Anacostia Community Museum Archives
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Collection Archive
National Air and Space Archives
National Anthropological Archives
National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center
Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
Research & Scholars Center, Smithsonian American Art Museum
Smithsonian Institution Archives
Smithsonian Institution Libraries
Smithsonian American Art Museum
(Detail) George Washington from Washington Arch, New York City. Sculpture by Alexander Stirling Calder, 1917-1918.
Research and Scholars Center
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Victor Building
750 Ninth Street NW
Suite 3100
Washington, DC 20001-4505
Mailing
Address
Research and Scholars Center
Smithsonian American Art Museum
MRC 970, P.O. Box 37012
Washington DC 20013-7012
202.633.8380
202.633.8373 fax
Hours
Monday - Friday
10am - 5pm
Appointment Required
Metro Stop: Gallery Place
The Smithsonian American Art Museum’s specialized art research databases, the Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Pre-1877 Art Exhibition Catalog Index, and Photograph Study Collection, provide descriptive information on nearly three quarters of a million art works.
Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture
The Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture were created by the Smithsonian American Art Museum to assist researchers in locating American paintings and sculptures for comparative study. Together, the Inventories reference over 400,000 art works in public and private collections worldwide and are complemented by a photographic study file of over 80,000 photographs, which are available for study in the museum's Washington, DC office. Over 21,000 painters and nearly 15,000 sculptors are represented in the database. Search the Art Inventories.
Photograph Study Collection
The Photograph Study Collection contains nearly a quarter million negatives, photographs, and slides documenting American art works from the late 1800s to the mid-20th century. As a research and study collection, the images constitute a unique visual record of American art, sometimes providing the only visual documentation of a changed, damaged or lost original. Search the Photograph Study Collection. Highlights of the collection include:
Peter A. Juley & Son Collection contains nearly 127,000 negatives documenting art works by 11,000 American Artists.
American Sculpture Photograph Study Collection contains 2,790 photographs of American Sculpture assembled by the Metropolitan Museum of Art for study purposes.
Walter Rosenblum Collection contains 7,398 negatives covering American and European art from 1945 to 1970.
National Endowment for the Arts Visual Artists Fellowship Program Collection documents art works by approximately 4,600 artists who received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts Visual Artists Fellowship Program.
Library of Congress Copyright Deposit Collection contains 2,461 photomechanical reproductions documenting art works by approximately 500 American artists from the 1890s to 1940s.