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Monday 12pm - 5:30pm Tuesday 10am - 5:30pm Wednesday 10am - 5:30pm Thursday 10am - 5:30pm Friday 10am - 5:30pm Saturday 10am - 5:30pm Sunday 10am - 5:30pm

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

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Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Come as you are. Leave transformed. Smithsonian museum of modern and contemporary art. Open Monday, noon–5:30PM, and Tuesday–Sunday, 10AM–5:30PM. Always free.

Legal: ‪http://s.si.edu/legal‬ Welcome to our page! Please feel free to share thoughts about our posts, ask us questions, or tell us about your visit. The Smithsonian Institution’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden welcomes visitors at all levels of understanding to experience the transformative power of contemporary art. The museum collects, preserves, and presents international mode

rn and contemporary art in all media, distinguished by in-depth holdings of major artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. By collaborating with artists on exhibitions, programs, and special projects, the Hirshhorn provides an important national platform in Washington, DC for the vision and voices of artists. The museum is open daily from 10 am to 5:30 pm (closed December 25) and is located at Independence Avenue and Seventh Street SW; admission is free. We hope you’ll contribute to this interactive forum and to our ongoing conversation about the work we do to further the Smithsonian's mission to increase and diffuse knowledge. While on-topic discussion is encouraged, we ask that you express yourself in a civil manner and treat other users with respect. The Smithsonian also monitors and may remove posts consistent with its terms of use, as described at http://si.edu/Termsofuse -gen. For our Privacy Policy: http://www.si.edu/Privacy

05/23/2026

Happy birthday to Franz Kline (1910–1962)! 🎈A leading Abstract Expressionist, Kline was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and began his artistic career as a painter of landscapes and city views. Around 1949 he achieved a stylistic breakthrough: Using a projector to enlarge details of his works to mural scale, he discovered that he could transform realistic city scenes into expansive abstract images. He also used house painters' broad brushes and often limited his palette to black and white. Kline's bold abstraction and free brushwork epitomize the spontaneity, grand scale, and painterly gesture of what became known as Action Painting.

🎨 Mind the gap: See Franz Kline's "Delaware Gap" (1958) in "Revolutions," only at the Hirshhorn.

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Image credit: Franz Kline, "Delaware Gap," 1958. Oil on canvas. Gift of the Joseph H. Hirshhorn Foundation, 1966. Courtesy of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden © 2026 The Franz Kline Estate / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo by Alex Jamison.

05/22/2026

We'll be open on Memorial Day, Monday, May 25 between noon-5:30 PM.

As we remember service members and their sacrifices, our thoughts include American painter Horace Pippin who was a member of the 3rd Battalion of the 369th Infantry Regiment also known as the Harlem Hellfighters who spent 191 days continuous days on the Western Front. In 1918, Pippin was badly wounded in what he later referred to as "them lonely, muddy, cooty trenches." He was honorably discharged in 1919 and award a Purple Heart in 1945. The artist's combat experiences shaped his life, and he returned to themes of warfare and salvation until his death.

Find Pippin's "Dogfight over the Trenches" (c. 1939) on our second floor in "Revolutions" near work by two other U.S. veterans: Richard Diebenkorn and Robert Rauschenberg.
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Image credit: Horace Pippin, "Dogfight over the Trenches," c. 1939. Oil on canvas. Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1966. Courtesy Hirshhorn. Photo: Cathy Carver

05/20/2026

Happy birthday to Leon Polk Smith (1906–1996)! 🎂 Born on this day in Chickasha, Oklahoma, Smith's geometric abstractions helped lay the groundwork for the hard-edged paintings of younger artists such as Ellsworth Kelly and Frank Stella. For many years, his art was guided by artist Piet Mondrian’s call for painting to be distilled to its most essential forms. However, "Black-White Duet with Red" (1953) reflects Smith's mature style, which follows Mondrian’s limited palette of primary colors, but dispenses the Dutch artist’s lines in favor of varying shapes.

🍰 Circle up with Leon Polk Smith's "Black-White Duet with Red" (1953) in "Revolutions," only at the Hirshhorn.

