The SAAM presents significant aspects of American visual culture.
The collection includes photography, modern folk and self-taught art, African American art, Latino art, video games, the largest collection of New Deal art, and exceptional collections of contemporary craft, American impressionist paintings and masterpieces from the Gilded Age. In recent years, the museum has focused on strengthening its holdings of contemporary art, media arts in particular.
The Smithsonian American Art Museum shares its collections, programs, and exhibitions in two locations in Washington, DC. SAAM’s main building is located at the heart of a vibrant downtown cultural district, while its recently renovated branch museum for contemporary craft and decorative art, the Renwick Gallery, is located nine blocks west, near the White House. (See separate listing)
Please check the museum website for updated exhibition information. Scheduling may have been modified as a result of the temporary museum closure.
Thirty-four fiber artworks piece together an alternative history of American art
Ideas about the American West by 48 modern and contemporary artists
50+ prints and drawings capture the architecture, people, & spirit of urban America
Vibrant, rhythmic artworks incorporate gestural abstraction and color field painting
A tribute to African American activists, scientists, teachers, performers and peacemakers
Eight pairings of two artists whose trajectories intersected at a creatively crucial moment
The work of forty-three artists traces the rise of self-taught art in the 20th century
Explores the resonance between video art and popular music