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Tag: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Gallery Library

Surrealism for the Masses: Finds from the Art and Artist Files

 

Caption Reads: "Salvador Dali (above, pictured with his portrait of Picasso) believes that he is ideally suited to create a comic strip for Americans"-- Hirshhorn
“Salvador Dali (above, pictured with his portrait of Picasso) believes that he is ideally suited to create a comic strip for Americans”– Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Library.

 

The world of modern art is at times criticized for a certain reputation of exclusivity and mystery in which the more inaccessible a certain artist or artwork may be, the more valuable and reputable the art becomes. Salvador Dali, the most famed member of the twentieth century avant-garde movement, Surrealism, on the other hand, challenges this perception that artistic creation is a closed-off affair for an elite few. Sure, Dali was no humble man of the people, and in fact is famous for his eccentric, narcissistic personality as he continually declared himself the most talented and significant artist of his generation (let’s not forget his autobiography graciously titled Diary of a Genius). However, Dali walks the line between artist and popular culture sensation as he created artwork that was meant to be seen and consumed by everyone. Many examples of Dali’s remarkable work may be found in the Art and Artists Files of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Library and the American Art & Portrait Gallery Library at the Smithsonian, as well as the nearby National Gallery of Art Library.

Elaine de Kooning: Portraits in the Art and Artist Files

Announcement for Elaine de Kooning's exhibition of portraits at Washburn Gallery, 1994-- AAPG
Announcement for Elaine de Kooning’s exhibition of portraits at Washburn Gallery, 1994– AAPG

The National Portrait Gallery is currently exhibiting the work of Elaine de Kooning in the show Elaine de Kooning: Portraits, organized by Brandon Brame Fortune, the Portrait Gallery’s chief curator and senior curator of painting and sculpture. Elaine was an active member of the Abstract Expressionists in New York, a group known for a style defined by vivid colors, spontaneity and emotive strokes of thick, layered paint on monumental canvases. She married fellow Abstract Expressionist Willem de Kooning in 1943. However, Elaine’s work was not solely abstract, in fact, the majority of her work is representational in nature—a style that could be categorized as Figurative Expressionism.

Katzenberger Internship: Art and Artist Files Research at the Hirshhorn and American Portrait Gallery Libraries

Pictured in the Belief + Doubt installation by Barbara Kruger at the Hirshhorn Museum
Pictured in the Belief + Doubt installation by Barbara Kruger at the Hirshhorn Museum

The inescapable question for any college senior is always some variation of “So, graduation is coming up soon, what you plan on doing with your future?” It seems that all other conversation topics must make way to this frightening yet incredibly relevant question.

“Langley Leap” at the Hirshhorn Library

HMSG stacks
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Library stacks.

This post was written by Lily Zhang, a senior at Langley High School.

I had no idea how real senioritis was until I caught it. Worse than the common cold, the dreaded senioritis hinders motivation with distracting visions of prom, parties, and graduation. But at Langley High in McLean, we are provided with a novel cure: no school. While other seniors in surrounding high schools continue to attend school in May, Langley seniors have the opportunity to “leap” outside school walls and participate in a 10-day internship of our choosing. The Langley Leap program gives us a chance to explore possible areas of interest beyond classroom lectures and tests, an opportunity I believe to be irreplaceable and essential to the overall high school experience.

Hirshhorn Museum Press and Publicity Books

This post was written Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Gallery Library volunteer Shawon Sarkar.

In the middle of the vast collection of art books, exhibition catalogues, and serials, there are 20 black notebooks on a shelf at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Library. These are the press and publicity books holding archival materials on the founding of the museum, the past exhibitions, and the Hirshhorn family.

A visit to the Hirshhorn

The author (right) with her former colleagues.
The author (right) with her former colleagues.

This post was written by Salima Appiah-Duffell, library technician at the Smithsonian American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery Library and Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Gallery Library. Salima recently joined our staff in July. Welcome, Salima!

When I started library school at Catholic University, working at the Smithsonian (Institution) seemed like a beautiful, but impossible dream. Now, with my Master’s in hand, I’ve started my second career exactly where I hoped.  I’ve been a Library Technician for the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and Smithsonian American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery Libraries for a month now, and I still can’t believe my luck.