This exhibition reveals how the influential naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) shaped American perceptions of nature and the way American cultural identity became grounded in our relationship with the environment.

Chapter 1 0:00 Who was Alexander von Humboldt? Curator Eleanor Jones Harvey introduces us to the Prussian naturalist.


Chapter 2 8:22 How did natural monuments become symbols of America’s cultural identity and subjects for Hudson River School painter Frederic Church?


Chapter 3 14:32 Humboldt’s abolitionist ideas influenced American art and culture and President Lincoln’s creation of Yosemite as a natural monument to a post Civil War society.


Chapter 4 18:31 Learn how Humboldt’s strong belief in the equality of races extended to all of the Americas and inspired paintings of Native Americans by George Catlin and others.


Chapter 5 25:01 Humboldt’s circle included artist and inventor Samuel Morse, and James Smithson who would be influenced by the naturalist in the founding of the Smithsonian.


Chapter 6 31:13 Humboldt’s ideas are reflected in the Smithsonian’s mission and in Frederic Church’s Aurora Borealis with its emphasis on science, nature, and the interconnectedness of all things.



 "Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture" is organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum with generous support from:

Joanne and Richard Brodie
Billings and John Cay
Fern and Hersh Cohen
Sheila Duignan and Mike Wilkins
Marie M. Halff
Liliane A. and Christian W. E. Haub
Raymond J. and Margaret Horowitz Endowment
Kandeo Asset Management
Maureen and Gene Kim
LATAM Trade Capital
Robert Lehman Foundation
Henry Luce Foundation
The Lunder Foundation — Peter and Paula Lunder Family
Provost of the Smithsonian
Lucy S. Rhame
Holly and Nick Ruffin
Jacquelyn and William Sheehan
Smithsonian Scholarly Studies Awards
Terra Foundation for American Art
Kelly Williams and Andrew Forsyth

This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the
Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.


Lenders to the Exhibition:

Albany Institute of History and Art
American Philosophical Society
Autry Museum of the American West
Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Archiv
Boston Athenæum
Cincinnati Art Museum
The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
Concord Free Public Library
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Detroit Institute of Arts
Établissement public du château, du musée et du domaine national de Versailles
The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia
George Glazer Gallery
Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt
Robert W. Hoge and Immaculada Socias Hoge
Independence National Historic Park
Joslyn Art Museum
Library of Congress
Maryland Historical Society
Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
National Gallery of Art
National Gallery of Art Library
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
The New-York Historical Society
New York State Museum
Mr. and Mrs. Robert F. Norfleet Jr.
Olana State Historic Site, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Smithsonian Libraries
Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History
Sons of the Revolution in the State of California
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie
Terra Foundation for American Art
The Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello
Timken Museum of Art
Alan V. Weinberg
and one Private Lender