Smithsonian

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The “First Lady of Song,” Ella Fitzgerald, was born 100 years ago today.

We’re celebrating the centennial of her birth and the legendary career that followed with this portrait on view at our National Portrait Gallery. Dizzy Gillespie, on the right, is all of us as he gazes at Lady Ella in song.

The photographer, William P. Gottlieb, learned to use a camera so that he could include images in his weekly music column for The Washington Post. Today, his photos of jazz musicians from the 1930s and ’40s are regarded as invaluable visual records of jazz’s Golden Age.

Read more about Fitzgerald’s rise to fame and this portrait, a recent museum acquisition which has never been shown before.

More pieces from her life in our collection in our Twitter Moment.

#Ella Fitzgerald #Lady Ella #Ella100 #jazz #jazz history #Smithsonian #National Portrait Gallery #portrait #photograph #Dizz Gillespie #Queen of Jazz #First Lady of Song #American history #history #Jazz Appreciation Month #music #music history #art #photography

1 month ago / 727 notes

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They’re good dogs, @americanartmuseum.

“Trained Dogs” (ca. 1880) by Lawrence W. Ladd.

#National Pet Day #Smithsonian American Art Museum #they're good dogs brent #dogs #Lawrence W. Ladd #American art #art #watercolor #NationalPetDay #dog art #dogs of tumblr #pets #art museum

1 month ago / 181 notes

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Throwback Thursday to a few weeks ago when “Wind Sculpture VII” was dazzling outside our National Museum of African Art.

Like a ship’s sail, the fiberglass sculpture by Yinka Shonibare MBE appears to blow in the wind. It evokes the sails of ships that crossed the Atlantic and other oceans, connecting nations through the exchange of ideas, products and people—complex histories of not only the slave trade and colonization but also the dynamic contributions of Africans and African heritage worldwide.

At 20 feet tall and nearly 900 pounds, “Wind Sculpture VII” is part of a series of seven individually designed sculptures, and the first artwork permanently installed in front of the museum.

#art #National Museum of African Art #outdoor art #sculpture #outdoor sculpture #Yinka Shonibare MBE #art museum #art outside #Smithsonian #African art #museum #Smithsonian museum #throwback #tbt

2 months ago / 137 notes

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Ethel Reed and the poster craze of the 90s—the 1890s.

Ethel Reed was one of the most talented and prolific artists of the 1890s. Then she disappeared from the historical record.

Learn about her life and work from our National Museum of American History.

#HiddenHerstory #5womenartists #women's history month #women's history #National Museum of American History #art #posters #poster art #Smithsonian #history #museum #history museum #Ethel Reed #1890s #1890s art #American history #women artists

2 months ago / 306 notes

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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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For National Puppy Day (!), a letter to artist Trude Guermonprez from her dog Mavis.

The letter (which was dictated to the artist’s husband) is mostly the phrase “woef, woef”—or, loosely translated from Dutch, “woof, woof.”

Like any artist, Mavis signed her work with a blue paw print.

It’s one of the charming finds we discovered from reading artists’ mail in our @archivesofamericanart.

Paul Guermonprez letter to Trude Guermonprez, 1942 August 7, Trude Guermonprez papers 1929-1986, Archives of American Art.

#National Puppy Day #puppy day #dogs #dogs of tumblr #art #Trude Guermonprez #artist #archives #Archives of American Art #Smithsonian #from the archives #letters #letter writing #handwriting #Guermonprez #women's history month #5womenartists

2 months ago / 234 notes

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“Our earth is only one polka dot among a million stars in the cosmos. Polka dots are a way to infinity.“ - Yayoi Kusama

We’re joining our @hirshhorn in covering the internet in polka dots today, in honor of Yayoi Kusama’s 88th birthday! ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️

Explore a 360-degree view of her “Infinity Mirrored Room—The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away” on Facebook, or take a virtual tour of the exhibition in a Twitter Moment.

More about #InfiniteKusama at kusama.si.edu.

Yayoi Kusama, “Dots Obsession – Love Transformed Into Dots,” courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore; Victoria Miro, London; David Zwirner, New York. © Yayoi Kusama

#InfiniteKusama #Yayoi Kusama #5womenartists #art #contemporary art #Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden #Hirshhorn #Smithsonian #museum #art museum #art installation #polka dots #dots #Kusama #multimedia

2 months ago / 186 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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YayoiKusama,DotsObsession–LoveTransformedIntoDots,2007,attheHirshhornMuseumandSculptureGardenMixedmediainstallation.CourtesyofOtaFineArts,Tokyo/Singapore;VictoriaMiro,London;DavidZwirner,NewYork.©Yayo

Yayoi Kusama’s installations are immersive, colorful, and sparkly. And for the first time ever, you can see six of her iconic Infinity Mirror rooms together in one place.

