Graphic Masters: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum

This exhibition celebrates the extraordinary variety and accomplishments of American artists' works on paper. Exceptional watercolors, pastels, and drawings from the 1840s through the 1990s reveal the central importance of works on paper for American artists, both as studies for creations in other media and as finished works of art. Traditionally a more intimate form of expression than painting or sculpture, drawings often reveal greater spontaneity and experimentation than an artist's more formal work. Even as works on paper become larger and more finished, competing in scale with easel paintings, they retain a sense of the artist's hand, the immediacy of a thought made visible.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum is the nation's museum dedicated exclusively to the art and artists of the United States. The museum's collections trace the country's story in art spanning three centuries, and its in-depth resources offer opportunities to understand that story better. While the museum renovated its historic building in Washington, it shared many of its finest treasures with museums and audiences nationwide. This is one of five exhibitions that featured the Museum's collections, touring the nation through 2005. The tour was supported in part by the Smithsonian Special Exhibitions Fund. The exhibition was supported at the Loeb by The Smart Family Foundation, Inc. There are works that appeared in this exhibition that were loans to the Loeb and therefore do not appear on this website.