All of the works shown here, including the iconic painting American Gothic, are included in the special exhibition Grant Wood's Studio: Birthplace of American Gothic at the SAAM's Renwick Gallery beginning March 10, 2006.

The Patent Office Building is a National Historic Landmark and has been home to the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery since 1968. It was closed to the public for major renovation in January 2000. The 382,000 square-foot-building is being meticulously restored to its nineteenth-century splendor, and when it opens in July 2006, visitors will have a completely new experience.

In our inaugural feature, Ask the Artist, now it's your chance to ask Christenberry your questions about his work! Fill out the form on this page. SAAM staff will choose questions that the artist will answer in a video interview. Return to this page on January 23 to watch the artist answer your questions.

The painting Angel by Abbott Handerson Thayer is one of the most popular works in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's collection. Explaining the appeal of Thayer's angels, an art critic mused, "They come near to us, there is a lovely hint of the human and intimate in them, yet they are not of the earth; they have a mystic air, and a glance that fathoms the beyond."

Zoom in to explore this beautiful piece of glass: Peacocks and Peonies II. ]]> Tue, 27 Sep 2005 10:00:52 -0400 William H. Johnson Smithsonian American Art Museum Zoomify Stained Glass /collections/interact/zoom/le_farge.cfm /collections/interact/slideshow/bertoia.cfm Sculpture Group Symbolizing World's Communication in the Atomic Age for a sneak peek. Our conservators are getting this monumental sculpture and light show ready for our grand reopening in 2006! ]]> Mon, 29 Aug 2005 12:14:16 -0400 William H. Johnson Slide Show Smithsonian American Art Museum Harry Bertoia /collections/interact/slideshow/bertoia.cfm /collections/interact/speaking_pics/sp_leclear.cfm

When Thomas Le Clear painted Interior with Portraits, the new art of photography and the established tradition of portraiture competed for superiority. From abandoned clothing and distracting clutter to ancient Greek statues and condescending portraits, this painting is packed with fun-filled details! Various items in the scene give us clues to a story about the battle between the artistic media—photography versus painting!

Angie Bullets, a member of the Kaibab Band of Paiute, lives and works in the Kaibab National Forest, part of her tribe's reservation in northern Arizona. In the tradition of her people, she creates cradleboards, which mothers have used to carry babies for generations. Watch her make a cradleboard hood with fibers from her ancestral lands in our video interview!

This exhibition will highlight more than 200 outstanding works, from art moderne to contemporary, by the foremost designers of production silver. Many of these works are from the Dallas Museum of Art's Jewel Stern American Silver Collection, which includes more than 400 examples of modernist silver.

Resourceful and intensely religious, Hampton created this spiritual environment from found materials, such as cardboard, broken furniture, and old light bulbs. With aluminum foil and fervent devotion, Hampton transformed these ordinary objects into glittering altars, crowns, lecterns, chairs, and plaques.

To a trained eye, almost every artwork contains clues that reveal a story. These details might relate to the composition—that is, why the artist constructed the piece in a particular way. An artist can also convey subtle meaning through symbols. SAAM Interact presents a new feature: Speaking of Pictures. Roll over various parts of the featured artwork to reveal interesting facts and background information.

This week explore John Singer Sargent's portrait Elizabeth Winthrop Chanler (Mrs. John Jay Chapman).

Join the campfire to hear contemporary Indians and experts talk about Catlin and the people and places he visited. Speakers contrast white and Native attitudes toward land ownership, explore prairie ecology, and describe tribal leadership qualities. Historians also highlight the tradition of portraiture and the sublime landscape in American painting.