art + artists

on view now

Black Box: Guido van der Werve

Guido van der Werve (b. 1977, Papendrecht, The Netherlands, lives and works in Amsterdam) is a man of many talents and interests. An accomplished classical pianist, composer, and chess player, he studied industrial design, archeology, and Russian before focusing on fine art—first on painting, then performance work, and finally, film. To date he has completed ten short film works that he describes as “possible scenarios of imaginary realities.” 

in depth

Francis Bacon (British, born Dublin, Ireland, 1909–1992) grew up in Dublin and London amidst the upheaval of World War I and the Irish Home Rule movement. After leaving home at 16, he spent the late 1920s in Berlin and Paris, where he worked as an interior designer. He decided to become an artist after seeing an impressive Paris exhibition of Pablo Picasso's works, and in 1929 he returned to London and began painting. Virtually self-taught, Bacon won early praise from influential critics during the 1930s. However, in about 1943, he destroyed most of his early paintings.

staff picks

collection highlights

Collection Rotation on Third Level

Only a small percentage of the Hirshhorn’s collection is able to be shown at any given time. With a significant collection of nearly 12,000 works of art, we regularly rotate the objects in the galleries in order to give visitors a better sense of the breadth and variety of our holdings. Recently, curators Valerie Fletcher and Evelyn Hankins reinstalled several galleries on the third level, focusing on our exceptional collection of postwar American and European paintings and sculpture. Several of these works have not been on view for years.

Paintings, collages, and sculptures by French artist Jean Dubuffet are juxtaposed with sculptures by Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti. Both men developed their mature artistic styles while living in Paris after the German occupation. While Dubuffet and Giacometti each
cultivated their own distinctive aesthetic and working methods, this installation brings attention to the ways both of these artists defied traditional notions of beauty to explore the human condition.
Among the most notable galleries at the Hirshhorn is one devoted to its extensive collection of works by Willem de Kooning. Added to the installation is Two Women in the Country,1954, which had recently been out on loan, and the paintings Queen of Hearts, 1943–46, and Seated Man, 1939. Galleries of Abstract Expressionist paintings by Adolph Gottlieb, Franz Kline, Joan Mitchell, Robert Motherwell, and Robert Rauschenberg provide an abstract counterpart to the figurative works of de Kooning, who
was their contemporary. We hope that you will visit the Museum often to see these and other artworks from the Hirshhorn’s remarkable collection.

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exhibition highlights

look beyond our walls

This fall, as you walk by the entrace to the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metro station at H Street, look up. Three massive high-resolution LED screens debut new work by graphic artist David Polonsky (b.1973, Kiev, USSR) just up 7th Street from the Hirshhorn. The project was developed in collaboration with Orange Barrel Media, an Ohio-based, cutting-edge firm specializing in digital communications.