Smithsonian Institution News

Yellow Mountain: China's Ever-Changing Landscape

Yellow Mountain, also known as Mt. Huang or Huangshan, is one of the most beautiful locations in China. With its magnificent peaks, some soaring thousands of feet, the mountain holds as much allure to artists today as it did in the early 17th century, when the great traveler and geologist Xu Xiake (1587-1641) toured its peaks twice and recorded the journeys in his diary.


Smithsonian Museum Presents Examination Of Color Field Painting

Washington, D.C, is the only east coast city to host this landmark exhibition


Smithsonian Folklife Festival Set For June, July

This summer, the Smithsonian Institution will celebrate cultural diversity with three distinct programs at its 42nd annual Folklife Festival. The Festival will be held Wednesday, June 25 through Sunday, June 29 and Wednesday, July 2 through Sunday, July 6 outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets.


Forum Explores How Photography Changes Everything

The Smithsonian Photography Initiative has launched 'click! photography changes everything,' an interdisciplinary, Web-based forum at www.click.si.edu. The goal of 'click!' is to stimulate an unprecedented dialogue about the ways photography enables people to document and actively interact with the world.


Artists Present Challenging Views Of Native America

The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in New York, the George Gustav Heye Center opens "Remix: New Modernities in a Post Indian World," a spirited multimedia survey of 15 emerging Native artists June 7. A joint presentation from the museum and the Heard Museum in Phoenix, the exhibition closes Sunday, Sept. 21.


Smithsonian Museum Presents Free Public Programs

The Smithsonian American Art Museum is offering an array of public programs to accompany the exhibition "Color as Field: American Painting, 1950-1975," which features 39 beautiful paintings that represent one of the crowning achievements of postwar American abstract art. The Color Field school, a group that emerged in the United States in the 1950s, is characterized by its utilization of pouring, staining, spraying or painting thinned paint onto raw canvas to create vast chromatic expanses.


Washington Museum Exhibits Imperial Mughal Albums

The Mughal Empire ruled India from the 16th through the 19th centuries, during which time remarkable paintings and calligraphy were commissioned by Emperors Jahangir (1605-1627) and Shah Jahan (1627-1658) for display in lavish imperial albums. A window into the world of the emperors, these albums (called muraqqa' in Persian) illustrate the relaxed private life of the imperial family, as well as Sufi saints and mystics, allies and courtiers, and natural history subjects.


Surface Beauty: American Art, Freer's Aesthetic Vision

The Smithsonian's Freer Gallery of Art and the neighboring Arthur M. Sackler Gallery are best known as museums of Asian art. However, the Freer also houses a collection of 19th- and early 20th-century American art, including the world's largest number of works by James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903).


Directions: Amy Sillman, Third Person Singular

Brooklyn-based painter Amy Sillman introduces an entirely new body of work as part of the Hirshhorn's ongoing "Directions" series. Inspired by first-person observation of the human figure and the emotional aspects of being part of a couple, these new paintings and drawings explore the tension between figuration and abstraction. "Amy Sillman, Third Person Singular," on view from March 14 through July 6, presents 13 oil paintings and 12 ink drawings.


Smithsonian China Series Showcases Culture, History, Arts, Politics

The Smithsonian Associates announces an exciting series of educational programs that explore the many facets of China yesterday, today and tomorrow, from its ancient culture to its popular arts and cuisine to the much anticipated Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. "China: An Incomparable Journey" will run from March 26 to late June and will feature more than 20 individual presentations, workshops and events.


"Victory Mail" Exhibit Opens At Smithsonian's Museum

When America's sons and daughters are stationed overseas, especially during wartime, contact with loved ones back home becomes an essential part of life. During World War II, a new mail processing method was introduced to increase the amount of mail that could be exchanged overseas.


Smithsonian Exhibition Honors Winners Of Contemporary Art Prize

Since 2001, some of the most innovative artists working in the United States have received the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Lucelia Artist Award. "Celebrating the Lucelia Artist Award, 2001–2006," on view through June 22, features work by each previous winner—Matthew Coolidge, director of the Center for Land Use Interpretation (2006); Andrea Zittel (2005); Kara Walker (2004); Rirkrit Tiravanija (2003); Liz Larner (2002); and Jorge Pardo (2001).


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