awareness and understanding of art through acquisitions, exhi- 

 bitions and publications, research activities, innovative public 

 programs, and the presentation of the collection in its galler- 

 ies and outdoor exhibition spaces. The museum provides a 

 public facility for the exhibition, study, and preservation of 

 19th- and 20th-century art while presenting a spectrum of con- 

 temporary work. 



With the help of various acquisition funds, as well as gifts 

 from generous donors, the museum continued to acquire sig- 

 nificant works by modern and contemporary artists, among 

 them Chuck Close's painting Roy II (1994), Agnes Martin's 

 canvas Untitled #11 (1984), Ana Mendieta's earth sculpture t/w- 

 titled (1984), Roberto Marquez's painting Theater of the World 

 (1988), Juan Mufioz's bronze Conversation Piece (1994-95), an ^ 

 Andy Warhol's silkscreen Self-Portrait (1986). One acquisition 

 that proved particularly popular after its installation on the 

 Sculpture Plaza was Barry Flanagan's eight-foot-high bronze 

 Drummer (1989-90), a whimsical representation of a standing 

 hare banging a drum. 



The 2.7-acre Hirshhorn Museum plaza won a 1995 Federal 

 Design Achievement Award on May 24, 1995. The renovation 

 and landscaping project by James Urban Associates of Annap- 

 olis, Maryland, introduced trees, accessibility features, areas of 

 lawn, and granite flooring to the plaza. Finished in 1993, it 

 was among 77 designs chosen from more than 400 federal pro- 

 jects completed between 1984 and 1994. 



The Hirshhorn's exhibition program highlighted contem- 

 porary artists with growing international reputations. Open- 

 ing on November 3, 1994 (and continuing through January 

 29, 1995) was the first East Coast showing of "Bruce Nau- 

 man," a 30-year retrospective of some 60 works by this cele- 

 brated American artist (b. 1941) that toured from Madrid, 

 Minneapolis, and Los Angeles and was bound for New York 

 and Zurich. Organized by the Walker Art Center in 

 Minneapolis in association with the Hirshhorn, the exhibition 

 included sculpture, photographs, drawings, films, architec- 

 tural environments, holograms, and high-intensity video, 

 neon, and voice installations. 



The challenging nature of the exhibition spurred in-depth 

 public programming. "Floating" docents and an "advice cen- 

 ter" encouraged visitors to articulate and discuss their re- 

 sponses. "Young at Art" programs on November 19 and 

 December 10 focused on a shadow-puppet piece. Four champi- 

 ons of Nauman's art debated his reputation in a December 14 

 panel titled "Nauman Then and Now," and programs of 

 music (by the 20th Century Consort) and film echoed 

 Nauman's influences. In addition, the second annual Mordes 

 Lecture in Contemporary Art, sponsored by collectors Dr. Mar- 

 vin and Elayne Mordes of Baltimore, brought the renowned 

 New York-based critic Peter Schjeldahl to the Hirshhorn on 

 December 4 to discuss Nauman's achievement. Publications 

 accompanying the exhibition included a free gallery handout 

 and a 215-page, richly illustrated softcover catalogue by exhibi- 

 tion co-curators Neal Benezra, Director of Public Programs 

 and Chief Curator at the Hirshhorn, and Kathy Halbreich, Di- 



rector of the Walker, plus rwo guest essays. A 392-page hard- 

 cover edition featured a catalogue raisonne. Support for the 

 Washington presentation of "Bruce Nauman" was provided 

 by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lehrman and the Lannan Foundation. 



After the Nauman show closed, large-scale exhibitions at 

 the Hirshhorn ceased for nearly four months to allow for ex- 

 tensive renovations to the second floor. The schedule resumed 

 from June 14 to September 10, 1995, with "Sean Scully: 

 Twenty Years, 1976-1995," which launched its international 

 tour at the Hirshhorn. Organized by former Hirshhorn Chief 

 Curator Ned Rifkin, now Director of the High Museum of 

 Art in Atlanta, the retrospective charted the evocative abstract 

 imagery of this Irish-born American artist (b. 1945) with more 

 than 60 paintings and works on paper. After its Washington 

 showing, it traveled to the High Museum, the organizing in- 

 stitution (October 10, 1995-January 7, 1996), and then to Bar- 

 celona, Dublin, and Frankfurt. Public programs included 

 "Sean Scully: A Dialogue," a slide-illustrated conversation be- 

 tween Rifkin and the artist on June 14; "Summer Abstrac- 

 tions," a "Young at Art" family workshop to make geometric 

 images, on July 15; and a 40-minute interview video in the 

 Orientation Theater. A fully illustrated, three-essay, 160-page 

 catalogue was published by Thames and Hudson. 



The Directions series of one-gallery shows during the year 

 offered three distinct installments underscoring the vitality of 

 contemporary art. "Directions — Gary Simmons," presented 

 November 17 to February 12, 1994, featured cartoon-derived 

 chalk images on ten panels and a lo-by-37-foot gallery wall 

 created by this New York-based artist (b. 1964). The drawings 

 on green or black chalkboard-like surfaces — half-erased, frag- 

 mentary, or in motion — showed images and objects gleaned 

 mostly from cartoons of the 1930s and 1940s starring Bosko, a 

 now-largely-forgotten, race-specific character. The exhibition, 

 organized by Assistant Curator Amada Cruz, marked the sec- 

 ond solo show in a museum for Simmons. 



"Directions — Cindy Sherman: Film Stills," presented 

 March 15 to June 25, 1995, marked the first complete showing 

 of a formative series for this New York-based artist (b. 1954) 

 known for her evocatively staged, self-posed photographs. The 

 69 black-and-white photographs of 1977-80, echoing the at- 

 mosphere and imagery of American and European movies 

 from the late 1940s through early 1960s, featured an imagin- 

 ary woman — always the artist herself, in make-up and 

 costume — variously displaying vulnerability, anxiety, self- 

 consciousness, or fear. The exhibition, organized by Associate 

 Curator Phyllis Rosenzweig, was accompanied by a free bro- 

 chure illustrating the entire series in contact-sheet format. 



"Directions — Martin Kippenberger: Works on Paper," pre- 

 sented from July 20 through October 22, 1995, featured more 

 than 50 drawings on hotel stationery and collages by this Ger- 

 man artist (b. 1954) dating from the 1980s and 1990s. Statio- 

 nery mostly from European hotels showed a colorful pastiche 

 of styles, figures, portraits, images of objects, imaginary 

 scenes, and references to high art and pop culture. The nine 

 collages on view superimposed photographic and text frag- 



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