The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
by Valerie Fletcher
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, located on the National Mall halfway between the Washington Monument and the Capitol, provides a contemplative haven in the heart of a major city. The sixty sculptures displayed here date from the 1880s to the present. Together with landscaped grounds, they form an outdoor museum enjoyed by more than 300,000 visitors each year.
The museum and garden opened in 1974, but their history began decades earlier. The Smithsonian Institution first wanted to establish a national museum of contemporary art in the 1930s, but the Great Depression and World War II interrupted those plans. . . . |
