Page 70 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Washington, DC

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4 Arts and
Industries Building
900 Jefferson Drive, SW. Map 3 C4.
Tel (202) 633-1000. q Smithsonian.
Closed to the public. 7 =
∑ si.edu/museums/arts-and-
industries-building
The ornate, vast galleries and the
airy rotunda of the splendid
Victorian Arts and Industries
Building were designed by
Montgomery Meigs, architect
of the National Building
Fountain in the central plaza of the Hirshhorn Museum Museum (see p105). The Arts
and Industries Building was
3 Hirshhorn works by emerging international extra ordinary because of its
Museum artists. The second floor hosts expanse of open space and
temporary exhibitions, of which abundance of natural light.
Independence Ave and 7th St, SW. there are at least three a year. The museum served a wide-
Map 3 C4. Tel (202) 633-1000. These are usually arranged range of functions after its
q Smithsonian, L’Enfant Plaza. thema tically, or as tributes
Open 10am–5:30pm daily (Sculpture to individual artists, such comple tion on March 4, 1881. In
its opening year, it was the site
Garden: 7:30am–dusk). Closed as Lucien Freud, Alberto
Dec 25. 8 7 = d of President James A. Garfield’s
∑ hirshhorn.si.edu Giacometti, or Francis inaugural ball; artifacts from
Bacon. The third floor Philadelphia’s 1876 Centennial
When the Hirshhorn Museum houses the permanent Exposition, including a steam
was still in its planning stages, collection, which includes train, were also displayed here;
S. Dillon Ripley, then Secretary works by artists such later, it was home to a
of the Smithsonian Institution, as Alexander Calder, collection of the First
told the planning board that Arshile Gorky, Willem Ladies’ gowns, as well
the building should be “contro- de Kooning, and John as Lindbergh’s famous
versial in every way” so that it Singer Sargent. In airplane the Spirit of
would be fit to house contem- addition, visitors St. Louis, before these
porary works of art. should not miss the Arts and Industries exhibits were moved
The Hirshhorn certainly fulfilled outdoor sculpture Building’s fountain to other Smithsonian
its architectural mission. It has garden, across the museums on the
been variously described as a street from the museum. It Mall. A working carousel is
doughnut or a flying saucer, includes pieces by Alexander located in front of the building,
but it is actually a four-story, Calder, Auguste Rodin, Henri on the Mall (closed in winter).
not-quite-symmetrical cylinder. Matisse, and many others. Concerns over its deteriorating
It is also home to one of the During nice weather the condition led to the building’s
greatest collections of modern sculpture garden is a pleasant closure in 2004 and a $25-million
art in the United States. place for an alfresco lunch. Pack renovation project. Despite the
The museum’s benefactor, a picnic or grab a bite from the completion of this renovation,
Joseph H. Hirshhorn, was an many vendors on Constitution the building is now used solely
eccentric, flamboyant immigrant or Independence Avenues. as a special events space.
from Latvia who amassed a
collection of 6,000 pieces of
contemporary art. Since the
museum opened in 1974,
the Smithsonian has built
on Hirshhorn’s original
donation, and the collection
now consists of 3,000 pieces
of sculpture, 4,000 drawings
and photographs, and approx-
imately 5,000 paintings. The
works of art are arranged
chron ologically. The main, lower
floor displays newly acquired
work. It is also home to the
“Black Box,” a space dedicated The Hirshhorn Museum’s sculpture garden, a green space in which to contemplate
to film, video, and other digital pieces by Calder, Rodin, Matisse, and others

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