What does 250 years of American art look like? | CNN

How do you capture 250 years of American art in a single exhibition? The task is complex — if not impossible — so the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC turned to its own deep holdings, from iconic artworks to rarely seen works, to commemorate the country’s semiquincentennial this year. “Dear America,” features more than 100 works on paper, including photography, lithographs and artist books, to show a broad view of what it means to be American. Some of the most famous include an Andy Warhol screenprint of Marilyn Monroe, depicting her as both icon and commodity, and Ansel Adams’ timeless image of Wyoming’s shimmering Snake River against the mountainous backdrop of the Tetons, commissioned by the US Department of the Interior in the 1940s. There’s works by Ed Ruscha, Roy Lichtenstein, Faith Ringgold, Gordon Parks, and dozens of photographs of political figures by Richard Avedon. Other artists are lesser known, such as Eunice Pinney, an early 19th-century folk watercolorist who was entirely self-taught, as well as Bernarda Bryson, a printmaker who depicted farmers in New Deal-era art and only gained recognition later in her life. “This exhibition really grew

Apr 13, 2026 → Apr 13, 2026