Smithsonian American Art Museum

The Smithsonian American Art Museum holds the nation's most comprehensive collection of American art, spanning colonial portraiture to contemporary installations. The collection began in 1829 when British scientist John Vance bequeathed his art to the United States, making this the country's first federal art collection. The museum occupies the historic Patent Office Building, which once housed Abraham Lincoln's inaugural ball and served as a Civil War hospital where Walt Whitman nursed wounded soldiers.

The collection includes works by John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, and Mary Cassatt, documenting American artistic achievement across three centuries. The Luce Foundation Center displays 3,300 additional artworks in visible storage with explanatory labels. Works by self-taught artists like James Hampton's The Throne of the Third Heaven provide counterpoints to academic traditions. The Renwick Gallery, the museum's branch for contemporary craft, occupies a separate building near the White House. Entry is free.