing the museum to display four times as many artworks as before.<ref name=sands /><ref>{{cite news|title=Seeing pictures of American life|work=The Baltimore Sun|date=June 25, 2006|author=Glenn McNatt|url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=1028A39C75C2B899&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F1128AB374CA84BA0|via=NewsBank}}</ref> The renovation ultimately took six years and $283 million.<ref>{{cite news|title=Little-known museums now have room to grow|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|author=Edward J. Sozanski|date=July 2, 2006|url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=1028A39C75C2B899&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F112A22A543A1AC18|via=NewsBank}}</ref> The museum and the National Portrait Gallery reopened their combined building, renamed as the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, on July 1, 2006.<ref>{{cite news|title=National art in a new light|work=Los Angeles Times|author=Johanna Neuman|date=July 2, 2006|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-jul-02-ca-smithsonian2-story.html|access-date=2021-06-26}}</ref>

[[File:Old Patent Office, Washington, D.C. 2011.jpg|thumb|upright=3.0|center|The Smithsonian American Art Museum's main building is shared with the National Portrait Gallery, as seen from G Street NW in 2011.]]

==Affiliated museums==
===National Portrait Gallery===
{{Main|National Portrait Gallery (United States)}}
The Smithsonian American Art Museum shares the historic Old Patent Office building with the [[National Portrait Gallery (United States)|National Portrait Gallery]], another Smithsonian museum. Although the two museums' names have not changed, they are collectively known as the [[Old Patent Office Building|Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture]].<ref name="O'Rourke"/><ref name="mag July 2006">{{cite news| last=Harvey| first=Eleanor|title=The New Smithsonian American Art Museum| journal=[[Antiques (magazine)|The Magazine Antiques]]| date=July 2006| page=76}}</ref>

===Renwick Gallery===
{{Main|Renwick Gallery}}
[[File:Renwick Gallery - Pennsylvania Avenue.JPG|thumb|The Renwick Gallery is located on [[Pennsylvania Avenue (Washington, D.C.)|Pennsylvania Avenue]].]]
Also under the auspices of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Renwick Gallery is a smaller, historic building on [[Pennsylvania Avenue (Washington, D.C.)|Pennsylvania Avenue]] across the street from the [[White House]].<ref name="Architectural History of the Renwick Gallery">{{cite web| url=http://americanart.si.edu/renwick/renwick_building.cfm| title=Architectural History of the Renwick Gallery| publisher=Smithsonian Institution| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040430011625/http://americanart.si.edu/renwick/renwick_building.cfm| archive-date=2004-04-30}}</ref> The building originally housed the collection of the [[Corcoran Gallery of Art]].<ref name="Architectural History of the Renwick Gallery"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Reed  |first=Robert |title=Old Washington, D.C. in Early Photographs: 1846–1932 |publisher=Dover Publications |year=1980 |page=127 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aETCAgAAQBAJ&q=Old+Washington,+D.C.+in+Early+Photographs:+1846-1932 |url-access=subscription |isbn=9780486138541 }}</ref> In addition to displaying a large collection of American contemporary craft, several hundred paintings from the museum's permanent collection — hung salon style: one-atop-another and side-by-side — are featured in special installations in the Grand Salon.<ref name="Architectural History of the Renwick Gallery"/>

==Features and programs==
===Collections===
{{category see also|Paintings in the Smithsonian American Art Museum|label1=Paintings in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum}}
Part of the [[Smithsonian Institution]], the museum has a broad variety of American art, with more than 7,000 artists represented,<ref name="SI Fact Sheet 2012">{{cite web| title=Smithsonian American Art Museum| url=http://www.americanart.si.edu/pr/facts/museum_fact_sheet.pdf| publisher=Smithsonian Institution| access-date=29 March 2013| date=March 2012}}</ref> that covers all regions and art movements found in the United States. SAAM contains the world's largest collection of [[New Deal]] art; a collection of contemporary craft, American impressionist paintings, and masterpieces from the [[Gilded Age]]; photography, modern folk art, works by [[African American]] and [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Latino]] artists, images of western expansion, and realist art from the first half of the twentieth century. Among the significant artists represented in its collection are [[Nam June Paik]], [[Jenny Holzer]], [[David Hockney]], [[Richard Hunt (sculptor)|Richard Hunt]], [[Georgia O'Keeffe]], [[Ching Ho Cheng]], [[John Singer Sargent]], [[Albert Pinkham Ryder]], [[Albert Bierstadt]], [[Frances Farrand Dodge]], [[Edmonia Lewis]], [[Thomas Moran]], [[James Gill (artist)|James Gill]], [[Edward Hopper]], [[John William "Uncle Jack" Dey]], [[Karen LaMonte]]<ref>{{cite web| last=Bell| first=Nicholas| title=In Conversation: Nicholas Bell on Karen LaMonte| url=http://eyelevel.si.edu/2010/01/in-conversation-nicholas-bell-on-karen-lamonte.html| publisher=Smithsonian American Art Museum}}</ref> and [[Winslow Homer]].<ref name="fact sheet"/>

