Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Announces 312 New Acquisitions During 50th Anniversary Year
The Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden announced 312 new acquisitions in 2025 during its 50th anniversary year, expanding strengths in photography, mixed media, and contemporary American visual culture. Director Melissa Chiu said the additions reflect multi-year priorities and relationship-driven gifts, including works by Lorna Simpson, Mickalene Thomas, Marilyn Minter, Adam Pendleton, and Mark Bradford. A major component is a promised multi-year gift from collectors Doug and Toni Gordon: 176 works forming the foundation of an archive for Pendleton’s works on paper, including spray-paint studies and screen-printed compositions made between 2019 and 2023. The acquisitions also include documentary photography by Graciela Iturbide and Danny Lyon, nine Ezra Stoller photographs of the museum’s 1974 opening, and a group of 13 contemporary Chinese works building on the Hirshhorn’s 2022 exhibition “A Window Suddenly Opens.”
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This story was covered in Blue Pools, Stolen Jewels, and Museum Power Plays