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Smithsonian American Art Museum News
Media only: Laura Baptiste (202) 633-8494 Aug. 18, 2008
Amy Hutchins (202) 633-8497
Media Web site: americanart.si.edu/press
2008-2011 Advance Exhibition Schedule
Exhibitions are in galleries at the Smithsonian American Art Museum's main building, located in the heart of
Washington's downtown cultural district at Eighth and F Streets N.W., unless otherwise noted. Exhibitions of
craft and decorative arts are at the museum's branch, the Renwick Gallery, located on Pennsylvania Avenue at
17th Street N.W.; brief descriptions of Renwick exhibitions begin on p. 5. Nationally touring exhibitions are
listed on p. 7. Dates and exhibitions are all subject to change and must be confirmed prior to publication.
Note to editors: Selected high-resolution images for publicity only may be downloaded from ftp://saam-
press@ftp.si.edu. Call (202) 633-8530 for the password. Additional information is available from the museum's
online press room at americanart.si.edu/press.
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST
Now through Oct. 13 Local Color: Washington Painting at Midcentury
Now through Nov. 9 Earth and Sky: Photographs by Barbara Bosworth
Now through Jan. 18, 2010 The Honor of Your Company Is Requested: President Lincoln's Inaugural Ball
Sept. 26 Jan. 4, 2009 Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams: Natural Affinities
Oct. 3 Jan. 11, 2009 Lino Tagliapietra in Retrospect: A Modern Renaissance in Glass
(at the Renwick Gallery)
Nov. 27 May 25, 2009 Graphic Masters I: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Dec. 5 March 1, 2009 Accommodating Nature: The Photographs of Frank Gohlke
March 13, 2009 June 7, 2009 The Art and Craft of Greene & Greene (at the Renwick Gallery)
May 1, 2009 July 26, 2009 Jean Shin: Common Threads
June 19, 2009 Jan. 10, 2010 Graphic Masters II: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Aug. 7, 2009 Jan. 3, 2010 Renwick Craft Invitational 2009 (at the Renwick Gallery)
Oct. 2, 2009 Jan. 24, 2010 What's It All Mean: William T. Wiley in Retrospect
Feb. 12, 2010 May 9, 2010 Framing the West: The Expedition Photographs of Timothy H. O'Sullivan
March 5, 2010 Aug. 1, 2010 The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American
Internment Camps, 1942-1946 (at the Renwick Gallery)
April 2, 2010 Aug. 22, 2010 Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Remembering the "Running Fence, Sonoma
and Marin Counties, California, 1972-76," A Documentation Exhibition
March 11, 2011 July 10, 2011 Watch This! New Directions in the Art of the Moving Image
April 15, 2011 Sept. 5, 2011 Better Angels of Our Nature: Art During the Civil War and Reconstruction
Note: Continuing exhibitions are listed on p. 7.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION MRC 970 PO Box 37012 Washington DC 20013-7012 Telephone 202.633.8530 Fax 202.633.8535
Upcoming Exhibitions at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams: Natural Affinities
Sept. 26 Jan. 4, 2009
"Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams: Natural Affinities" examines the friendship of two iconic artists
who were attracted to the distinct landscape of the American southwest and were committed to
depicting its essence with modernist sensibilities. This exhibition, the first to pair these artists,
celebrates their mutual appreciation of the natural world and reveals the visual connections between
O'Keeffe's paintings and Adams' photographs. The exhibition includes 43 paintings from public and
private collections and 54 photographs borrowed primarily from the Center for Creative Photography in
Tucson, Ariz., which holds the largest single collection of Adams' work. Independent scholar Anne
Hammond selected the artworks for the exhibition. Eleanor Harvey, chief curator at the Smithsonian
American Art Museum, is the coordinating curator with Toby Jurovics, the museum's curator of
photography.
Accompanied by a catalog.
Media preview: Tuesday, Sept. 23; 9:30 11:30 a.m.
"Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams: Natural Affinities" was organized by the Georgia O'Keeffe
Museum. The exhibition was made possible in part by MetLife Foundation, the exhibition's Lead
National Sponsor, The Burnett Foundation, the Henry Luce Foundation, The Kerr Foundation, The
Annenberg Foundation and the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum's National Council. The Smithsonian
American Art Museum wishes to thank The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, The Robert S.
& Grayce B. Kerr Foundation, The Robert J. Kleberg Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation and the
Smithsonian Council for American Art for their generous support of the exhibition's presentation in
Washington, D.C.
Graphic Masters I: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Nov. 27 May 25, 2009
"Graphic Masters I: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum" is the first in a series of
special installations that celebrate the extraordinary variety and accomplishment of American artists'
works on paper. These exceptional watercolors, pastels, and drawings from the early 19th century
through the 1930s reveal the central importance of works on paper for American artists, both as studies
for creations in other media and as finished works of art. Rarely seen works from the museum's
permanent collection by masters such as John James Audubon, Romaine Brooks, Childe Hassam,
Winslow Homer, John La Farge, Man Ray, John Marin and Georgia O'Keeffe are featured in the
exhibition. Joann Moser, senior curator for graphic arts, selected the artworks in the exhibition.
Accommodating Nature: The Photographs of Frank Gohlke
Dec. 5 March 1, 2009
For more than 30 years, Frank Gohlke (b. 1942), a leading figure in American landscape photography,
has explored the ways Americans build their lives in a natural world that rarely fits within a traditional
pastoral ideal. This mid-career retrospective, which captures Gohlke's longstanding fascination with
nature's proclivities for growth, destruction and unexpected change, features more than 80
photographs--both black-and-white and color prints--spanning the artist's career from the early 1970s
through 2004. Rather than celebrating uninhabited landscapes or avoiding evidence of human
intrusions, Gohlke's photographs reflect how people interact with an environment that can never fully
be controlled. Whether photographing his hometown of Wichita Falls, Texas; the grain elevators that
punctuate the vast spaces of the Midwest; the effect of the 1980 volcanic eruption of Mount St. Helens
in Washington state; or the neighborhoods of Queens, N.Y., Gohlke deftly captures the tension between
humanity and the natural world, exploring how people adapt to the forces of nature both great and
small, even within the confines of their own backyards. The exhibition was organized by John
Rohrbach, senior curator of photographs at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. Toby
Jurovics, curator of photography at the museum, is the coordinating curator in Washington, D.C.
Smithsonian American Art Museum Page 2 of 10
Accompanied by a catalog.
Media preview: Wednesday, Dec. 3; 9 10:30 a.m.
"Accommodating Nature: The Photographs of Frank Gohlke" is organized by the Amon Carter
Museum and is made possible in part by generous support from the Perkins-Prothro Foundation, Exelon
Power and the Vin and Caren Prothro Foundation. Charles and Judith Moore and Mark Schwartz and
Bettina Katz support the exhibition's presentation at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Jean Shin: Common Threads
May 1, 2009 July 26, 2009
Jean Shin is nationally recognized for her transformative installations that imbue the castoffs of
consumer society with new life. Utilizing scavenged and obsolete materials such as worn shoes, lost
socks, broken umbrellas and discarded lottery tickets, Shin employs a meticulous process of
dismantling, alteration and reconstruction. Shin's most compelling projects to date have employed
clothes gathered from friends, relatives and colleagues that she disassembles and then reassembles in
colorful, textural murals. This aspect of collaboration is an integral part of Shin's process, and many of
her recent projects emerge from a close dialogue with the organizing venue and surrounding
community. The exhibition will include at least five recent "site-responsive" sculptures and installations
by Shin and one new installation that engage both the Smithsonian and Washington-area communities.
Joanna Marsh, The James Dicke Curator of Contemporary Art, is the exhibition curator.
Media preview: Tuesday, April 28, 2009; 9:30 11:30 a.m.
