I bet someone could make a really cool animation out of this.
Page of photographs of various works by Hiram Powers and two images of the artist, 186-? / L. Powers, photographer. Hiram Powers papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Little nuggets of treasure from the art world's Fort Knox.
On our blog today, our former intern Crystal Sanchez is highlighting the video art of Robert and Ingrid Wiegand. The video above is Face-off (not to be confused with the John Travolta/Nicolas Cage vehicle Face/Off) in which Robert and Ingrid discuss aspect ratio, the camera as viewer, and the philosophy of René Descartes, all from separate television sets.
Face-off, 1979 / Robert Wiegand and Ingrid Wiegand. U-matic : 1 videocassette (U-Matic) : sd., col. ; 3/4 in. Robert Wiegand papers and video art, 1953-1994. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Horses can be artists’ models too. Happy Derby Day!
p.s. I don’t think the guy on the far right understood the assignment.
Art students making sculptures of a horse, circa 1910 / unidentified photographer. Albert Laessle papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Did you know today is D.C.’s 211th Birthday?
Adolph Gottlieb postcard to Paul Bodin, 1937 Oct. 27. Paul Bodin papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Come for the adorable chameleon, stay for the fascinating story of matchbook conservation in our Leo Castelli Gallery records, in this blog post by Smithsonian conservator Nora Lockshin.
Image of a juvenile Brookesia micra standing on the head of a match. Creative Commons License courtesy Wikimedia Commons, Frank Glaw, Jörn Köhler, Ted M. Townsend, Miguel Vences.
Sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you. Even if you are a hare!
Frederick Stuart Church letter to Michael Gavin, 1905 Dec. 27. Frederick Stuart Church collection, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Just like at museums today, postcards from the Armory Show were popular souvenirs and helped disseminate the “new spirit” across the country. The organizers of the Armory Show found they were in high demand and received requests for reprints from individuals and libraries so they could include these images in their collections. This postcard, featuring Wassily Kandinsky’s painting Improvisation, was printed for the Armory Show stop in Boston, at Copley Hall from April 28th to May 19th, 1913.
Want to know more about what was happening 100 years ago in Boston? Check out our timeline at armoryshow.si.edu.
Armory Show postcard with reproduction of Wassily Kandinsky’s painting Improvisation, 1913. Walt Kuhn, Kuhn family papers, and Armory Show records, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
National Poetry Month is almost over! Get your fill before it’s gone on our blog. Sidebar: if you want to see this particular poem in the flesh, it’s currently on display at the RISD Museum in our Lists exhibit.
A few of those things we never do, 19—. Charles Green Shaw papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
This Day in Armory Show History: April 28, 1913. The show opened in Boston, the last city to fly the flag with the uprooted pine tree symbolizing a revolution in the art world.
Exhibit catalog for the International Exhibition of Modern Art at the Copley Society of Boston, 1913. Walt Kuhn, Kuhn family papers, and Armory Show records, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
For more on the Armory Show, visit our dedicated site: armoryshow.si.edu
Modern art, at its most delicious in this inventive exhibition announcement.
Detail of Dwan Gallery exhibition announcement for Arena of love, not after 1965. Dwan Gallery (Los Angeles, Calif. and New York, N.Y.) records, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
