In a love letter to his apartment, Xavier de Maistre writes of his walls, windows, and furniture in Journey Round My Room, as if he would rather be there than more »
Category: homepage
The Smithsonian Libraries and Archives is pleased to announce a significant acquisition of fine press books published by the Arion Press in San Francisco. Thanks to a gift from Dr. Ronnyjane more »
Three Cheers for 100 Years of Fine Arts research at the Smithsonian! The largest art library of the Smithsonian Institution hits a major milestone on July 1, 2020: the American Art & Portrait Gallery (AA/PG) Library more »
This Earth Day, the Smithsonian celebrates the Earth Optimism movement, which aims to shift the conservation conversation from one of doom & gloom to hope, optimism and positive action. While there are a number of voices adding more »
–This blog post was contributed by Sara Donovan, summer 2019 intern at the Smithsonian AA/PG Library. Sara is finishing her undergraduate degree in history at the College of William more »
Mary Vaux Walcott (1860-1940), was a botanist, glacial geologist, and artist, whose work was instrumental in the development of a new technique for printing which came to be known as more »
On the occasion of Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor, the first major retrospective ever organized for an artist born into slavery and the most comprehensive look at Bill Traylor’s work to date, at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Sept. 28, 2018 – Mar. 17, 2019, we take a look at a special Traylor work in our library collections.
Bill Traylor’s art is colorful—floating silhouettes of yellow, red and purple dogs, rabbits and snakes; brown, green and blue people walking, talking, working and drinking. Set against simple backgrounds, Traylor’s inspired figures interpreted the world of his youth on Alabama plantation farms through the world of his old age, the downtown streets of Montgomery.