SAAM describes itself as being "dedicated to collecting, understanding, and enjoying American art. The museum celebrates the extraordinary creativity of artists whose works reflect the American experience and global connections."<ref>Smithsonian American Art Museum's Strategic Plan, 2012-2016</ref>

===Galleries and public spaces===
The American Art's main building contains expanded permanent-collection galleries and public spaces.<ref name="About 15 March">{{cite web| title=About the American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery| url=http://www.americanart.si.edu/visit/about/| publisher=Smithsonian Institution| access-date=15 March 2013}}</ref> The museum has two innovative public spaces. The Luce Foundation Center for American Art is a [[visible storage|visible art storage]] and study center, which allows visitors to browse more than 3,300 works of the collection.<ref name="About 15 March"/> The Lunder Conservation Center is "the first art conservation facility to allow the public permanent behind-the-scenes views of the preservation work of museums".<ref name="About 15 March"/>

====The Luce Foundation Center for American Art====
[[File:Luce Foundation Center for American Art 13.jpg|thumb|right|The Luce Foundation Center for American Art on the third floor of the Smithsonian American Art Museum]]
The Luce Foundation Center, which opened in July 2000,<ref name="NYT July 9">{{cite news| last=Howard| first=Hilary| title=Comings and Goings| newspaper=[[The New York Times]] | date=July 9, 2006}}</ref><ref name="Numismatic News 12 Sept 2006">{{cite news| last=Hettger| first=Henry T.| title=De Francisci featured in Luce Center |work=Numismatic News |date=September 12, 2006 |url=https://www.numismaticnews.net/archive/de-francisci-featured-in-luce-center}}</ref> is the first visible art storage and study center in Washington, D.C.,<ref name="O'Rourke"/> and the fourth center to bear the Luce Family name.<ref name="O'Rourke"/><ref name="AAR vol XVIII">{{cite journal| last=Sherry| first=Karen A.| title=The Luce Center for American Art| journal=American Art Review| year=2006| volume=XVIII|issue=1| page=112}}</ref> It has 20,400 square feet on the third and fourth floors of American Art Museum.<ref name="O'Rourke"/><ref name="off limits"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Vogel| first=Carol| title=A Festive touch in Festive colors| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/02/arts/inside-art.html| access-date=6 April 2018| newspaper=The New York Times| date=July 2, 2004}}</ref><ref name="Luce Center">{{cite web| last=Baptiste| first=Laura| title=Luce Foundation Center for American Art Fact Sheet| url=http://www.americanart.si.edu/pr/facts/luce_fact_sheet.pdf| publisher=Smithsonian Institution| access-date=29 March 2013| date=April 2009}}</ref>

It presents more than 3,300 objects in 64 secure glass cases, which quadruples the number of artworks from the permanent collection on public view.<ref name="NYT July 9"/><ref name="O'Rourke"/> The purpose of open storage is to allow patrons to view various niche art that is usually not part of a main exhibition or gala special.<ref name="off limits">{{cite news| last=Gopnik| first=Blake| title=Museum 'Closets' That Have Plenty In Store for Visitors| url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/410132453| access-date=6 April 2018| newspaper=The Washington Post| date=December 31, 2010| page=N3|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The Luce Foundation Center features paintings densely hung on screens; sculptures; crafts and objects by folk and self-taught artists arranged on shelves.<ref>{{cite news| last=Trescott| first=Jacqueline| title=A Walk-In Closet for All| url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/410060514| access-date=6 April 2018| newspaper=The Washington Post|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Lipske 2004">{{cite news| last=Lipske| first=Michael| title=Medal collection occupies interesting realm between art and currency| date=Winter 2004}}</ref> Large-scale sculptures are installed on the first floor.<ref name="NYT July 9"/> The center has [[John Gellatly]]'s European collection of decorative arts.<ref name="O'Rourke"/><ref name="Luce Center"/>

