Smithsonian American Art Museum

first federal Art collection of the United States, housing the world's largest collection of American Art  The Washington, D.C., Museum  showcases more than 40,000 works of Art , representing 7,000 American Artist. The Museum is the home to one of the largest collections of American Art in the world. Its artworks reveal key aspects of America’s s rich artistic and cultural history from the colonial period to today. Its artworks reveal key aspects of America’s s rich artistic and cultural history from the colonial period to today.Its artworks reveal key aspects of America’s s rich artistic and cultural history from the colonial period to today.
The Precursor  to the museum was a gallery begun in 1829 by the Washington collector John Var den for his personal collection of European artwork. The collection was briefly known as the National Institute but gradually merged with the newly created Smithsonian in the 1850s and 1860s.The Smithsonian’s art collections were first assembled seventeen years before Congress and President James K. Polk established the Smithsonian Institution. the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery are the focus of “American Biography,” a new Context walk that examines American identity through the biographies of paintings and sculptures of key figures – like Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln.