New Acquisitions

Newsroom of the Smithsonian
Museum gallery with curved walls painted black and white writing and drawings all over the.

Installation view of “Four Talks” at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 2021. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Ron Blunt.

Hirshhorn Acquires 175 Artworks, Expanding the Full Breadth of Modern and Contemporary Art in Its 50th Year
2024 Additions Include Works by More Than 60 Rising and Canonical Artists Including Laurie Anderson, Theaster Gates, Nancy Holt, Rashid Johnson, Mika Rottenberg and Dread Scott
01.27.2025
Hirshhorn Museum New Acquisitions
Giant panda Bao Li in China

Male giant panda Bao Li in his habitat at Shenshuping Base in Wolong, China, May 16. (Photo credit: Roshan Patel, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.)

Giant Pandas Arrive at Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute From China
Bao Li and Qing Bao Will Make Their Public Debut Jan. 24, 2025
10.15.2024
National Zoo Exhibitions Public Programs New Acquisitions
Older man in a suit sits at a round table with younger kids looking at microscope.

Lemelson believed that education was key to helping the US regain its place at the top of innovation and creativity in the world. In 1993, he and his wife Dorothy started the Lemelson Foundation to support educational initiatives to attract young people to science and invention. © Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Welcomes Papers of the Late Jerome H. Lemelson
Papers Documenting Lemelson’s Inventions Join the National Museum of American History’s Archival Collections
09.24.2024
American History Museum New Acquisitions
Image of an outfit on mannequin, blue leather jacket with black shirt and jeans, and police badge.
“Law & Order SVU” Threads of Justice Find a Place at the Smithsonian
National Museum of American History Collects TV’s Capt. Olivia Benson Costume
09.09.2024
American History Museum New Acquisitions
Image or red jersey with number 17 and name Ohtani across back.
New Donations to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History
Objects From Titanic, “HAIR,” Sports Achievements and Computing, Electricity and Recycling Innovations Added to Collections
09.03.2024
American History Museum New Acquisitions
Black and white photograph of a woman wearing dark dress and white head wrap, in a small book-like frame.

Dolley Madison by John Plumbe Jr., quarter-plate daguerreotype, c. 1846.

National Portrait Gallery Acquires Earliest Known Photograph of a US First Lady
c. 1846 Daguerreotype of Dolley Madison Joins First Known Photograph of US President
07.01.2024
Portrait Gallery New Acquisitions
A grid of individual photos of small badges, various shapes and colors, in rows.

Collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, Partial Gift of Harry S. Hutchins, Jr. DDS, Col. (Ret.) and his Family, dedicated to the individuals these Slave Hire Badges represent and their descendants.

National Museum of African American History and Culture Acquires Largest Collection of Charleston Slave Badges
New Collection Available To View Online at the Searchable Museum
06.17.2024
African American Museum New Acquisitions
Black and white fluffy panda bear sits on wood trunks with green leaves in background.

Two-year-old male giant panda Bao Li in his habitat at Shenshuping Base in Wolong, China, May 16. Roshan Patel, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.

Two New Giant Pandas Coming to Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute From China by End of the Year
New 10-Year Research and Breeding Agreement Signed
05.29.2024
National Zoo Research News New Acquisitions
Image of a drone with split wings, in gray and blue paint.

Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, Mark Avino.

National Air and Space Museum Welcomes Star Wars X-wing Outfitted Boeing CV2 Cargo Air Vehicle
New Artifact Will Be Displayed at the Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
05.03.2024
Air and Space Museum New Acquisitions
Small handheld watch with gold rim, roman numerals, and slim hands.
National Museum of American History Acquires Gold Pocket Watch Owned by Philanthropist and Businessman Julius Rosenwald
05.01.2024
American History Museum New Acquisitions
A woman with short white hair, black top and white apron stands on a kitchen with a stove and various utensils.

Marcella Hazan, courtesy of Victor Hazan.

National Museum of American History Acquires Marcella Hazan Culinary Tools
2024 Marks the Centennial of Influential Chef Who Taught America To Cook Italian
04.15.2024
American History Museum New Acquisitions
Multicolored quilt with repeating patterns and large blue square in center.

Unidentified Maker​​, Crazy Star; ca. 1920​​, Arthur, Illinois​​, cotton and wool; 74 x 63 ½ in. (detail), Collection of Faith and Stephen Brown, Promised gift to the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

New Exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum Examines Traditional and Innovative Designs by Amish Women Quilters
Presentation Features Recent Gift From Collectors Faith and Stephen Brown
03.27.2024
American Art Museum Exhibitions New Acquisitions
Sculpture of small figures in a row raising flat stone above their heads.

Do Ho Suh (b. 1962, South Korea) “Public Figures” (detail), 1998–2023, Jesmonite, aluminum, polyester resin. Credit: Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Seoul and London.