We’re giving you a sneak peek at “Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors,” which opens Feb. 23 at our @hirshhorn museum.

Kusama’s kaleidoscopic installations give the illusion of infinite space. #InfiniteKusama celebrates the legendary Japanese artist’s 65-year career, and has a selection of other key works beyond the dazzling rooms, including some never shown before in the U.S.

Free timed passes are required for the exhibition, which runs through May 14. Plan your visit at kusama.si.edu

#InfiniteKusama #Yayoi Kusama #Kusama #art #infinity room #infinity mirrors #Infinity Mirror rooms #art installation #Hirshhorn #Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden #art museum #artists #women artists #contemporary artists #immersive art #polka dots #pumpkins

3 months ago / 1,266 notes

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archivesofamericanart:

Happy Valentine’s Day! Here are photographs of some of our favorite couples from the Archives of American Art.

Wilna Hervey, a silent film actress and painter, and her partner, painter Nan Mason, are shown here in Florence, Italy in 1926. They were together until Hervey passed away in 1979. The finding aid to their papers can be found at http://s.si.edu/2lLlzEs
Painters and Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight are shown here in 1979. They met in Harlem Renaissance sculptor Augusta Savage’s workshop, and married in 1941. The finding aid to their papers can be found at http://s.si.edu/2kFSLfR
Yasuo Kuniyoshi and Katherine Schmidt, shown in circa 1925, met in 1917 through the Art Students League in New York, and married in 1917. Schmidt had to surrender her United States citizenship in order to marry Kuniyoshi. The finding aid to Yasuo Kuniyoshi’s papers can be found at http://s.si.edu/2lfvJzE, and the finding aid to Katherine Schmidt’s papers can be found at http://s.si.edu/2lfj8fT.

Some artsy love for Valentine’s Day from our @archivesofamericanart ❤️

#Valentine's Day #valentines #valentine #art #artists #archives #Archives of American Art #American art #Smithsonian

3 months ago / 262 notes

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Each of these orchids is a work of art.

There are more than 100 stunning blooms featured at the 2017 Orchid Exhibition by Smithsonian Gardens and the United States Botanic Garden. This is the first time the annual show is at our @hirshhorn museum, where orchids act as colorful, time-based installations that constantly change over the course of the exhibition.

You can see “orchids: A MOMENT” through May 14.

#orchids2017 #orchids #gardens #flowers #art #Smithsonian #Smithsonian Gardens #gardening #flower #time-based art #art installation #museum

3 months ago / 642 notes

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“I, too, am America” – poet Langston Hughes, born on this day in 1902. Portrait by Winold Reiss from our National Portrait Gallery.

Hear Hughes read “I, Too” and other works from Smithsonian Folkways.

#Langston Hughes #poet #Black History Month #African American history #black history #American history #art #portraits #National Portrait Gallery #Smithsonian #museum

4 months ago / 960 notes

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Now THAT’S a gourd. Last month, our @hirshhorn welcomed Yayoi Kusama’s “Pumpkin” to their plaza, which is just a slice of what’s to come.

“Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors” will open at the museum in February, featuing an unprecedented six mirror rooms by the artist.

The Hirshhorn is the first museum in the U.S. to debut this towering pumpkin form. Pumpkins are a thread throughout Kusama’s work, going back to her time spent at plant nursery as a child. They’re also the theme of one of the infinity rooms, which you can see when #InfiniteKusama opens Feb. 23, 2017.

Learn more about the exhibition and plan your visit.

#InfiniteKusama #Kusama #Yayoi Kusama #infinity rooms #Hirshhorn #Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden #art #art museum #sculpture #outdoor art #outdoor sculpture #polka dots #pumpkin #modern art #contemporary art

4 months ago / 353 notes

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Why a Woman Is Playing the Same Guitar Chord Over and Over Again at the Hirshhorn.

“Art is so serious, it’s too serious to be serious about,” says Ragnar Kjartansson.

Our @hirshhorn’s exhibition of his work is the first of its kind in the United States. See it through Jan. 8.

#Hirshhorn #ragnar kjartansson #modern art #performance art #art #art museum #Smithsonian #Smithsonian art #Iceland #Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden #museum

5 months ago / 141 notes

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Happy New Year! 🎉

These party animals are from a sidewall at our Cooper Hewitt.

After Prohibition was repealed, cocktail-themed wallpapers started showing up, but they were usually stylized or whimsical like these cartoon animals. While promoting alcohol was likely still a touchy subject after Prohibition, playful designs made it less threatening.

#Happy New Year #New Year #Prohibition #design #design museum #Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum #Smithsonian #art and design #art #wallpaper #wall art #animals in art #design history

5 months ago / 359 notes

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Posts tagged with ‘art’

“Art is so serious, it’s too serious to be serious about,” says Ragnar Kjartansson.