Jan
08

Today in Smithsonian History: January 8, 1969

Johnson and Hirshhorn

President Johnson (far right) congratulates Joseph Hirshhorn at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Hirshhorn Museum.

January 8, 1969 President Lyndon Baines Johnson, Chief Justice of the United States Earl Warren and Smithsonian Secretary S. Dillon Ripley break ground for the new Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden building.

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden was a gift to the nation from the financier and avid collector of modern art, Joseph H. Hirshhorn (1899-1981). Hirshhorn’s collection is best known for its nineteenth and twentieth century sculpture, including the works of Rodin, Picasso, Matisse, Giacometti, Calder and Moore. He also collected widely and enthusiastically from the works of contemporary American painters, including, Thomas Eakins, Willem de Kooning, Raphael Soyer and Larry Rivers.

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Posted: 8 January 2020
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