National Museum of Asian Art Announces “Do Ho Suh: Public Figures”
First New Sculpture To Be Displayed Outside the Museum in Three Decades, Ushering in Museum’s Second Century
03.14.2024
Asian Art Museum New Acquisitions
Close-up photograph of gold surface with bumpy texture and repeating pattern.

Embossed gold jar (detail), Ōnuma Chihiro (b. 1950), Japan, Shōwa era, 1988, hammered copper with amalgam gilding (kinkeshi), National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Bequest of Shirley Z. Johnson, S2022.8.37a–c Copyright Ōnuma Chihiro.

National Museum of Asian Art Announces Its Newly Acquired Shirley Z. Johnson Collection of Contemporary Japanese Metalwork
Objects From This Unprecedented Gift Will Be on View in the Upcoming Exhibition “Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork”
02.26.2024
Exhibitions New Acquisitions
Photograph of an aerial device with two propellers on the top.
“Ingenuity Mars Helicopter” Prototype Joins the National Air and Space Museum Collection
12.15.2023
Air and Space Museum New Acquisitions
Woman in long, silky purple dress holds an olive branch while standing in a garden with a large tree branch in the background.

Credit: Oprah Winfrey by Shawn Michael Warren, oil on linen, 2023. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. Acquired through the generosity of Tommie L. Pegues and Donald A. Capoccia; Taylor and Wemimo Abbey; Anonymous; Deon Jones and Cameron J. Ross; Lisa Opoku and Loki Muthu; Mack Wilbourn; Charles Young and Andrea Wishom Young.

National Portrait Gallery Reveals a Newly Commissioned Portrait of Oprah Winfrey by Chicago-Based Artist Shawn Michael Warren
On View Beginning Dec. 13
12.13.2023
Portrait Gallery New Acquisitions
Five screens with digital images against black backdrop and red carpet floor.

Installation view, Isaac Julien: “Lessons of the Hour,” SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, Sept. 24–Dec. 15, 2019. Copyright Isaac Julien, courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro. Image courtesy of SCAD.

Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery Acquire Visionary Film Installation “Lessons of the Hour” by Isaac Julien
First Joint Acquisition Between the Two Smithsonian Museums Debuts in Washington, D.C., Friday, Dec. 8
11.02.2023
American Art Museum Portrait Gallery New Acquisitions
Handwritten manuscript pages

Ocean Manuscript poem by Phillis Wheatley, 1773. Credit: Collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. 

National Museum of African American History and Culture Acquires Major Collection of Work Attributed to Poet Phillis Wheatley Peters
New Objects Are Available Online in Celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the Publication of Wheatley Peters’ Poems, Including the Only Copy of the Poet’s Long-Lost “Ocean” Poem in Her Handwriting
10.10.2023
African American Museum New Acquisitions
Portrait of older Black woman holding white twigs

Betye Saar by Michele Mattei, inkjet print, 2012 (printed 2018). National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

Copyright 2003 Michele Mattei.

National Portrait Gallery Premieres More Than 20 Newly Acquired Portraits and Two New Commissions in “Recent Acquisitions”
On View Nov. 3–Oct. 27, 2024
10.06.2023
Portrait Gallery New Acquisitions
Brown beer bottle with Anchor Steam lable
National Museum of American History Acquires Objects and Archives From America’s First Microbrewery
Historic Anchor Brewing Co. Donates Collection to the Museum
09.29.2023
American History Museum New Acquisitions
Black and white photo of Byron Lewis, sitting at half-moon-shaped desk
Smithsonian Adds Collections From Byron Lewis, Groundbreaking Advertising Entrepreneur and Executive
Donation Highlights Advertising Pioneer and Civil Rights Activist
09.28.2023
American History Museum New Acquisitions
Screenshot of newborn cheetah cubs with their mother

Animal care staff at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, welcomed a litter of five cheetah cubs to second-time mother Echo Sept. 12.  Image courtesy Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

Litter of Five Cheetah Cubs Are Born at Front Royal Campus, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute
Viewers Can Watch Lots of Spots on Cheetah Cub Cam
09.21.2023
National Zoo New Acquisitions
Congressional Gold Medal

Congressional Gold Medal. Photo by Jaclyn Nash.

Smithsonian Continues Collecting Artifacts From Jan. 6 Capitol Attack
Congressional Medal for the Jan. 6 Defenders, Photographs, Law Enforcement Gear and Personal Effects Added to National Museum of American History’s Collections
08.21.2023
American History Museum New Acquisitions
Composite photo of infant gorilla and adult gorlla

Left: Newborn gorilla cradled by mother Calaya, a 20-year-old female western lowland gorilla. She gave birth to her second offspring May 27 at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. (Photo by Valerie Schultz, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute)

Right: Calaya, a 20-year-old female western lowland gorilla, gave birth to her second offspring May 27 at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.(Photo by Skip Brown, Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute)

Western Lowland Gorilla Born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute
05.30.2023
Conservation Biology Institute National Zoo Exhibitions New Acquisitions Administrative News

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