Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Celebrates Fifty Years of Contemporary Art

(By Elizabeth Tuico) Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden opened its doors on October 4, 1974, after American philanthropist and mining executive Joseph H. Hirshhorn (1899–1981) donated his art collection to the Smithsonian Institution. Located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the Hirshhorn is the national museum of modern and contemporary art.

The museum’s origin began with 6,000 objects donated by the founder in 1966. Contemporary masters filled his collection which included Milton Avery, Stuart Davis, Arshile Gorky, Edward Hopper, Larry Rivers, Willem de Kooning, and Raphael Soyer as well as impressive modern sculptures. The permanent collection features almost 12,000 works by influential artists from the late 19th century to present day. Visitors enjoy a vast array of paintings, sculptures, photographs, mixed‑media installations, works on paper, and new media works. The museum is proud to manage one of the most comprehensive collections of modern sculpture in the world. The Hirshhorn presents diverse exhibitions and offers a variety of public programs —free to all.

To inaugurate its 50th-anniversary season, the museum organized a major survey of artwork called Revolutions: Art from the Hirshhorn Collection, 1860–1960 which is open through April 25, 2025.

Architecture

Gordon Bunshaft (1909-1990), a Pritzker Prize-winning architect and longtime partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) designed the iconic Hirshhorn donut structure. His inspiration was “a large piece of functional sculpture” with a hollow-centered, elevated cylinder that floats above four acres of manicured grounds adorned with large, modern sculptures.

The Hirshhorn sits exactly halfway between the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol, anchoring the southernmost end of the so-called L’Enfant axis. The building is 82 feet high, elevated 14 feet by four massive, sculptural piers. Precast concrete aggregate of Swenson pink granite is the primary building material. The structure remains windowless except for a striking third-floor balcony facing the Mall which the public can enjoy. Curved interior galleries (stretching 60,000 SF over three floors) challenge the visitors’ perspective of the art.

The structure did not garner accolades when it opened in 1974. Paul Goldberger of the New York Times, called it “a gesture of urbanistic arrogance,” while Harold Rosenberg, writing for the New Yorker, com Today, the Hirshhorn Museum is considered a modernist masterpiece.

The structure stands in contrast to the neoclassical architecture that surrounds it. The concrete donut may be Bunshaft’s stylized response to the hard-core Brutalism movement that dominated the Nixon era in Washington, but its bare exterior serves as a blank canvas for artists who want to employ the outer shell. In 2012, Doug Aitken used the building as a movie screen for an art installation. In 2021, a 360-degree scrim designed by Swiss artist Nicolas Party cloaked the outside of the museum during a renovation. The 829-foot-long wrap, based on an original pastel painting, became a popular attraction on the Mall.

In 2022, the museum hired SOM and Selldorf Architects to renovate the building to address aging infrastructure, including fine art storage, vertical transportation, and stormwater management. Today, the sculpture garden rehabilitation is underway.

Collections

Active acquisitions continually add to the collection, with an emphasis on new work and the work of artists exhibiting and collaborating with the museum. The 2017 exhibition of Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrors broke attendance records at the Hirshhorn. Six of Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms alongside a selection of her key works captivated visitors, and perhaps cemented the museum’s cutting-edge status in Washington. Free tickets to this exhibition were hard to come by. (I was lucky enough to go three times. Standing in line for up to an hour to spend 60 seconds in a mirror room was worth the wait.) Nearly 160,000 people visited the exhibition during its three-month run.

My Infinity Mirror Room Selfie

The 2021 retrospective of Laurie Anderson also brought in crowds. The Grammy award–winning musician, performer, writer, and artist, Anderson built her following by combining the traditions of the avant-garde with popular culture. Her installation Four Talks is currently on displa.

Laurie Anderson at the #Hirshhorn

A leading voice for contemporary art and culture, the museum promotes a global platform for the art and artists of our time. Modern art remains polarizing: you either love it or you don’t. What I respect about the Hirshhorn’s vision is that they go for it – the curators don’t try to pander to folks who do not enjoy this kind of art. The programs are bold and designed for contemporary art lovers, and not necessarily the masses. (Visitors can head to the National Gallery of Art for that.)

The museum formed a new group called the Collections Acquisitions Council, who research and acquire contemporary works of art, including emerging artists. Global Modernism remains a focus, and recent additions include works by Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Natsuyuki Nakanishi, and Park Seo-bo. New African American artists represented in the collection include Charles Gaines, Jennie C. Jones, and Senga Nengudi.

Events

Be sure to check out the events at the Hirshhorn. Over the years, I have attended sound baths in the galleries, participated in supervised drawing classes, listened to music in the auditorium, and enjoyed virtual and in-person lectures. Looking for some drawing inspiration? Get free instructions from the Hirshhorn’s DRAW YouTube channel.

The Hirshhorn Ball usually occurs in the early fall. This signature event is a one-of-a-kind costume party that unites artists and art lovers of all ages. Cocktails, a costume contest, and dancing on the museum’s outdoor plaza bring out hundreds of supporters.

Details

The museum is open daily (except December 25) from 10 am to 5:30 pm. The plaza and sculpture garden open at 7:30 am, with the plaza closing at 5:30 pm and the sculpture garden closing at dusk. Admission is free. Lockers are available near the gift shop at the lower level.

You can access the free in-gallery mobile guide known as the Hirshhorn Eye by visiting hi.si.edu on your phone’s browser.

Elizabeth Tuico owns Rebel Road Creative. She often writes about buildings for her A/E/C clients.