This monumental painting of Black people at the beach speaks to a dearth of Black figures in the art history canon
Seeing America – topic: Contemporary America
Thomas takes inspiration from both the 1969 moon landing and her backyard garden
Alma Thomas, Lunar Rendezvous—Circle of Flowers
Cartoonish coyotes play on Fonseca's overlapping identities as queer, American, and Indigenous.
Harry Fonseca, Two Coyotes with Flags
Explosions of color signify a landscape, real or imagined
Richard Mayhew, Indigenous Spiritual Space
Lewis leaves behind the figure for abstracted fragments at the end of World War II
Norman Lewis, Untitled
Charles Sebree expresses his inner self in The Mystic.
Representing the inner self: Charles Sebree’s The ...
A monumental solution, rethinking the sculpture of Richmond
Kehinde Wiley, Rumors of War
This federal building inspires discussion over neoclassical architecture's ties to the ideals of democracy and contemporary American politics.
Contemporary politics and classical architecture: Federal Building ...
A conversation that took place on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, just before the last Confederate monument on the boulevard was removed in September 2021
Monument Avenue and the Lost Cause
Taking the name from Toni Morrison's debut novel, this painting's figures and scenes show the clash of innocence and the adult violence of bigotry and hatred
Stefanie Jackson, Bluest Eye
Sue Coe's Aids won't wait, the enemy is here not in Kuwait, 1990
An artist asks: war or healthcare?
Finding heroism amidst one of the world's great environmental disasters.
A desert on fire, Salgado in Kuwait
The majesty of Yosemite National Park — with Roger Minick and the woman with the scarf.
Inspiration at Yosemite
Building the American dream in the California desert.
Framing the American Dream
How can we begin to correct the lies of history? Artist Kenseth Armstead suggests a poetic solution.
Correcting the lies of history
Museum visitors often mistake this sculpture for a real person
Disillusionment in 1970s America
Teraoka draws on Japan's brilliant history of art and kabuki theatre to create beauty from heartrending tragedy
American Kabuki
A viewing station for sunrise and sunset, Turrell’s work manipulates light, time, and perception.
Light, time, and transcendence
Who should be the arbiter of taste—the person on the street, the artist, the courts?
The Culture Wars and Richard Serra’s Tilted ...
Weems confronts identity, family, and the myth of home in this iconic series of photographs.
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