Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden: The Collection
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In anticipation of its 50th anniversary, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden presents the most substantial account of the national museum of modern art since its opening in 1974. Highlighting the Hirshhorn’s extraordinary holdings of masterworks—painting, sculpture, photography, prints and works on paper, film and video, installation, performance art, and mixed-media assemblage—Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden: The Collection includes entries by the Hirshhorn’s curators, artists, and scholars illuminating more than 400 artworks drawn from the more than 12,000 objects in the Hirshhorn’s permanent collection. Fifty entries are activated with award-winning Hirshhorn Eye (Hi) technology, delivering artist and curator videos straight to users’ smartphones via image-recognition software.
“The release of the Hirshhorn’s collection book is a landmark achievement. By framing the trajectory of our collection over almost 50 years in 268 profiles, 500 images, and 50 videos, we connect our audience with the art, artists, and ideas of our time in radical fashion,” says Hirshhorn director Melissa Chiu. “I’m proud to see our collection spring to life like never before—a fresh, scholarly account enhanced by the exclusive video encounters with artists made possible by our Hirshhorn Eye technology, all in the spirit of our visitor experience.” This dynamic engagement serves up memorable offerings from visionaries such as Mark Bradford, Lorna Simpson, and Ed Atkins. “By connecting Museum visitors and our readers at home directly with artists, Hirshhorn Eye is an essential element of our museum experience,” says Chiu.
In addition to deep dives into collection highlights, the books explores the making of the collection, the Hirshhorn’s architecture, and the evolution of the Sculpture Garden. Comprising over 400 full-color pages of text, images, and artist and curatorial commentary, the hardback is divided into seven chapters revealing the global, multivoiced, and varied story of the Hirshhorn’s collection. Artists including Huma Bhabha, Cecily Brown, Loie Hollowell, Wangechi Mutu, Aliza Nisenbaum, Nicolas Party, and Hank Willis Thomas contribute perspectives on the Hirshhorn’s world-class holdings. Featured artists include Doug Aitken, John Akomfrah, Josef Albers, Karel Appel, Ed Atkins, Robert Barry, Constantin Brancusi, Nicolas de Staël, Marcel Duchamp, Thomas Eakins, Nicole Eisenman, Sam Francis, Paul Gauguin, Camille Henrot, Barbara Hepworth, Arthur Jafa, Jasper Johns, Jennie C. Jones, Donald Judd, On Kawara, Oskar Kokoschka, Alicja Kwade, Teresa Margolles, Henri Matisse, Joan Mitchell, Kent Monkman, Aliza Nisenbaum, Nicolas Party, Sondra Perry, Christina Quarles, Deborah Roberts, Auguste Rodin, Frances Stark, Hito Steyerl, Paul Thek, Cy Twombly, Lee Ufan, Charline von Heyl, and Kiyan Williams, among many others.
