Hirshhorn Museum

The Hirshhorn Museum, in Washington

The Hirshhorn Museum is the museum of modern and contemporary art of the Smithsonian, recognisable by its astonishing circular building. The Washington audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this temple of creation from the twentieth century to our days, on the National Mall.

The museum of modern art with the circular building

It is in 1930 that the project of building a museum of modern art on the National Mall came into being. It would however only be inaugurated many decades later, in the 1970s, thanks to the donation to the nation of the exceptional art collection of a rich financier and collector, Joseph Hirshhorn, who gave his name to the museum. The Hirshhorn Museum is the museum of modern and contemporary art of the Smithsonian, and it stands out at once by its bold architecture: a vast circular concrete building, placed on pillars, that resembles an immense cylinder or a ring suspended above an interior courtyard adorned with a fountain. This modern and original form contrasts with the classical buildings of the Mall. Inside and in its sculpture garden, the museum presents a rich collection of modern and contemporary art: paintings, sculptures, installations and works of the greatest artists of the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Entry there is free, in the tradition of the Smithsonian. A temple of modern art and an architectural jewel, the Hirshhorn Museum is a fine stop of the discovery of Washington.

What to see

You admire the museum of modern and contemporary art of the Smithsonian, born from a project of 1930 and inaugurated in the 1970s thanks to the donation of the collector Joseph Hirshhorn, recognisable by its bold circular concrete building placed on pillars; it presents, with free entry, paintings, sculptures and installations of the greatest artists of the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries, as well as a sculpture garden. The Hirshhorn Museum is a temple of modern art in Washington. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The Hirshhorn Museum lies on the National Mall, in Washington, reachable on foot and by public transport. Entry is generally free; the visit of the museum and the sculpture garden follows its own hours and conditions, which vary. It is best to check them before coming.

What is the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington?

The museum of modern and contemporary art of the Smithsonian, born from a project of 1930 and inaugurated in the 1970s thanks to the donation of the collector Joseph Hirshhorn; recognisable by its bold circular concrete building, it presents with free entry paintings, sculptures and installations of the greatest artists of the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries.

Where is the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington?

On the National Mall, in Washington, in the United States.