American Art Here

In This Case: Los Reyes Magos

January 6, 2009

Los Reyes Magos by the Caban group Many people mistake days mentioned in the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" for the days preceding December 25. In actuality, however, the song refers to the twelve days after Christmas. In the...


It Takes a Pueblo: Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams

December 30, 2008

Left: Georgia O'Keeffe, Ranchos Church No.1, 1929, Oil on canvas, 18 3/4 x 24 inches, CR 664, Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida, © Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Right: Ansel Adams, Saint Francis Church Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico,...


States of Grace: Remembering Grace Hartigan (1922–2008)

December 23, 2008

Frank O'Hara by Grace Hartigan "I didn't choose painting," Grace Hartigan once told an interviewer, "It chose me. I didn't have any talent. I just had genius." I came to Grace Hartigan through her association with the poet Frank O'Hara....


The Marchbanks Calendar: December by Harry Cimino

December 18, 2008

The Marchbanks Calendar—December by Harry Cimino We've just turned the last page on this year's calendar and it's time to count down the days remaining in 2008. To take a good look at the last month of the year, I've...


A Momentous Seventy-Fifth Art Anniversary

December 12, 2008

Ray Strong's Golden Gate Bridge George Gurney, American Art's Deputy Chief Curator, came by my desk this afternoon to tell me today marked a special occasion in the art world. On December 12, 1933, seventy-five years ago today, the Public...


It's a Win-Win Situation

December 5, 2008

Jean Shin; Chemical Balance II; 2005; Prescription bottles, mirror and epoxy, 7 units, from 18 to 38 inches in diameter; Overall dimensions variable; Commissioned by University Art Museum, Albany, NY; Photography by Ford Bailey Is your wife begging you to...


A Day Without Art/A Day With Art

December 1, 2008

Where Tears Can't Stop by Carlos Alfonzo December 1 is World AIDS Day as well as what was once known as A Day Without Art. That began December 1, 1989, in response to the AIDS crisis and in honor of...


Good Enough to Eat: Thanksgiving Menu by George Burr

November 25, 2008

Thanksgiving Menu by George Elbert Burr George Elbert Burr worked as an illustrator for several magazines including Harper's, Cosmopolitan, and something called Frank Leslie's Weekly Newspaper. (Winslow Homer illustrated for the paper as well; three examples of his work for...


Manhattan in Black and White and Color

November 24, 2008

Georgia O'Keeffe's Manhattan In a recent post I took a look at Arnold Ronnebeck's etching of Wall Street, made in 1925 when the native German artist was fairly new to Manhattan. He became a part of the circle of artists...


SAAM Celebrates FotoWeek DC

November 19, 2008

Fotoweek DC, a week-long celebration of photography here in the nation’s capital, is being celebrated at The American Art Museum with a series of nightly contemporary photo landscape projections on the walls of our Kogod Courtyard. The projected exhibition features...