After 1945 artists such as Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline and Clyfford Still moved into full abstraction. Their breakthroughs led to further developments by painters in the San Francisco Bay area such as Richard Diebenkorn and Nathan Oliveira, as well as Kenneth Noland and Sam Gilliam of the Washington Color School. The most recent works, paintings of the 1990s by Jennifer Bartlett, Eric Fischl and David Hockney, take modern art in still newer directions. Instead, to share its collection the Smithsonian American Art Museum launched the most extensive art tour ever with the American people. The breadth of the itineraries reflects a determination to bring the finest works of art directly to the nation.
Admission is free, and the museum is accessible to persons with disabilities.