Graphic Masters II: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum
June 19, 2009 Jan. 10, 2010
"Graphic Masters II: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum," the second in a series of
special installations, celebrates the extraordinary variety and accomplishment of American artists'
works on paper. These exceptional watercolors, pastels, and drawings from the 1920s to 1990 reveal the
central importance of works on paper for American artists, both as studies for creations in other media
and as finished works of art. Rarely seen works from the museum's permanent collection by artists such
as Paul Cadmus, Stuart Davis, Edward Hopper, Willem de Kooning, Saul Steinberg, Grant Wood and
Andrew Wyeth are featured in the exhibition. Joann Moser, senior curator for graphic arts, selected the
artworks in the exhibition.
What's It All Mean: William T. Wiley in Retrospect
Oct. 2, 2009 Jan. 24, 2010
William Wiley (b. 1937) has stood the test of time in the face of changing styles, successive
movements, critical theories and passing fashion. His self-deprecating humor and sense of the absurd
make his art accessible to even those who do not comprehend his more ambiguous ideas, allusions,
narratives, private symbols and layers of meaning. Puns are fun, and they make more palatable his
deadly serious commentary on war, pollution, global warming, racial tension and other threats to
contemporary civilization. "What's It All Mean: William T. Wiley in Retrospect," the first full-scale
look at Wiley's career since 1979, features approximately 100 works from the late 1960s to the present,
borrowed from public and private collections as well as from the artist. It will provide a serious
overview of Wiley's career while exploring important themes and ideas expressed in his work. Joann
Moser, senior curator for graphic arts, is the curator of the exhibition. This exhibition will travel.
A book is forthcoming.
Media preview: Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009; 9:30 11:30 a.m.
"What's It All Mean: William T. Wiley in Retrospect" is organized by the Smithsonian American Art
Museum. The exhibition is prepared with a generous grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the
Visual Arts and with support from The Cowles Charitable Trust, Sakurako and William Fisher, Rita J.
Pynoos and Roselyne C. Swig. The exhibition catalog is supported by James and Marsha Mateyka. The
C. F. Foundation in Atlanta supports the museum's traveling exhibition program "Treasures to Go."
Smithsonian American Art Museum Page 3 of 10
Framing the West: The Expedition Photographs of Timothy H. O'Sullivan
Feb. 12, 2010 May 9, 2010
Timothy H. O'Sullivan (18401882), a photographer for two of the most ambitious geological surveys
of the 19th century, is likely to have witnessed more of the American interior than any photographer of
his generation. O'Sullivan traversed the mountain and desert west for six seasons between 1867 and
1874 as part of government-sponsored expeditions led by Clarence King and Lt. George Wheeler,
returning to Washington with hundreds of photographs of newly explored landscapes. These images
reveal a photographer whose reach was far beyond practical documentation, exhibiting a forthright and
rigorous style formed in response to the American west. Faced by terrain that was physically
challenging, and without previous artistic examples to follow, O'Sullivan created a mature body of
work that was without precedent. "Framing the West: The Expedition Photographs of Timothy H.
O'Sullivan," the first major look at O'Sullivan photographs in more than 25 years, is a critical re-
examination of the artist's work and his continuing influence on American photography. The exhibition
and accompanying catalog will present a careful analysis of O'Sullivan's images, the conditions under
which they were made, the influences that shaped his work and a study of the lasting historic
importance of this remarkable body of photographs. Toby Jurovics, curator for photography, is the
exhibition curator. This exhibition will travel.
A catalog is forthcoming.
