Take a virtual tour of the latest D.C. museum art exhibits right from your desktop or mobile device.
The District and many neighboring states have stay-at-home orders in effect. That doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the latest art exhibits and new attractions, however. Virtual art-gazing has come to your service.
The Hirshhorn Museum, the National Gallery, and other Smithsonian art museums have started virtual viewings through social media sites like Instagram and YouTube. And you don’t even have to get off the sofa or put on pants.
Hirshhorn Museum
The highly anticipated Yayoi Kusama exhibit, “One with Eternity,” was supposed to open in March at the Hirshhorn Museum. It is a follow-up to her popular “Infinity Mirrors” series, but it has been postponed indefinitely, so you may still get a chance to see it in person. This collection includes one of her earliest pieces Phalli’s Field (which is now in the Hirshhorn’s permanent collection).
To see “Infinity Mirrors,” which will eventually open at the Broad Museum in Los Angeles, check out The Broad’s Instagram TV channel.
National Gallery of Art
Visit the National Gallery of Art on Instagram for close-ups, descriptions, and curator comments on paintings by John Singer Sargent, Raphael, Georgia O’Keefe, Sir Edwin Landseer, Van Gogh, and many more. “Tours” are led by associate curators.
National Museum of African Art
The National Museum of African Art has several online exhibitions on collections such as contemporary women artists, water in African art, and heroes.
National Portrait Gallery
The National Portrait Gallery has been updating their Instagram channel with portraits and personalities from their walls. They’re currently doing a fun series on National Pet Month that features royalty, athletes, celebrities, and other notables posing with their pets. Check out the Instagram “take-over” by prominent photographers like Mary McCartney.
The Phillips
Part of Black Artists and European Modernists, the “Riffs and Relations” exhibit opened two weeks before the Phillips shut down. It explores the relation between black visual artists and white European modernists in the 20th and 21st centuries. Check out the Phillips YouTube video series for a tour of the exhibit as well as stories about the key artists. One of the museum’s permanent collections, Jacob Lawrence’s “Migration Series,” can also be seen.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
“Hearts of our People” opened at the Native Women Artists at SAAM in February and was scheduled to close in May and move on to its next tour stop. Currently, no details are known about its next stop. You can still take a virtual tour of the exhibit or view the SAAM’s Instagram channel for even more American art, textiles, and sculpture.
Have you visited any of these online art exhibitions? Let us know in the comments.