american art

Looking down the length of a three-story atrium viewed from the second floor. It is lit by skylights and large hanging lights and the floor is patterned with a geometric white and black pattern. The mezzanines on either side and above us are filled with display cases bathed in amber light.

American Art Museum Finale

July 20, 2024July 20, 2024

Well, we’ve reached the end of our brief tour of the Smithsonian American Art Museum! I hope you’ve enjoyed it. It was a lot of… Read More »American Art Museum Finale

Oil painting of puffy clouds floating over the grey-green rooftops of three buildings spread across the bottom of the canvas and angled to our left. Only their upper walls, roofs, and chimneys are visible and they are bathed with warm light from that direction.

Floating Clouds by Hisako Hibi

June 22, 2024June 22, 2024

In today’s episode we look at “Floating Clouds” by Hisako Hibi, one of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans incarcerated in prison camps on the West… Read More »Floating Clouds by Hisako Hibi

Painting of a pale-skinned thin man in a white suit and petal pink shirt who sits facing us with an orange and white cat lying on his lap. His short black hair is grey at the temples and a grey moustache spreads into billowing sideburns on his cheeks.

Man with the Cat by Cecilia Beaux

March 16, 2024April 19, 2024

Henry Sturgis Drinker and Cecilia Beaux had a complicated history but that didn’t get in the way of Cecilia making him the subject of one… Read More »Man with the Cat by Cecilia Beaux

Two young teenage girls with pale skin and dark hair stand among tall poles draped with fluttering pink and green ribbons in a desolate landscape. Beyond them is a crumbling brick wall with a narrow body of water and distant hills visible behind it and a hazy blue sky overhead.

Confrontation by Hughie Lee-Smith

February 17, 2024March 2, 2024

Putting ordinary people in odd, unsettling surroundings was the specialty of Hughie Lee-Smith. In today’s episode we look at his “Confrontation” from the Smithsonian American… Read More »Confrontation by Hughie Lee-Smith

Quarry by Edward Loper

October 3, 2020January 9, 2024

Did you know the US government once actually paid artists to work? During the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration helped launch the career of… Read More »Quarry by Edward Loper

Autumn Drama by Alma Thomas

August 15, 2020January 9, 2024

Click here to view “Autumn Drama” on the Gallery’s site. Clicking the image on their page will open a viewer that allows you to zoom… Read More »Autumn Drama by Alma Thomas

Correcting the Canon: The Evans-Tibbs Collection

August 1, 2020October 16, 2024

Welcome back to “A Long Look!” For the rest of the season, I’ll be presenting paintings from the Evans-Tibbs Collection, one of the most important… Read More »Correcting the Canon: The Evans-Tibbs Collection