Media preview: Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010; 9:30 11:30 a.m.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Remembering the "Running Fence, Sonoma and Marin Counties,
California, 1972-76," A Documentation Exhibition
April 2, 2010 Aug. 22, 2010
The most lyrical and spectacular of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's epic projects was the "Running Fence,
Sonoma and Marin Counties, California, 1972-76," a white fabric and steel-pole fence, 24 1/2 miles
long and 18 feet high, across the properties of 59 ranchers in Sonoma and Marin Counties north of San
Francisco. The project attracted far wider public involvement than any previous work of art, including
18 public hearings, three sessions in the Superior Court of California and the first environmental impact
report ever done for a work of art. Paid for entirely by the artists, the "Running Fence" existed for only
two weeks. It survives today as a memory and through the artwork and documentation by the artists--
drawings, collages, photographs, film and components. This collection of artwork, including nearly 50
major preparatory drawings and collages by Christo, and documentation was acquired in 2008 from the
artists by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. "Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Remembering the
`Running Fence'" celebrates this significant acquisition and presents an opportunity to re-assess after
30 years the impact of one of the artists' best-known projects. In addition, the exhibition will introduce
the "Running Fence" to a new generation that has grown up since its creation. The exhibition will trace
Christo and Jeanne-Claude's imaginative process through Christo's early preparatory drawings and
collages that preceded the final installation in California, and reveal how imagination and reality
coincided by comparing these works with photographs of the completed project. George Gurney,
deputy chief curator, and Joanna Marsh, The James Dicke Curator of Contemporary Art, are the
exhibition curators. This exhibition will travel.
A publication will accompany the exhibition.
Media preview: Tuesday, March 30, 2010; 9:30 11:30 a.m.
Watch This! New Directions in the Art of the Moving Image
March 11, 2011 July 10, 2011
"Watch This!" will examine the narrative power and poetic invention in recent film, video and media
art created by a new generation of artists whose fresh approach speaks to the immediacy and visibility
of a new media culture taking form around the world today. These artists draw inspiration from a
variety of global sources including animation, popular movies, documentary, cinéma vérité, soap
Smithsonian American Art Museum Page 4 of 10
operas, telenovelas, reality television, performance art, avant-garde film, video art, surveillance, and the
Internet. How artists see and experience work from the 1960s and 1970s is in part shaped by the spread
of media culture and the growing digital archive of film and video. Artists refashion genres not as
nostalgia or remakes of art world styles but as fresh and innovative moving images and narratives. The
ever expanding media environment of digital media and its accessibility through such channels as
YouTube and iPhone gives new mobility and access to the production and distribution of these moving
images. The exhibition will feature single and multi-screen works by both established and emerging
artists. John G. Hanhardt, consulting senior curator for film and media arts, is the exhibition curator.
This exhibition will travel.
A publication will accompany the exhibition.
Media preview: Tuesday, March 8, 2011; 9:30 11:30 a.m.
Better Angels of Our Nature: Art During the Civil War and Reconstruction
April 15, 2011 Sept. 5, 2011
"Better Angels of Our Nature" will explore the impact of the Civil War and its aftermath on the visual
arts in America using some of the finest artworks made during this period by leading figures such as
Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Church, Winslow Homer, Eastman Johnson, Hiram Powers and John Rogers.
Although the exhibition will include photographs by Alexander Gardner and Timothy O'Sullivan, the
focus will be on how artists addressed the metaphorical war, dealing allegorically or elliptically with
the issues of internal warfare, the future of the union, abolition and race relations, and the post-war
search for a new American identity. These artists' solutions resulted in some of the most compelling
landscapes and genre paintings of the mid-19th century, often containing layers of meaning beyond
their war-related allusions. Eleanor Jones Harvey, chief curator, is the exhibition curator. This
exhibition will travel.
A publication will accompany the exhibition.
Media preview: Tuesday, April 12, 2011; 9:30 11:30 a.m.
Upcoming Exhibitions at the Renwick Gallery
Lino Tagliapietra in Retrospect: A Modern Renaissance in Glass
Oct. 3 Jan. 11, 2009
"Lino Tagliapietra in Retrospect: A Modern Renaissance in Glass" is the first exhibition to thoroughly
examine the art of Lino Tagliapietra (b. 1934), widely revered as a master of glass blowing. The
exhibition explores the evolution of Tagliapietra's work and documents his unparalleled contributions
to the studio glass movement through his teaching, which fostered a new generation of artists.