====Lunder Conservation Center====
[[File:The Lunder Conservation Center Laboratory.jpg|thumb|Lunder Conservation Center Laboratory where the public is shown behind-the-scenes views of essential art preservation work]] The Lunder Conservation Center, which opened in July 2006,<ref name="August 7 USInfo">{{cite news| last=Terhune| first=Lea| title=Lunder Conversation Center allows visitors to see conservators at work| newspaper=USInfo at State.gov| date=August 7, 2006}}</ref> is the first [[art conservation]] facility that allows the public permanent behind-the-scenes views of preservation work.<ref name="August 7 USInfo"/> Conservation staff are visible to the public through floor-to-ceiling glass walls that allow visitors to see firsthand all the techniques which conservators use to examine, treat, and preserve artworks.<ref name="Arts Wash 2006">{{cite news|title=Gallery Reopens with Unique Education and Conservation Centers|newspaper=Arts Washington|date=September–October 2006}}</ref><ref name="August 7 USInfo"/><ref name="NPR 30 June">{{cite episode| last=Macadam| first=Alison| title=Art Conservators at Work: A Living Exhibit| access-date=6 April 2018| network=[[NPR]]| series=[[All Things Considered]]| url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5525121| date=30 June 2006| format=Transcript of Radio Show}}</ref> The Lunder Center has five conservation laboratories and studios equipped to treat paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, sculptures, folk art objects, contemporary crafts, decorative arts, and frames.<ref name="Arts Wash 2006"/><ref name="August 7 USInfo"/> The Center uses various specialized and esoteric tools, such as [[hygrothermograph]]s, to maintain optimal temperature and humidity to preserve works of art. Staff from both the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the [[National Portrait Gallery (London)|National Portrait Gallery]] work in the Lunder Center.<ref name="August 7 USInfo"/>

===Selected exhibitions===
The museum has put on hundreds of exhibitions since its founding. Many exhibitions are groundbreaking and promote new scholarship within the field of American art.

What follows is a brief list of selected, and more recent, examples:<ref name="PastEx">{{cite web| title=Past exhibitions| url=http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/past/|  publisher=Smithsonian Institution|access-date=28 October 2025}}</ref>
* ''[[Cecilia Vicuña]]: Quipu Viscera'' (2025)
* ''Composing Color: Paintings by [[Alma Thomas]]''<ref>{{cite web |title=Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas |url=https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/alma-thomas |website=Smithsonian American Art Museum |access-date=19 November 2025}}</ref> (2023-2024)
* ''We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection'' (2022-2023)
* ''[[John Singer Sargent|Sargent]], [[James McNeill Whistler|Whistler]], and Venetian Glass: American Artists and the Magic of [[Murano]]''<ref>{{cite web |title=Sargent, Whistler, and Venetian Glass: American Artists and the Magic of Murano |url=https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/sargent-whistler-glass |website=Smithsonian American Art Museum |access-date=19 November 2025}}</ref> (2021)
* ''[[Alexander von Humboldt]] and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture''<ref>{{cite web |title=Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture |url=https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/humboldt |website=Smithsonian American Art Museum |access-date=19 November 2025}}</ref> (2021) 
* ''¡Printing the Revolution! The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965 to Now'' (2020-2021)
* ''[[Ginny Ruffner]]: Reforestation of the Imagination'' (2019–2020)
* ''Artists Respond: American Art and the Vietnam War, 1965–1975'' (2019–2019)
* ''Between Worlds: The Art of [[Bill Traylor]]'' (2018–2019)
* ''[[Trevor Paglen]]: Sites Unseen''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/paglen|title=Trevor Paglen: Sites Unseen|website=Smithsonian American Art Museum}}</ref> (2018–2019)
* ''[[Diane Arbus]]: A box of ten photographs''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/arbus|title=Diane Arbus: A box of ten photographs|website=Smithsonian American Art Museum}}</ref> (2018–2019)
* ''No Spectators: The Art of [[Burning Man]]''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/burning-man|title=No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man|website=Smithsonian American Art Museum}}</ref> (2018–2019)
* ''[[Do-ho Suh|Do Ho Suh]]: Almost Home''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/suh|title=Do Ho Such: Almost Home|website=Smithsonian American Art Museum}}</ref> (2018)
* ''[[Rufino Tamayo|Tamayo]]: The New York Years''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/tamayo|title=Tamayo: The New York Years|website=Smithsonian American Art Museum}}</ref> (2017–2018)
* ''Murder Is Her Hobby: [[Frances Glessner Lee]] and The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/nutshells|title=Murder Is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death|website=Smithsonian American Art Museum}}</ref> (2017–2018)
* ''[[Kara Walker]]: Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated)''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/walker|title=Kara Walker: Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated)|website=Smithsonian American Art Museum}}</ref> (2017–2018)
* ''Down These Mean Streets: Community and Place in Urban Photography''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/streets|title=Down These Mean Streets: Community and Place in Urban Photography|website=Smithsonian American Art Museum}}</ref> (2017)
* ''[[June Schwarcz]]: Invention and Variation''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/schwarcz|title=June Schwarcz: Invention and Variation|website=Smithsonian American Art Museum}}</ref> (2017)
* ''[[Gene Davis (painter)|Gene Davis]]: Hot Beat''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/davis|title=Gene Davis: Hot Beat|website=Smithsonian American Art Museum}}</ref> (2016–2017)
* ''[[Isamu Noguchi]], Archaic/Modern''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/noguchi|title=Isamu Noguchi, Archaic/Modern|website=Smithsonian American Art Museum}}</ref> (2016–2017)
* ''Harlem Heroes: Photographs by [[Carl Van Vechten]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/harlem-heroes|title=Harlem Heroes: Photographs by Carl Van Vechten|website=Smithsonian American Art Museum}}</ref> (2016–2017)
* ''Artworks by African Americans from the Collection''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/african-american-2016|title=Artworks by African Americans from the Collection|website=Smithsonian American Art Museum}}</ref> (2016)
* ''The Art of [[Romaine Brooks]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/brooks|title=The Art of Romaine Brooks|website=Smithsonian American Art Museum}}</ref> (2016)
* ''[[Nam June Paik]]: Global Visionary'' (2012)
* ''African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond'' (2012)
* ''[[The Art of Video Games]]'' (2012)
* ''Something of Splendor: Decorative Arts from the White House'' (2011)

