Archives of American Art

Art

When Painter Clyfford Still Sent Rubber Underpants to a Pulitzer Prize-Winning Female Art Critic

In 1952, years before she won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism, art critic Emily Genauer received a pair of rubber underpants in the mail — the kind of underpants babies wore before the advent of disposable diapers.

Books

See the Smithsonian Archive's Collection of Artists' Handwritten Letters

Whatever skeptics may say about the pseudoscience of graphology (handwriting analysis), it’s hard to deny that handwriting expresses feeling and style — especially, in many cases, when it’s the handwriting of an artist. Georgia O’Keeffe’s bold, squiggly lines and lack of punctuation ignored conventi

Art

Snapshots of 20th-Century Artists Living Life

There's something delightful about seeing famous artists in settings completely unrelated to their art.

Art

The Illustrated Correspondence of Artists

Before people were dropping GIFs into Gmail, letter writers were adding illustrations for that emotional or contextual punch.

Art

From Poseurs to Pros: Artists and Their Models

The model is the message in Artists and Their Models, an exhibition currently on view at the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art in Washington.