Tagliapietra, who was trained in traditional Venetian glass-blowing techniques, traveled between the
glass centers of Venice, Italy, and the Pacific Northwest and brought with him the closely guarded
techniques of the Murano glassworks. In 1979, he was invited by Dale Chihuly and Benjamin Moore to
teach at the recently established Pilchuck Glass School near Seattle, Wash. Tagliapietra is widely
credited with changing the course of contemporary studio glass through his teaching. The exhibition
will feature 140 works from Tagliapietra's 40-year career, including pivotal works from the artist's own
collection and collections around the world, as well as designs made for industry and objects that have
never been exhibited. The exhibition curator is Susanne Frantz, former curator of 20th-century glass at
the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y.
Accompanied by a catalog.
Media preview: Tuesday, Sept. 30; 3 5 p.m.
"Lino Tagliapietra in Retrospect: A Modern Renaissance in Glass" is organized by the Museum of
Glass in Tacoma, Wash. The exhibition is sponsored by Rebecca and Jack Benaroya, the Paul G. Allen
Family Foundation, Russell Investments, Windgate Charitable Foundation, Heritage Bank and The
Boeing Company. The Smithsonian American Art Museum wishes to thank the James Renwick
Alliance, John T. and Colleen Kollar Kotelly, the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass, the Ryna and
Smithsonian American Art Museum Page 5 of 10
Melvin Cohen Family Foundation, The Karma Foundation and Sharon Karmazin, and Chris Rifkin for
their generous support of the exhibition in Washington, D.C.
The Art and Craft of Greene & Greene (at the Renwick Gallery)
March 13, 2009 June 7, 2009
The architecture and decorative arts designed by brothers Charles and Henry Greene a century ago in
California are now recognized internationally as among the finest of the American Arts & Crafts
movement. Such appreciation is inspired by the Greenes' careful consideration of every detail of the
buildings and objects they designed. Like their contemporary Frank Lloyd Wright, the Greenes
believed architecture to be no less than a design language for life, imbuing their houses and furnishings
with an expressive sensitivity for geography, climate, landscape and lifestyle. The Gamble House,
constructed between 1907 and 1909 in Pasadena, Calif., is one of their best known commissions. "The
Art and Craft of Greene & Greene," the largest exhibition of their work to date, examines the brothers'
legacy with approximately 130 objects representing a variety of media including beautifully inlaid
furniture crafted from exotic hardwoods, artfully executed stained glass and metalwork, as well as rare
architectural drawings and photographs.
Accompanied by a publication.
Media preview: Tuesday, March 10, 2009; 3 5 p.m.
"The Art and Craft of Greene & Greene" is organized by Curatorial Assistance Traveling Exhibitions
and The Gamble House.
Renwick Craft Invitational 2009
Aug. 7, 2009 Jan. 3, 2010
The Renwick Craft Invitational 2009 is the fourth in a biennial exhibition series, established in 2000,
which honors the creativity and talent of craft artists working today. The exhibition will feature the
work of ceramic artist Christyl Boger, fiber artist Mark Newport, glass artist Mary Van Cline and
ceramic artist SunKoo Yuh. The artists were chosen by Kate Bonansinga, director of the Stanlee and
Gerald Rubin Center for the Visual Arts at the University of Texas at El Paso; Renwick Gallery curator
Jane Milosch; and Paul J. Smith, director emeritus of the American Craft Museum. Bonansinga is the
guest curator for the exhibition.
A catalog is forthcoming.
Media preview: Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2009; 3 5 p.m.
The Ryna and Melvin Cohen Family Foundation generously supports the Renwick Craft Invitational
2009.
The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps, 1942-1946
March 5, 2010 Aug. 1, 2010
"The Art of Gaman" will showcase arts and crafts made by Japanese Americans in U.S. internment
camps during World War II. While incarcerated, the internees tried to "gaman," a Japanese word that
means to bear the seemingly unbearable with dignity and patience. Housed in tar-paper covered
barracks furnished with nothing more than metal cots, the internees used scraps and found materials to
create furniture, toys and games, musical instruments, pendants and pins, purses and ornamental
displays. These objects became essential both for simple creature comforts and emotional survival. This
exhibition presents an opportunity to educate a new generation of Americans about the internment
experience and will provide a historical context through archival photographs and artifacts. The
exhibition, organized by San Francisco-based author and guest curator Delphine Hirasuna with the
cooperation of the Japanese American Citizens League, will feature approximately 150 objects, many
of which are on loan from former internees or their families. The exhibition is based on Hirasuna's
2005 book "The Art of Gaman."
