Smithsonian American Art Museum

About Smithsonian American Art Museum

The Smithsonian American Art Museum, the nation's first collection of
American art, is an unparalleled record of the American experience. The
collection captures the aspirations, character and imagination of the
American people throughout three centuries.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum is the home to one of the largest and most inclusive collections of American art in the world. Its artworks reveal key aspects of America's rich artistic and cultural history from the colonial period to today. More than 7,000 artists are represented in the collection, including major masters, such as John Singleton Copley, Gilbert Stuart, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Childe Hassam, Mary Cassatt, Georgia O'Keeffe, Edward Hopper, Jacob Lawrence, Helen Frankenthaler, Christo, David Hockney, Jenny Holzer, Lee
Friedlander, Nam June Paik, Martin Puryear and Robert Rauschenberg.

The museum's National Historic Landmark building in the heart of Washington's new downtown cultural district has been meticulously renovated with expanded permanent collection galleries and innovative new public spaces. Begun in 1836 and completed in 1868, it is one of the oldest public buildings constructed in early Washington, and is considered one of the finest examples of Greek Revival architecture in the United States. The recent $283 million renovation (2000-2006)
revealed the full magnificence of the building's architectural features, including porticos modeled after the Parthenon in Athens, a curving double staircase, vaulted galleries, large windows and skylights as long as a city block.

The museum shares its main building with the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery; both museums share a joint main entrance at Eighth and F streets N.W. above the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metrorail station.