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Image credit: Leon Polk Smith, "Black-White Duet with Red," 1953. Oil on canvas. Museum Purchase with funds donated by Edward R. Downe, Jr., 1982. Courtesy Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. © 2026 Leon Polk Smith Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo by Lee Stalsworth, digitally color-matched to color transparency by Cathy Carver 9-10-2018.

05/19/2026

Eek! We added a contemplative mouse by Ryan Gander and 311 more artworks to our permanent collection in 2025.

From the squeaky to the sublime, recent acquisitions span painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media, and 176 works on paper by Adam Pendleton. We're excited to share these treasures with the Nation in the coming years, ranging in size from a 7-inch animatronic mouse to a 3.5-foot-long collage by Mickalene Thomas to an almost 8-foot-tall beast by Thomas Houseago. Swipe to preview these and a few other highlights. Which work stops you in your tracks?

TONIGHT: If you've encountered Houseago's hulking "Minotaur-Janus" (2024)—slide two—installed on our second floor, we know you have questions. Ask the artist when he sits down for a conversation with Curator Anne Reeve at 6:30 PM in our Ring Auditorium. It's free and remember, we always save room for walk-ups.

04/29/2026

Happy birthday to Auguste Herbin (1882–1960)! 🎉

Born on this day in Quiévy, France, Herbin is perhaps best known for the richly colored geometric paintings he produced following World War II. However, those works comprise only one chapter in a career dedicated to an ongoing exploration of abstraction. In "The Cyclist (Le cycliste)" (1930), he seemingly fuses a bicycle and its rider into sinuous forms and rhythmic circles, rendering a modern pastime in a modern way. A year after painting this work, in 1931, Herbin cofounded Abstraction-Création, a diverse international group of artists committed to nonrepresentational abstract art.

🚲 Cycle through and see Auguste Herbin's "The Cyclist (Le cycliste)" (c. 1930), now on view in "Revolutions," only at the Hirshhorn.

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Image credit: Auguste Herbin, "The Cyclist (Le cycliste)," c. 1930. Oil on canvas. The Joseph H. Hirshhorn Bequest, 1981. © 2026 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Photography by Michael Stewart.

04/24/2026

"You have to change to stay the same."—Willem de Kooning

Happy birthday to Willem de Kooning (1904–1997)! 🎈Born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, de Kooning is recognized as a dominant force in midcentury painting. A leading New York School artist, he distinguished himself by refusing to commit fully to abstraction. Instead, de Kooning moved freely between abstract and figurative forms, focusing particularly on the human body and landscape.

💕 Heart it: See Willem de Kooning's "Queen of Hearts" (1943-1946) in "Revolutions."

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Image credit: Willem de Kooning, "Queen of Hearts," 1943-1946. Oil and charcoal on fiberboard. Gift of the Joseph H. Hirshhorn Foundation, 1966. © 2026 The Willem de Kooning Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

All quotations by Willem de Kooning © Estate of Lisa de Kooning.

04/22/2026

"All paintings start out of a mood, out of a relationship with things or people, out of a complete visual impression."—Richard Diebenkorn

Happy birthday to Richard Diebenkorn (1922–1993)! 🎂 Born on this day in Portland, Oregon, Diebenkorn painted in abstract and figurative styles for more than 40 years. Completed at the height of his involvement with the Bay Area Figurative movement, "Man and Woman in a Large Room" (1957) captures the light and atmosphere of a California interior, fusing figurative imagery with the loose brushwork of the Abstract Expressionists. By accentuating the subtle, abstract geometry of the interior space, Diebenkorn transformed an everyday genre scene into a painting of timeless and stable harmony.

🎨 Make room: Explore Richard Diebenkorn's "Man and Woman in a Large Room" (1957) in "Revolutions," only at the Hirshhorn.

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Image credit: Richard Diebenkorn, "Man and Woman in a Large Room," 1957. Oil on canvas. Gift of the Joseph H. Hirshhorn Foundation, 1966. Richard Diebenkorn Foundation, © Richard Diebenkorn Foundation. Courtesy of Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Photo: Cathy Carver.