Accompanied by a catalog.
Media preview: Tuesday, March 2, 2010; 3 5 p.m.
Smithsonian American Art Museum Page 6 of 10
Continuing Exhibitions at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Local Color: Washington Painting at Midcentury
On view through Oct. 13
"Local Color: Washington Painting at Midcentury" presents a special installation of 27 large-scale
paintings from the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The exhibition
examines the cross influences of Washington, D.C.-based artists between the mid-1950s and mid-
1970s when the nation's capital was home to one of the most dynamic artistic communities in the
United States. Looking beyond the Color School label, "Local Color: Washington Painting at
Midcentury" explores the astonishing breadth of styles and techniques adopted by Washington artists
Leon Berkowitz, Gene Davis, Thomas Downing, Sam Gilliam, Fel Hines, Jacob Kainen, Howard
Mehring, Paul Reed and Alma Thomas who were conducting innovative experiments with color and
form. Joanna Marsh, The James Dicke Curator of Contemporary Art, and Virginia Mecklenburg, senior
curator, organized the exhibition.
Earth and Sky: Photographs by Barbara Bosworth
On view through Nov. 9
"Earth and Sky: Photographs by Barbara Bosworth" celebrates a recent gift of the artist's work that
surveys two decades of her photographs. To create these panoramic images and other landscape
photographs, Bosworth (b. 1953) uses a unique method that combines multiple large-format negatives
in a single print. While Bosworth is best known for her photographs of National Champions--a group
of trees designated the largest-known examples of their respective species in the United States--the
exhibition also features examples of her panoramic landscapes; a selection of images from "The
Bitterroot River," a narrative series on loss and renewal; several recent color photographs of songbirds;
and images of the landscape close to her home near Boston. The 39 photographs in the exhibition reveal
an artist who speaks with singular passion and sentiment for the American landscape. Toby Jurovics,
curator for photography, is the exhibition curator.
Haluk Soykan and Elisa Frederickson generously donated the photographs in this exhibition. The
Bernie Stadiem Endowment Fund supports the exhibition of "Earth and Sky: Photographs by Barbara
Bosworth."
The Honor of Your Company Is Requested: President Lincoln's Inaugural Ball
On view through Jan. 18, 2010
The Smithsonian American Art Museum organized a small, focused exhibition celebrating Abraham
Lincoln's inaugural ball, which was held March 6, 1865, in what is now the museum's historic home.
The exhibition will relate the ball to the building and its history. The ball took place as Lincoln's
second term began, with the Civil War in its final stages, and only six weeks before Lincoln was
assassinated at Ford's Theater nearby. The exhibition will feature ephemera from the inaugural ball,
including the invitation and menu as well as engravings illustrating the night's events and other
artifacts. Charles Robertson, author of the recent book "Temple of Invention: History of a National
Landmark" and a specialist in American decorative arts, is the guest curator of the exhibition.
The exhibition is organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum with support from the Ford
Motor Company Fund.
Nationally Touring Exhibitions Organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Prints of Sean Scully
Sean Scully (b. 1945) has been making prints for more than 30 years and considers these works to be as
significant as his paintings. "The Prints of Sean Scully" presents a selection of 44 works from a master
set of prints that was acquired in 2001 and is updated annually with newly created works. Scully chose
the Smithsonian American Art Museum as the only museum in the United States to receive a master set.
Smithsonian American Art Museum Page 7 of 10
Using his instantly-recognizable block shapes, Scully's richly layered prints explore recurring themes
in his work, such as the play of light and shadow, the expressive qualities of color and the spatial
relationships created by the edges of his distinctive abstract forms.
