American Art

"The Legacy of Lynching: Confronting Racial Terror in America seeks to spark an honest conversation about the legacy of racial injustice in America today. Coordinated in collaboration…

In the first half of the twentieth century, many artists retreated to the country. They went to escape from the city and for spiritual rejuvenation, but also to engage with the local architecture…

"Rufino Tamayo’s lushly colored paintings portraying modern Mexican subjects earned him widespread acclaim as an artist who balanced universal themes with a local sensibility. …

In Kara Walker’s art, the present is defined by the past and the past exerts a savage power. For more than two decades, Walker has been making work that weaves together nostalgia for an imagined…

"Artist and activist Jimmie Durham (b. 1940) has worked as a visual artist, performer, essayist, and poet for more than forty-five years. A political organizer for the American Indian Movement…

During the 1940s American photographer Gordon Parks (1912-2006) grew from a self-taught photographer making portraits and documenting everyday life in Saint Paul and Chicago to a visionary…

"Some 250 works explore three distinct periods in American history when mainstream and outlier artists intersected, ushering in new paradigms based on inclusion, integration, and assimilation. The…

For Shakers, work was a form of worship, and objects were expressions of their attempt to create heaven on earth. They employed unique techniques to build furniture that was like their faith:…