Museums: Smithsonian American Art Museum

The Smithsonian American Art Museum is home to a large collection of, you guessed it, artwork created by Americans.  The museum shares the Old Patent Office Building with the National Portrait Gallery.  

A photo of the museum's courtyard covered with an undulating, glass roof.  The shiny area on the floor is actually a fountain of sorts.  Water flows gently across a flat surface.  If not careful, you could walk right through it.     

The American Art Museum has a diverse collection covering three centuries.  Check it out.     

A replica of the painting below hangs in our house in Florida.  Unfortunately, the original is not for sale.

The Childe Hassam painting below makes us homesick for Florence.  The Ponte Santa Trinita (the Holy Trinity Bridge) is graceful and elegant and we crossed it many times while strolling around Florence.  The bridge, the oldest elliptic arch bridge in the world, was destroyed in World War II to slow the advance of the U.S. Army.  After the war, the bridge was rebuilt and looks the same as it did a century ago when Hassam painted it.

The artwork below resembles a huge over mitt.  You might remember the work from our visit last year to the Ferragamo museum in Florence, when this blog commented "fashion is not about seeing where you are going."

Above, some random hottie stands alongside Soundsuit, gazing in the same direction. 

Thanks for visiting the Smithsonian American Art Museum with us.