SONNY: Hi Iím Sonny,
ELLIE: And Im Ellie. We're at the Smithsonian
American Art Museum
in Washington, D.C. located
just a few blocks from the National Mall.
(Sonny) The museum has over 41,000 artworks in
its collection.
Many of them are on display in this landmark building.
It is also home to another museum, The National
Portrait Gallery.
(Ellie) Today weíre visiting the Smithsonian American Art Museum, SAAM
Let's go inside!
(Officer) Sir, there's no backpacks allowed in the museum
I need you to put this in the lockers to your left.
(Ellie) Large bags and backpacks are not allowed inside the museum.
It is best to leave them behind.
(Sonny) The museum's collection spans more than three
centuries of American history.
It traces the growth of our nation both happy
and sad. Our heroes and our common people.
(Ellie) The building itself has a lot of history
First, it was the patent office building.
Then, during the Civil War it became a hospital.
President Lincoln had his second inaugural ball here. One month before
he was shot in April 1865.
In the nineteen-fifties it was almost torn
down.
(Sonny) To build a parking lot.
Today it's one of our best surviving examples
of greek revival architecture.
(Ellie) You can spend a whole day here just looking
at the building.
(Sonny) But, we're here to see the art. Right?
(Ellie,) Right. Let's start with the birth of our country,
1776.
(Sonny) Charles Wilson Peale?
(Ellie) He fought in the Revolutionary War
and was one of the most famous portrait
artists of the early republic.
(Sonny) I can just barely make out what the boys pointing at.
Let's see, "To be or not to be"
(Ellie) That's why you really have
to look at the paintings.
So you won't miss stuff.
Some people say that those words
summed up the precarious state of our new nation at that time.
(Sonny) You mean like should we stay part of Great Britain or
take up on our own!?
(Ellie) Probably something like that.
(Docent) I have three rules for looking at art.
The first rule is do not touch the artwork
The second rule is
please don't touch the artwork.
and the third rule would be..
(Student) Don't turn around and bump into the art!
(Docent) Excellent!
let's go out and take a look
at the art.
(Sonny) That's good advice.
All of the museums artwork is off-limits
(Ellie) No matter how tempting.
Always use your eyes, never your hands.
(Sonny) As the west is being settled there was a hot
market for dramatic landscapes of the nation's
frontiers, like this one by Albert Bierstadt.
(Ellie) People bought tickets and stood in line to see them.
(Sonny) Right, but where are all the people?
I mean, the Native Americans?
American Indians are one of the great subjects of American art.
SAAM has a huge collection of George Catlin's famous portraits
of Native Americans.
What do you think this painting is suppose
to mean?
(Sonny) I'm not sure
It looks like, uh,
man wrestling a bull. (Ellie) Yeah, the man is Hercules
and the bull is, Ecolas, the
greek god who ruled the rivers.
The label says that Hercules defeated the bull
by tearing off one of his horns
and that became the Horn of Plenty.
(Sonny) Wow,
it really helps knowing the story behind the painting
(Sonny) Ohhh,
What!?...Amazing!
If you look closely it's
light bulbs and chairs.
(Ellie) James Hampton made me his living as a night janitor.
For fourteen years he spent his spare time privately building this.
It was discovered after his death and this
is only a part of a much larger work.
(Sonny) That's incredible!
(Ellie) Not everything in SAAM's collection can be seen on display in
the galleries.
(Sonny) Many artworks are fragile
and have to be kept out of bright light.
(Ellie) Cool, people in love
would commission miniature portraits of their secret lover's eyes.
(Sonny) Secret lovers, Really!?
[music]
The Luce Foundation Center for American Art
is a special section in SAAM.
It allows us to see three-thousand more objects.
Without the Luce Center,
most of these objects would be in storage.
(Ellie) Wow, I wish this was my own personal jewelry box.
(Sonny) Well, it is, in a way.
(Ellie) Yeah, Everything in SAAM's collection belongs to all
the American people.
I got it!
(Sonny) And if you want to know more, complete information
about each object and its creator
is available at the computer kiosks.
(Ellie) Sonny! Come on! Lets go watch one of those
conservators at work.
(Conservator) This is the Lunder Conservation Center.
Conservation is where the works of art in a museum
are cared for.
It's meticulous and careful work.
Sometimes,
objects end up in conservatiom
for unfortunate reasons. Your hands have oils
and salts.
and when you touch a work of art, this may not show up right away,
but, over time, it will.
and so it has to come in and be worked on. Those
oils have to be removed.
So don't touch the art, please!
[music]
(Sonny) Whoa! For a second there I thought she was real!
(Ellie) Yeah, I bet you were about to say,
no eating in the museum!
(Sonny) That's right!
But, you can eat the courtyards
and there are benches there you can sit on if you bring a lunch. Come on!
(Ellie) This looks like driftwood
but it's not. (Sonny) Its not?
(Ellie) No, its made out of bronze
(Sonny) Dude, you got to be kidding!
(Ellie) What's this?
(Sonny) "The Electronic Superhighway"
(Ellie) What state are you from? (Sonny) Arizona.
(Ellie) It's here!
People come into the museum
from lots of different states.
They can see what the artist picked to represent their state.
(Kids Talking) (Kansas! That's so cool, because Kansas is the where the
(Sonny) The Smithsonian American Art Museum
includes from all regions, cultures, and traditions within
our country.
(Ellie) Art by men and women,
both famous and unknown in all media.
(Sonny) Art that is big
and art that is small.
Art treasures that belong to all of us.
(Ellie) Art that helps to define us
and teach us what it means to be an American.
(Sonny) A place where your curiosity is the only cost of admission.
(Ellie) We hope that youíll have a great visit to
The Smithsonian American Art Museum.
[music]