Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is a museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC with an extensive collection of American art.
The museum has a wide range of American art that covers all regions and art movements in the United States. Among the significant artists who are represented in the collection, to Nam June Paik, Jenny Holzer, David Hockney, Georgia O'Keeffe, John Singer Sargent, Albert Pinkham Ryder, Albert Bierstadt, Edmonia Lewis, Thomas Moran, James Gill, Edward are Hopper and Winslow Homer.
The Smithsonian American Art Museum opened on its present site for the first time in 1968 to the public after the Smithsonian had the Old Patent Office Building renovated to exhibit his collection there of fine art. Previously, the collection whose origins lie in 1829, shown at the Smithsonian Institution Building on the National Mall. The Smithsonian American Art Museum had over the years many names: Smithsonian Art Collection, National Gallery of Art, National Collection of Fine Arts, and the National Museum of American Art His current name was given to the museum in October 2000.
In July 2006, the Smithsonian completed another renovation of the building. During the renovation of many of the unusual architectural features have been restored, as the arcades, a double curved staircase, colonnades, vaulted galleries, large windows and skylights. On 18 November 2007, the new central courtyard opened with a curved glass canopy, designed by the architectural firm Foster Partners.
The Smithsonian American Art Museum shares a historic building with the National Portrait Gallery, another Smithsonian museum. Although the two museums have not changed their name, they are collectively known as Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture.
The museum is also home to the Luce Foundation Center for American Art and the Lunder Conservation Center. The Luce Foundation Center is the first viewable art storage and study center in Washington, DC It presents more than 3,300 objects in 64 boxes of safety glass. This represented a quadrupling of the previously visible art Represents the Luce Foundation Center features paintings densely packed hung in the sections; Sculptures, crafts and folk art objects arranged on shelves and miniatures and medals that lie in the open drawers. Large-scale sculptures are on the ground floor. Interactive kiosks provide the visits with information about each exhibit, including a discussion of each work of art, artist biographies, recordings of interviews, video clips and photos.
The Lunder Conservation Center is the first art conservation facility where visitors can permanently look " behind the scenes". With floor to ceiling windows, visitors can watch the staff in the review, preparation and storage of works of art. The Lunder Center has five state-of- the-art laboratories and studios equipped to protect the paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, sculptures, folk art objects, contemporary art, crafts, arts and crafts, furnishings and picture frames. Employees of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery to work in the Lunder Center.
Renwick Gallery
Is also under the auspices of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Renwick Gallery, a small, historic art exhibition at the Pennsylvania Avenue towards the White House. Originally the Corcoran Gallery of Art was in the building. In addition to the exhibition of a large collection of contemporary American art and crafts several hundred paintings of the museum are shown here.