The transversal perspective of naturalist Alexander von Humboldt is now on display in the important retrospective Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
The exhibition, curated by Eleanor Jones Harvey, examines the impact on five areas of American cultural development, particularly during von Humboldt’s stay on the continent: visual arts, science, literature, politics and exploration between 1804 and 1903. The exhibition aims to demonstrate how Humboldt’s ideas are interwoven with the emerging American identity, rooted in an appreciation of landscape. Humboldt is, above all, an example in how his analytical method led him to travel around the world, gradually examining every single aspect of nature, constructing a map that corresponds to what is now defined by the avant-garde term data visualisation. The exhibition includes over one hundred paintings, sculptures, maps and artefacts, as well as a series of online side events which can be viewed from all over the world.
Alexander von Humboldt, Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture
Smithsonian American Art Museum, 18.09 – 03.01.2020
Many lectures are available online, such as lectures from experts from various disciplines. Visit here the website for the complete program. Today’s online encounter, September 23, is with Andrea Wulf, author of The Invention of Nature. Alexander Von Humboldt’s New World, Vintage Book 2016).
