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]