March 24 in Art History
4 real events recorded on March 24, the earliest from 1688. 2 artists were born on this date.
The day's biggest moments
Born on this day 2
- 1688 Born
Born this day: John Smibert
John Smibert, a Scottish-born painter, was born on March 24, 1688, and is notable for his portrait paintings, marking him as the first academically trained artist to work in British America. His works, such as 'Mrs. Francis Brinley and Her Son Francis' and 'Francis Brinley', showcase his skill in capturing likenesses.
John Smibert's legacy lies in his role as a pioneering figure in American art, bringing academic training to the British American art scene.
- 1862 Born
Born this day: Frank Weston Benson
Frank Weston Benson, an American artist, was born on March 24, 1862. He is known for his Realistic portraits and American Impressionist paintings, watercolors, and etchings, often depicting his daughters outdoors and wildfowl. Benson's work showcases his ability to capture serene moments in nature.
Benson's contributions to American art, particularly in Impressionism, remain significant to this day.
Exhibitions & salons 1
- 2002 Exhibition
Barnett Newman Retrospective Opens in Philadelphia
On March 24, 2002, the Philadelphia Museum of Art opened Barnett Newman, a major retrospective organized with Tate Modern and on view in Philadelphia through July 7 before traveling to London. The museum described the show as assembling more than 100 works that had not been seen together in over 30 years, tracing Newman's path from Surrealist-influenced drawings to the vertical 'zip' paintings and late shaped canvases. The exhibition placed key works such as Onement I, The Stations of the Cross, and Broken Obelisk in a broad career narrative, with important loans from the National Gallery of Art, the Menil Collection, and the Museum of Modern Art. For a painter whose reputation grew slowly during his lifetime, the exhibition helped consolidate a new phase of Newman scholarship.
The retrospective renewed institutional and scholarly attention to Newman as a central figure of postwar abstraction.
Openings & foundings 1
- 1937 Founding Landmark
Congress Establishes the National Gallery of Art
On March 24, 1937, Andrew W. Mellon's birthday, an Act of Congress accepted Mellon's proposed gift of an old-master collection and construction funds, authorizing a new National Gallery of Art on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The act transformed a private collecting project into a national museum built around free public access, public-private governance, and a collection meant to rival European national galleries. The new institution also inherited the name previously used by the Smithsonian's art gallery, which was later renamed the National Collection of Fine Arts and is now the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Although the West Building did not open until 1941, the March 24 congressional act was the legal and institutional foundation for one of the United States' central art museums.
The act created a durable model for a free national art museum supported by federal stewardship and private gifts.