Inventories of American Painting & Sculpture

The Inventory of American Paintings and the Inventory of American 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 artworks in public and private collections worldwide. Records are compiled from a variety of sources including published catalogues, collection checklists, reports from collectors, journals, and magazines. The records include basic descriptive information on each artwork, including artist, title, execution date, dimensions, markings and inscriptions, subject, owner, and location. Over 21,000 painters and nearly 15,000 sculptors are represented in the database.

The Inventory of American Paintings began in the early 1970s, and has recorded information on over 300,000 paintings created by American artists active by 1914. The Inventory of American Sculpture began in 1985, and includes information on over 90,000 works created by artists born or active in the United States from colonial to contemporary times. The Inventories are complemented by a photographic study file of over 80,000 photographs, which are available for study in our Washington, DC office. If you wish to obtain a photograph for publication purposes, you will need to contact the owner of the artwork. Every museum has its own "rights and reproduction" policies and charges for obtaining photographs.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Research & Scholars Center

Location address:
750 Ninth Street, N.W., Suite 3100
Washington D.C. 20001-4505

Mailing address:
P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

E-mail us at: artref@si.edu
Telephone: 202-633-8380 (M-F, 10-5 pm)
Fax: 202-633-8373
Museum's website: AmericanArt.si.edu