Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden Reopens October 31: 60 Artworks on View After Four-Year Revitalization, Up 50 Percent
The Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., will reopen to the public on Saturday, October 31, at the end of a four-year revitalization, the Hirshhorn Museum has announced. An opening celebration runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. that day, with the garden itself opening at 11 a.m.; admission is free. The museum stands at Independence Ave SW and 7th St SW.
The redesigned garden covers 1.3 acres and will display 60 artworks, a 50 percent increase over its previous installation, set among nearly 30,000 newly planted trees and plants. Twenty-four of the works are major pieces from Joseph H. Hirshhorn's foundational gift. When the garden first opened in 1974 it showed 52 artworks drawn from Hirshhorn's gift to the nation of more than 2,000 sculptures; of the 60 works now on view, 39 come from the founding donor's personal collection, including 21 that were installed in 1974.
Architect and artist Hiroshi Sugimoto redesigned the garden with deep respect for Gordon Bunshaft's original modernist design, introducing dry-stacked stone walls hand-hewn from 950 tons of stone to define the outdoor galleries. The garden now has five entry points, including a wider front door on the National Mall, and Sugimoto's plan restores Bunshaft's long-closed underground passageway, reconnecting the garden with the museum plaza; new east and west overlooks have also been added.
In the East Garden, visitors will find Rodin's "The Burghers of Calais" and "Monument to Balzac," Matisse's bronze relief series "The Backs I-IV" (1909-1931), five sculptures by Henry Moore and two by Barbara Hepworth. Contemporary works include Yoko Ono's "Wish Tree for Washington, DC," and the West Lawn will host the inaugural exhibition "Yoshitomo Nara: Sentinels of Stillness." On opening day, artists Raven Halfmoon, Yoshitomo Nara, Chatchai Puipia and Pedro Reyes will give pop-up talks about their sculptures.
"The revitalization of the Sculpture Garden marks the most significant rethinking of our campus since the Hirshhorn opened in 1974," said Hirshhorn Director Melissa Chiu. The Hirshhorn, the national museum of modern and contemporary art and part of the Smithsonian, is free to all visitors.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Hirshhorn 雕塑园东花园改造效果图，可见罗丹《加莱义民》、干砌石墙与《巴尔扎克纪念碑》。DarcStudio 绘，Hirshhorn 博物馆官方发布图／Rendering of the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden's East Garden, showing Rodin's Burghers of Calais, the dry-stacked stone walls and the Monument to Balzac. Rendering by DarcStudio, courtesy of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (official release image).