===Outreach===
The museum has maintained a traveling exhibition program since 1951.  During the 2000s renovation, a "series of exhibitions of more than 1,000 major artworks from American Art's permanent collection traveled to 105 venues across the United States," which were "seen by more than 2.5 million visitors".  Since 2006, thirteen exhibitions have toured to more than 30 cities.<ref name="Outreach 15 March">{{cite web| title=National Outreach| url=http://www.americanart.si.edu/visit/about/| publisher=Smithsonian Institution| access-date=15 March 2013}}</ref>

SAAM provides electronic resources to schools and the public as part of education programs. An example is ''Artful Connections'',  which gives real-time video conference tours of American Art.  In addition, the museum offers the Summer Institutes: Teaching the Humanities through Art, week-long professional development workshops that introduce educators to methods for incorporating American art and technology into their humanities curricula.<ref name="EDU Outreach">{{cite web| title=Education Outreach| url=http://www.americanart.si.edu/visit/about/|publisher=Smithsonian Institution| access-date=15 March 2013}}</ref>

American Art has seven online research databases, which has more than 500,000 records of artworks in public and private collections worldwide, including the Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture. Numerous researchers and millions of virtual visitors per year use these databases.  Also, American Art and [[Heritage Preservation]] work together in a joint project, Save Outdoor Sculpture, "dedicated to the documentation and preservation of outdoor sculpture".  The museum produces a peer-reviewed periodical, ''American Art'' (started in 1987), for new scholarship.  Since 1993, American Art has been had an online presence.  It has one of the earliest museum websites when, in 1995, it launched its own website.  EyeLevel, the first blog at the Smithsonian Institution, was started in 2005 and, as of 2013, the blog "has approximately 12,000 readers each month".<ref name="15 March online">{{cite web| title=National Outreach| url=http://www.americanart.si.edu/visit/about/| access-date=15 March 2013}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
In 2006, fashion designer [[Isaac Mizrahi]] designed the conservators' denim work aprons.<ref name="NPR 30 June"/><ref>{{cite news| last=Taylor| first=Caroline| title=New features fill Reynolds Center| newspaper=The Torch| date=July 2006}}</ref><ref name="Mizrahi aprons">{{cite news| last=Choi|first=Amy S.| title=Smithsonian Staff to Don Mizrahi Aprons| access-date=2 April 2013| journal=[[Women's Wear Daily]]| url=http://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-features/smithsonian-staff-to-don-mizrahi-aprons-530983/| date=June 30, 2006| page=27|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In 2008, the American Art Museum hosted an [[alternate reality game]], called ''Ghosts of a Chance'', which was created by City Mystery.  The game allowed patrons "a new way of engaging with the collection" in the Luce Foundation Center.  The game ran for six weeks and attracted more than 6,000 participants.<ref name="Luce Center"/>

==See also==
* [[List of largest art museums]]
* [[List of most-visited art museums]]
* [[List of most-visited museums in the United States]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|http://americanart.si.edu/}}
* [http://americanart.si.edu/luce/ Luce Foundation Center] at SAAM
* [http://americanart.si.edu/lunder/ Lunder Conservation Center] at SAAM
* {{cite news |url= http://www.artsjournal.com/culturegrrl/2006/08/my_article_on_the_smithsonian.html |title= Smithsonian American Art Museum |first= Lee |last= Rosenbaum |newspaper= Wall Street Journal |date= Aug 29, 2006 }}
* [https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/smithsonian-american-art-museum?hl=en Virtual tour of the Smithsonian American Art Museum] provided by [[Google Arts & Culture]]
* {{commons category-inline}}

{{Smithsonian museums}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1829 establishments in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Art museums and galleries established in 1829]]
[[Category:Art museums and galleries in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Members of the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington]]
[[Category:Museums of American art]]
[[Category:Penn Quarter]]
[[Category:Smithsonian Institution museums|American Art Museum]]
[[Category:Chinatown (Washington, D.C.)]]