Photograph a work in the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Lensmark tells you who made it, when, and why it matters, with every fact linked to its source.
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Smithsonian American Art Museum
Washington, DC, United States
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Illustrative collection
America: Hiram Powers, America, 1848–1850, Smithsonian American Art Museum, museum purchase in memory of Ralph Cross Johnson. Public domain. Image source; Public domain. Among the Sierra Nevada, California: Albert Bierstadt, Source credit: SAAM, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Image source; Public domain. Images cropped to square details.
The Smithsonian American Art Museum explores American visual culture from the colonial period to today. Its collection brings painting and sculpture into conversation with photography, Latino art, self-taught art and time-based media. About the collection
The collection began in 1829 with John Varden’s museum in Washington. SAAM opened in the restored Patent Office Building in 1968; its main venue shares the Reynolds Center with the National Portrait Gallery, while the Renwick Gallery is a separate branch.
Its collection strengths include American painting, American sculpture, time-based and media art, and Latino art.
Neon borders turn a map of the United States into a bank of video screens. Paik’s 1995 installation combines fifty-one channels with state-specific footage, exploring how highways, television and the internet shape American experience.
Read the museum recordPowers proposed a female figure as an embodiment of the United States. This 1848–1850 plaster model includes a shackle beneath her foot; Congress abandoned a Capitol commission over concerns that its abolitionist meaning would offend Southern politicians.
Read the museum recordBierstadt presented a dramatic mountain landscape to audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. The 1868 canvas toured Europe before reaching the United States, helping promote an image of America as a promised land.
Read the museum recordThese are collection records, not confirmation that the works are on display today.
The Smithsonian American Art Museum generally permits handheld photography and video for personal, noncommercial use. Particular artworks and special exhibitions may prohibit photography; check the wall signs. Tripods, monopods, selfie sticks, extension poles and similar long devices are not permitted. Commercial photography and professional filming must be arranged with the museum’s Office of Public Affairs; commercial or documentary filming requests also use the Smithsonian’s film request process. Read the current visitor guidelines and follow staff instructions before taking a photo. Smithsonian American Art Museum photography policy
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