Smithsonian American Art Museum (May 18, 2007 Oct. 8, 2007)
Naples Museum of Art in Naples, Fla. (Nov. 10, 2007 Jan. 13, 2008)
Minneapolis Institute of Art in Minneapolis, Minn. (March 1, 2008 May 4, 2008)
Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, N.Y. (Sept. 5, 2008 Nov. 2, 2008)
"The Prints of Sean Scully" is organized and circulated by the Smithsonian American Art Museum with
support from Gisele Galante Broida, Don Brown, Ruth Holmberg and Norfolk Southern Corporation.
The exhibition's tour is supported in part by the C.F. Foundation, Atlanta and the William R. Kenan Jr.
Endowment Fund.
Earl Cunningham's America
"Earl Cunningham's America" examines the paintings of Earl Cunningham (18931977), one of the
foremost folk artists of the 20th century. This retrospective presents the artist as a folk modernist who
used flat space and brilliant color to create sophisticated compositions with complex meanings about
the nature of American life. The exhibition and the fully-illustrated catalog trace the story of
Cunningham's life and place his work in the context of the folk art revival that brought Edward Hicks,
Grandma Moses, Horace Pippin and other folk masters to national attention.
Smithsonian American Art Museum (Aug. 10, 2007 Nov. 4, 2007)
American Folk Art Museum in New York City (March 4, 2008 Aug. 31, 2008)
Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. (Sept. 26, 2008 Dec. 31, 2008)
The Mennello Museum of American Art in Orlando, Fla. (March 6, 2009 Aug. 2, 2009)
"Earl Cunningham's America" is organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The exhibition
is made possible by generous support from Darden Restaurants Foundation; the Elizabeth Morse
Genius Foundation; the Arts and Cultural Affairs Office of Orange County, Fla.; CNL Financial Group;
Bright House Networks; Lockheed Martin; and Friends of The Mennello Museum of American Art.
The exhibition's tour is supported in part by the C. F. Foundation, Atlanta.
Over the Top: American Posters from World War I
"Over the Top: American Posters from World War I" features 59 war bond posters, focusing on the
four Liberty Loan campaigns, the War Savings Stamp program, the Victory Loan and support for the
Red Cross. These persuasive images, with bold graphics and concise commands, encouraged citizens to
support the troops, contribute to the Red Cross and buy bonds to finance America's participation in the
war. The posters, selected from the collection of Thomas and Edward Pulling, are a fascinating window
into the American experience in the early 20th century.
Smithsonian American Art Museum (Oct. 26, 2007 Feb. 3, 2008)
Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass. (Nov. 8, 2008 Jan. 25, 2009)
"Over the Top: American Posters from World War I" is organized by the Smithsonian American Art
Museum. The exhibition's tour is supported in part by the C.F. Foundation, Atlanta and the William R.
Kenan Jr. Endowment Fund.
Passing Time: The Art of William Christenberry
William Christenberry (b. 1936) looks for the spirit of Southern culture in the landscape and
architecture of rural Alabama. Drawing upon his formal training, family traditions and a lasting
relationship with his native home in Hale County, Christenberry has spent the last 50 years creating a
remarkable body of work that is an exploration of all aspects of life and experience. This exhibition--
not a retrospective but a survey of past and present work--includes 53 photographs, drawings,
paintings, sculptures and building constructions. Though his work is inspired by the American South,
Christenberry's overall themes are universal, touching on family, culture, nature and the spiritual. His
artworks are poetic assessments of a sense of place, landscape, aging, memory and the passing of time.
Smithsonian American Art Museum (July 1, 2006 July 8, 2007)
Smithsonian American Art Museum Page 8 of 10
Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah, Ga. (May 14, 2008 Sept. 28, 2008)
Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art in Nashville (March 14, 2009 June 14, 2009)
"Passing Time: The Art of William Christenberry" is organized by the Smithsonian American Art
Museum. The exhibition's tour is supported in part by the C. F. Foundation, Atlanta and the William R.
Kenan Jr. Endowment Fund.
