Artists Respond American Art and the Vietnam War, 1965-1975

September 29, 2019 - January 5, 2020

Organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, “Artists Respond: American Art and the Vietnam War, 1965­–1975” shows the innovative ways artists talked back, often in the streets and other public venues. The exhibition presents nearly 100 works by 58 of the period’s most visionary, provocative artists.

Now on View

Artists Respond American Art and the Vietnam War, 1965-1975

The Enduring Soul

Storytelling: Julie Buffalohead

Winterlights at the Purcell-Cutts House 2019

Alyssa Baguss: You Were Never Here

The Sabbath Now

A painted indistinct form underneath a black and blue grid pattern.

Speculative Bodies

Worlds in Miniature: Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Minneapolis Institute of Art

Orange, pink, and purple paint overlaying the indistinct shapes of continents such as Africa, Australia, and North America.

Mapping Black Identities

Turkish Rugs on Tudor Walls: 16th-Century Trade between England and the Islamic World

A black, red, and tan linocut of a man stabbing a bull that is charing towards him.

Picasso Cuts the Bull

Romance and Heroism: Theatrical Robes from Late Imperial China

Graciela Iturbide’s Mexico

Artists Reflect: Contemporary Views on the American War

A Weakness for French Prints: The Harry Drake Collection

A large, glazed stoneware sculpture that is a deep blue, and is inspired by branch-like form and slow, rhythmic movement of a type of slime mold.

Living Clay: Artists Respond to Nature

Nguyen Trinh Thi: Fifth Cinema

Color Woodcuts in the Arts and Crafts Era

Rethinking Histories: Works from Mia’s Collection

Strong Women, Full of Love: The Photography of Meadow Muska

A painting of a young girl wearing a pink dress and black hat standing in front of a wall. The wall shows a blue and yellow dragon, and a red background with Chinese characters.

New to Mia: Paintings of All Shapes and Sizes!

A ceramic vase with red circular designs overlain with a white dragon. The vase is wide at the top, and tapers down towards the bottom.

All Flowers in Bloom: Porcelains from China’s Last Dynasty

An antique gray and gold television with rounded corners and a red speaker.

Engineered for Domestic Bliss

Just Imported: Global Trade in 1700s New England

Segment of painted wallpaper including Chinese structures on stilts, with a crowd of people in the front of the painting, and mountains in the background.

Living Rooms | Made in China: The MacFarlane Room Wallpaper