04/20/2026

Happy birthday to Joan Miró (1893–1983)! 🎂 Born in Barcelona, Spain, Miró experimented with material and form throughout his long career. In the mid-1920s, after arriving in Paris, he created his "dream paintings." These works were characterized by expansive fields of color and allusive biomorphic shapes. "Painting (Circus Horse)" (1927) is one of these "dream paintings," conjuring the whimsical feel of a circus without any clear narrative. At the time, circuses were a popular subject in the Parisian art scene.

🐎 Dream big with Joan Miró's "Painting (Circus Horse)" (1927) in "Revolutions," only at the Hirshhorn.

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Image credit: Joan Miró, "Painting (Circus Horse)," 1927. Oil and graphite on burlap. Gift of the Joseph H. Hirshhorn Foundation, 1972. © Successió Miró / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris 2026. Photo: Cathy Carver.

04/17/2026

Enjoy a little color this Friday! ☀️ Robert Delaunay and his wife, Sonia, were the founders of the artistic movement known as Orphism. An offshoot of Cubism, Orphism focused on vibrant colors and abstraction. Between 1909 and 1912, Delaunay painted the Eiffel Tower as a staggering structure on the verge of collapse in a series of works—but for this work, revisiting the subject in the 1920s, he applied a more prosaic style with a new perspective influenced by aerial photography.

✈️ Fly by Robert Delaunay's "Eiffel Tower and Gardens, Champ de Mars (La Tour Eiffel et Jardin du Champ de Mars)" (1922), on view in "Revolutions."

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Image credit: Robert Delaunay, "Eiffel Tower and Gardens, Champ de Mars (La Tour Eiffel et Jardin du Champ de Mars)," 1922. Oil on canvas. The Joseph H. Hirshhorn Bequest, 1981. Courtesy of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Photo: Tex Andrews.

04/15/2026

Happy birthday to Thomas Hart Benton (1889–1975)! 🎂 In the 1930s, Benton established himself as a leading figure in American Regionalism. This movement championed stories of American life, especially rural regions, through narrative artworks. "People of Chilmark (Figure Composition)" (1920) reflects this focus on American storytelling.

Here, Benton transforms a leisurely beach scene into a monumental composition. A relatively early painting, it represents an important step in the artist's development. During this time, he developed a style influenced by Renaissance artists in his easel paintings and public murals. By imbuing his subjects with bold vitality and epic drama, Benton’s composition hints at the ways that Regionalist artists would soon highlight the often-overlooked heroic moments of everyday life.

🌊 Chill with Thomas Hart Benton's "People of Chilmark (Figure Composition)" (1920) in "Revolutions," only at the Hirshhorn.

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Image credit: Thomas Hart Benton, "People of Chilmark (Figure Composition)," 1920. Oil on canvas. Gift of the Joseph H. Hirshhorn Foundation, 1966. © 2026 T. H. and R. P. Benton Testamentary Trusts / UMB Bank Trustee / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. Photo by Cathy Carver.

04/14/2026

Joseph Stella is known for his Futurist-inspired paintings of industrial America, especially the Brooklyn Bridge. However, he also captured the natural world on his colorful canvases—or glass, in the rare case of "Landscape (Waterlily)" (1920-1924).

From southern Italy to the New York Botanical Garden, Stella often turned to nature for inspiration and respite. The resulting paintings are vibrant and wondrous, depicting both fantastical abstractions and the real-life flora and fauna he encountered in his travels. In Stella's words, "My devout wish [is] that my every working day might begin and end—as a good omen—with the light, gay painting of a flower."

🌷 Wish granted: Enjoy Joseph Stella's "Landscape (Waterlily)" (1920-1924) in "Revolutions."

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Image credit: Joseph Stella, "Landscape (Waterlily)," 1920-1924. Oil on glass. Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1966. Courtesy of . Photo by Alex Jamison.

Address

Independence Avenue At Seventh Street, SW
Washington D.C., DC
20024

Opening Hours

Monday	12pm - 5:30pm
Tuesday	10am - 5:30pm
Wednesday	10am - 5:30pm
Thursday	10am - 5:30pm
Friday	10am - 5:30pm
Saturday	10am - 5:30pm
Sunday	10am - 5:30pm

Telephone

+12026331000

Website

http://hirshhorn.si.edu/

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