SAAM Stories

hough billed as a renovation, I like to think of the reopening of the Renwick Gallery as a reimagining as well. The newly spiffed up Renwick is in mint condition, ready for the next fifty years, or more. In addition to the physical updates that include preserving numerous historical elements with new state-of-the-art infrastructure, the gallery reopens on November 13 with it's inaugural exhibition in our new space, Wonder.

One word that comes to mind when visiting the newly opened exhibition, Crosscurrents: Modern Art from the Sam Rose and Julie Walters Collection, is liberation. It's not just one generation breaking from the one before, it's a sense that the modern twentieth century opened a world never before imagined.

If you missed our recent Luce Unplugged, you still have a chance to catch one this fall. Next Thursday, November 5th at 6 p.m. Den-Mate will play a Luce Unplugged set. There will also be a pre-show discussion of the artist's favorite Luce artwork.

The Luce Foundation Center welcomes artist Erin Curtis on Sunday, October 25th, starting at 1 p.m. for our latest Luce Artist Talk.

"Irving Penn: Beyond Beauty" is the first museum retrospective of Penn's work in more than twenty years. It opens Friday, October 23 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and runs until March 20, 2016.

Art critic of the Los Angeles Times since 1989, Christopher Knight, the second speaker in this year's Clarice Smith Distinguished Lecture series, illuminated the life, work—and hair pieces—of Andy Warhol.

Next on Luce Unplugged, our free, after-hours local concert series, we're featuring sets by two rising D.C. acts.

On October 16th–17th, the Smithsonian American Art Museum will hold the final event in its five-part series: "The Terra Symposia on American Art in a Global Context." This fall's capstone event, "Shifting Terrain: Mapping a Transnational American Art History," speakers will discuss the transformation of the field over the past decade and suggests future directions for scholarship.

Hiram Powers' first marble version of the Greek Slave appeared more lifelike than ever at the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, where it stood on a rotating pedestal under a lavish red canopy that gave the marble a rosy hue. Six million visitors attended this international fair, which took place in London in 1851 in the glass pavilion known as the Crystal Palace. It was the first exhibition of its kind to include a section dedicated to the United States.

Is it possible for a painting to describe two histories? Take a step back in time to both the Oregon Trail and the Great Depression, both periods of unknown adventure, uncertainty, hard times, perseverance, and optimism. What links these two eras together? The answer is Helen Lundeberg's 1934 painting Pioneers of the West, now on display in the museum's Luce Foundation Center.

Artist Trevor Paglen spoke last week in the Clarice Smith Distinguished Lecture Series, and said his goal as an artist is to “help us see the historical moment we live in.” Paglen made a case that this is true for all art over time, no matter the time period, and showed examples from Turner to Rothko, leading up to present times.

Ever since Marcel Duchamp took a urinal, turned it upside down, called it a "readymade," and demanded we consider it art, sculpture has been open to a variety of methodologies. Kyle Bauer's work is a reflection of this. And he will start off our fall Luce Artist Talk series on Saturday, September 19th at 1:30pm with a discussion of his sculpting methods.

Throughout June and July, 77 middle and high school teachers attended week-long summer teacher institutes here at SAAM. English and history teachers from 26 states, the District of Columbia, Japan, and South Korea came to the museum to re-invigorate their practice and learn how to integrate American art into their teaching.

While we're sad to see summer end, we can't wait for the next installment of our monthly local concert series Luce Unplugged, coming up on Thursday, September 10th from 5:30 – 7 p.m.

Text Rain, the video work from 1999, by Romy Achituv and Camille Utterback is featured in the current exhibition, Watch This! Revelations in Media Art, which remains on view at SAAM through September 7.

This post is part of an ongoing series on Eye Level: Q and Art, where American Art's Research department brings you interesting questions and answers about art and artists from our archive. If you enjoy this post, take a look at others in our series.

On August 20, our monthly series, Take 5! will feature the Smithsonian Institution's James Zimmerman who will celebrate "Storytellers and Crooners." Focusing on jazz vocalists, Zimmerman and his ensemble will highlight the artistry of great musicians by bringing the narrative of song to SAAM's stage.

Each month, we invite local artists to the Luce Foundation Center to make connections between their artwork and our collection as part of our Luce Artist Talks series. This month, sculptor Anthony Cervino and his partner and collaborator Dr. Shannon Egan will talk about Cervino's most recent pieces, which examine the course of his artistic career.