Smithsonian

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“I never plan my color more than five stripes ahead and often change my mind before I reach the third stripe.” – Gene Davis, 1971

Start the weekend with some jazzy stripes from Gene Davis. Davis is primarily known for his bold stripe works, which range from minuscule micro-paintings to mammoth outdoor street pieces.

This one, “Raspberry Icicle” (1967), stretches almost 10 feet tall and more than 18 feet wide.

Davis often compared himself to a jazz musician who plays by ear, describing his approach to painting as “playing by eye.”

See 15 classic stripe paintings from the 1960s, some of which haven’t been seen publicly in decades due to their huge size, through April 2 in “Gene Davis: Hot Beat” at our @americanartmuseum.

#Gene Davis #stripes #painting #art #Smithsonian American Art Museum #art museum #American art #D.C. artists #color field #color field artist #jazz #1960s #American Art Museum #museums

2 months ago / 240 notes

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Getting that #FridayFeeling from this Alma Thomas painting, “Snoopy–Early Sun Display on Earth” (1970), in our @americanartmuseum.

Thomas was the first student to graduate from Howard University with a degree in art, and taught art to junior high school students in Washington, D.C., for more than 30 years. After she retired, she developed her signature abstract and colorful paintings inspired by nature.

In 1972, at age 75, Thomas was the first African American woman to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum in New York.

For Women’s History Month, we’re joining our friends at National Museum of Women in the Arts and asking you to name #5womenartists.🎨

#5womenartists #women's history month #Alma Thomas #art #painting #Smithsonian American Art Museum #American art #Washington DC #DC art #DC artists #American artists #abstract art #abstract painting #Color Field #color field artist #American Art Museum #Smithsonian #museum #art museum

2 months ago / 170 notes

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It’s vacation season. You can see all 50 states in record time with “Electronic Superhighway,” the enormous neon creation at our @americanartmuseum.

The installation by Nam June Paik flashes and chatters with video and audio associated with each state (yes, Alaska and Hawaii are there too). Some of the clips are from The Wizard of Oz (Kansas) and Oklahoma (take a guess), which suggest the influence of media on our perception of America.

#Electronic Superhighway #American Art Museum #American art #Nam June Paik #Paik #art installation #video artist #video art #electronic art #neon #superhighways #art #20th century art #20th century artists #United States #geography #vacation #vacation season #road trip

10 months ago / 201 notes

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“He’s struggling to find his place and he dives into the face of that little kid. It almost brings me to tears because he’s having a soul-wrenching, life changing experience. When he comes out of that painting he will not be the same.”

- Eleanor Harvey, senior curator at the Smithsonian @americanartmuseum, on how “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” perfectly illustrates the power of art museums

#art #art museums #american art museum #ferris bueller's day off

1 year ago / 699 notes

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Posts tagged with ‘American Art Museum’

“He’s struggling to find his place and he dives into the face of that little kid. It almost brings me to tears because he’s having a soul-wrenching, life changing experience. When he comes out of that painting he will not be the same.”