What's on View
Museums Open on July 1, 2006
Smithsonian American Art Museum
William Wegman-Funney/Strange
American ABC: Childhood in 19th-Century America
William H. Johnson's World on Paper
Passing Time: The Art of William Christenberry
Temple of Invention : History of a National Landmark
National Portrait Gallery
Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2006
America's Presidents
Twentieth-Century Americans
Bravo!
Champions
One Life: Walt Whitman, a kosmos
Smithsonian American Art Museum
William Wegman—Funney/Strange
July 1 - Sept. 24, 2006
William Wegman (b. 1943) is beloved by the public and held in critical esteem by the international art world for his smart, gently subversive humor that parodies all things familiar. "William Wegman—Funney/Strange" is the first in-depth look at the artist in 15 years and examines his work in all media from the 1960s to the present. The exhibition will feature approximately 200 photographs, works on paper, paintings, conceptual work, videos, writings and rare archival materials. Several surprising new bodies of work will be seen in relation to classics, such as the photographs of his weimaraners. Trevor Fairbrother, independent curator and scholar, is the guest curator.
American ABC: Childhood in 19th-Century America
July 1 - Sept. 17, 2006
"American ABC: Childhood in 19th-Century America" explores images of children and their relationship to the American quest for national identity during the 19th century. The exhibition features approximately 60 paintings by such American masters as Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins and Eastman Johnson, as well as prints, photographs, illustrated children’s books, schoolbooks and other objects that shaped attitudes toward childhood in 19th-century America. "American ABC" demonstrates how portrayals of the nation's youngest citizens took on an important symbolic role in the United States' long journey toward maturity and provides a window into the everyday life of the period—the world of families, children's pastimes and the routines of the schoolhouse. Claire Perry, curator of American art at the Cantor Arts Center, is the curator.
The exhibition's presentation at the Smithsonian American Art Museum also will include artworks from its permanent collection. Paintings by George Catlin and several sculptures, including works by Thomas Crawford, Harriet Hosmer and William Henry Rinehart among others, will be included at this venue only. Programs and activities for children will take place in a re-creation of a 19th-century schoolroom that is based on depictions by Winslow Homer.
William H. Johnson's World on Paper
July 1, 2006 - Jan. 7, 2007
The Smithsonian American Art Museum holds the largest and most complete collection of work by the African American modernist William H. Johnson (1901–1970) and has done much in the past 30 years to preserve his art and establish his reputation. "William H. Johnson's World on Paper" thoroughly examines, for the first time, the artist's involvement with printmaking. Now, these never-before-exhibited prints by the artist reveal him to be as powerful with graphic media as with oils and tempera. Johnson's distinctive work uses bold compositions and bright colors, and his woodcuts are strongly influenced by German Expressionist art. Joann Moser, the museum's senior curator for graphic arts, selected the more than 40 prints from the permanent collection. An expanded version of the exhibition will tour in 2007.
Passing Time: The Art of William Christenberry
July 1, 2006 - July 8, 2007
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 installation—not a retrospective, but a survey of past and present work, some seen here for the first time—includes more than 60 of Christenberry's 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.
Christenberry, who teaches at the Corcoran College of Art + Design in Washington, selected the works included; the exhibition complements the adjoining installation of folk art, also selected by Christenberry, from the museum's permanent collection.
Temple of Invention : History of a National Landmark
July 1, 2006 - July 8, 2007
This exhibition honors the museum's historic home on the 170th anniversary of its cornerstone being laid by President Andrew Jackson and the completion of its glorious renovation. Begun in 1836 and completed in 1868, it was the third public building constructed by the new nation in its capital city. This landmark was praised by Walt Whitman as the "noblest of Washington buildings" and is considered to be one of the finest examples of Greek Revival architecture in the United States. Charles Robertson, former deputy director at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and specialist in American decorative arts, is the guest curator. The exhibition is co-organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery.
National Portrait Gallery
Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2006
This exhibition will feature the work of the 60 artists selected as finalists in the Portrait Gallery's first national portrait competition. Named for Virginia Outwin Boochever, a former docent whose generous gift has endowed this program, the competition will showcase the variety and excellence of contemporary portraiture in painting and sculpture. Winners will be highlighted in the exhibition, and visitors will have an opportunity to vote for their choice of best portrait.
America's Presidents
The nation's only complete gathering of presidential portraits outside the White House, this exhibition lies at the very heart of the Portrait Gallery's mission to tell the American story through the individuals who have shaped it. Visitors will see an enhanced and extended display of multiple images of the 43 presidents of the United States , including the "Lansdowne" portrait of George Washington, the famous "cracked plate" photograph of Abraham Lincoln and whimsical sculptures of Presidents Johnson, Carter, Nixon and George Bush by noted caricaturist Pat Oliphant. Presidents Washington, Andrew Jackson, Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt will be given expanded attention because of their significant impact on the office.
Twentieth-Century Americans
Four newly created galleries off the museum's magnificent third-floor Great Hall will showcase the major cultural and political figures of the 20th century. From the reform movement of the first two decades to the movements for social justice and civil rights of the 1960s and 1970s, from World War I through the Vietnam War, visitors will follow the unceasing struggle to achieve the American ideal.
Bravo!
"Bravo!"
will showcase the composers and performers who brought the performing arts to life from the beginning of the 20th century to the present. A video will offer an overview of performing arts from the founding of the nation through the 1900s.
Champions
will salute the dynamic American sports figures whose impact has extended beyond their sports and made them a part of the larger story of our nation. A lively combination of portraits, artifacts and memorabilia and video will enhance the exhibition.
One Life: Walt Whitman, a kosmos
Each year a gallery within the museum will be devoted to a curator's exploration of the life of one individual. David Ward, a Portrait Gallery historian and himself a poet, selected Walt Whitman as the subject for this first exhibition in the series because Whitman, he says, "influenced a century of America's foremost writers." Whitman's images and personal memorabilia will be coupled with his words to create a visual portrait. As it happens, the exhibition is on the first floor where Whitman worked in the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