Elihu Vedder's Drawings for the "Rubáiyát" of Omar Khayyám
Since the first English translation in 1859, hundreds of editions of the "Rubáiyát," written around 1120
by the Persian mathematician, astronomer and poet Omar Khayyám, have been published. The poem
expounds on the transience of existence and the uselessness of science or religion to untangle the
knotted meaning of life. Elihu Vedder (18361923), an ardent admirer of the verses, arranged the most
famous and elaborate edition in the 1880s. Vedder created the designs for the entire book its cover,
lining paper, compelling drawings and eccentric hand-drawn letters which set the standard for an
artist-designed book in America and England at the time. This exhibition features 55 drawings from the
museum's collection.
Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, Penn. (March 15, 2008 May 18, 2008)
Phoenix Art Museum (Nov. 14, 2008 Feb. 10, 2009)
"Elihu Vedder's Drawings for the `Rubáiyát' of Omar Khayyám" is organized and circulated by the
Smithsonian American Art Museum. The exhibition's tour is supported in part by the C.F. Foundation,
Atlanta and the William R. Kenan Jr. Endowment Fund.
Modern Masters from the Smithsonian American Art Museum
"Modern Masters from the Smithsonian American Art Museum" features 43 key paintings and
sculptures by 31 of the most celebrated artists who came to maturity in the 1950s. Through three
broadly-conceived themes that span two decades of creative genius--"Significant Gestures," "Optics
and Order" and "New Images of Man"--"Modern Masters" examines the complex and heterogeneous
nature of American abstract art in the mid-20th century. Featured artists include Jim Dine, David
Driskell, Sam Francis, Philip Guston, Grace Hartigan, Hans Hofmann, Franz Kline, Louise Nevelson,
Anne Truitt and Esteban Vicente.
The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum at Florida International University in Miami
(Nov. 29, 2008 March 1, 2009)
Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg, Penn. (June 14, 2009 Sept. 6, 2009)
Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah, Ga. (Nov. 13, 2010 Feb. 5, 2011)
Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art in Nashville (March 19, 2011 June 19, 2011)
Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem, N.C. (Oct. 7, 2011 Jan. 1, 2012)
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is grateful to our generous contributors for their support of
"Modern Masters from the Smithsonian American Art Museum." The William R. Kenan Jr.
Endowment Fund provided support for the publication. The C. F. Foundation in Atlanta supports the
museum's traveling exhibition program "Treasures to Go." Members of the Smithsonian Council for
American Art contribute to the museum's national programs.
About the Smithsonian American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery
The Smithsonian American Art Museum celebrates the vision and creativity of Americans with approximately
41,500 artworks in all media spanning more than three centuries. Its main building, a National Historic
Landmark and major example of Greek Revival architecture, is a dazzling showcase for American art and
portraiture located at Eighth and F streets N.W. in the heart of a revitalized downtown arts district. It is open
daily from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., except Dec. 25. Admission is free. Metrorail station: Gallery Place/Chinatown
(Red, Yellow and Green lines). Smithsonian Information: (202) 633-1000; (202) 633-5285 (TTY). Museum
information (recorded): (202) 633-7970. Web site: americanart.si.edu.
Smithsonian American Art Museum Page 9 of 10
The museum's branch for craft and decorative arts, the Renwick Gallery, is steps from the White House in the
heart of historic federal Washington. Its Second Empire-style building, also a National Historic Landmark, was
designed by architect James Renwick Jr. in 1859 and completed in 1874. Located at Pennsylvania Avenue and
17th Street N.W., it is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., except Dec. 25. Admission is free. Metrorail
station: Farragut North (Red line) and Farragut West (Blue and Orange lines).
The Smithsonian American Art Museum's traveling exhibition program has circulated hundreds of exhibitions
since it was established in 1951. From 2000 to 2005, the museum organized 14 exhibitions of more than 1,000
major artworks from its permanent collection that traveled to 105 venues across the United States. More than
2.5 million visitors saw these exhibitions.
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Smithsonian American Art Museum Page 10 of 10