Martin Puryear, Connecting, model, stainless steel, wood, paint, 50 x 68 1/4 x 68 1/4 in., 2016. Photo Poll Bravo, courtesy of the Frary Gallery, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center.
In the decade or so following the end of World War II, Americans were tremendously buoyed by their victory in the war, a victory that had saved Europe from the Nazi regime and gave the comparatively young nation a new sense of itself. What can only be described as a widespread surge of patriotism in the country became evident in every aspect of society, including the arts. It can be seen in every medium, from the visual arts to dance, music—even nascent television. American themes and imagery were increasingly popular, while artists looked for specifically American sources for their work, including in American Indian arts and culture. The latter would culminate in the exhibition Indian Art of the United States at the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 1949 that deeply affected the work of many.[1]
It became increasingly important to find ways to project the cultural excellence of the United States overseas that was flourishing in its democratic system of government—of particular significance in countering Soviet propaganda during the Cold War. In August 1953 President Eisenhower established the United States Information Agency (USIA) with the mission of “telling America’s story.” Known as USIS (US Information Service) abroad, until 1999 the agency had offices in our embassies around the world, handling cultural exchanges of all kinds, libraries and media.[2]
Also in 1953, MoMA formed an International Council to manage exhibitions of American visual art around the world. Ten years later this initiative would be formalized as the “Art in Embassies Program” at the Department of State that still operates today, creating rotating exhibitions of modern and contemporary art. [3]
Finally, in 1986, four women came together to establish the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE). Their goal was, and is, to continue and increase the use of art in diplomacy, reflecting the ongoing belief that the visual arts are the best representation of American cultural attainment abroad. [4]
Curated by Jack Shear, widower of Ellsworth Kelly, in collaboration with the staff of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center in Washington DC and many loaning participants, the exhibition Artistic Generosity and the American Artist Abroad is currently on view in the Frary Gallery at the Center. It is a fascinating window on the activities of FAPE in bringing American art to US embassies around the world. FAPE is a private/public partnership with “Art in Embassies,” but commissions artists to create or receives works of art in painting, sculpture, prints and photographs for permanent installation in embassies as gifts, “serving as silent ambassadors, bridging cultures and fostering mutual understanding.”[5] In a time when there is so much division, suspicion and uncertainty, this sensitively installed exhibit recalls the importance of cultural diplomacy on the world stage.
Entering the Gallery, the viewer is met with a large platform on which is a model made by Martin Puryear in 2016 of his 31 foot-high stainless steel sculpture, Connecting, commissioned by FAPE as a gift for the new US Embassy in Beijing. Installed in 2018, the arch is high enough to be seen by the public outside the Embassy compound.
The shape of the arch, sweeping through space but grounded at each end, recalls the curves of Puryear’s line drawings, or the silhouette of his wood sculptures. His carved wooden figure was placed on the platform providing an idea of the scale of the actual work, and representing the Beijing public considering it.
Not surprisingly, a number of works in the show have a color scheme of red, white and blue. Behind Puryear’s model (see the photo above) are four works, three (from left to right) are Ed Ruscha’s lithograph Column with Speed Lines (2003), James Rosenquist’s lithograph Stars and Stripes at the Speed of Light (2000) and Tina Barney’s photo Color Guard (2007) featuring three children in costume holding American flags. In between these are two black and white photos.
Richard Benson, Shaw Monument, pigment print, 22 x 27 in., 1972 (2013). Photo courtesy of the Frary Gallery, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center.
On the left is Richard Benson’s exquisite 1972 (2013) framing of a portion of The Shaw Monument in the National Gallery of Art. The relief, by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, memorialized the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, the first comprised of African Americans, commanded by Col. Robert Shaw in the Battle of Fort Wagner in 1863. His photo captures the sense of the sculpture, described as expressing “the ultimate unity of Black and White America.”[6]
Carrie Mae Weems, Echoes For Marian, digital C-print, 43 ¼ x 37 ¼ in, 2014. Photo courtesy of the Frary Gallery, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center.
On the right is Carrie Mae Weems stunning 2014 photo Echoes For Marian acquired by FAPE for the Department of State. A tall Black woman in a black dress stands dramatically silhouetted on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The image and the title allude to Marian Anderson, the Black opera singer, who, denied performance at the DAR auditorium in 1939, sang on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to over 75,000 people. Weems has made a series of prints related to Benson’s photo in a new installation at the National Gallery.[7]
Joel Grey, The Statue of Liberty, pigment print, 53 x 35 in., (c. 1999), 2023. Photo courtesy of the Frary Gallery, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center.
To the left of this complex is Joel Grey’s large and evocative photograph The Statue of Liberty. The photographer is the same Joel Grey everyone knows as the Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret, a multitalented artist who compared photography to the theater, saying:
[It’s] sort of like the stage—quick moments of a life that are gone the minute you take your own eyes away and the curtain comes down.
The photo shows the famous monument in deep fog, seemingly isolated on the water as though its pedestal were floating. It was probably taken from the Staten Island ferry moving either toward the statue or moving away from it. Fittingly, perhaps in memory of the many Irish immigrants, it was gifted to the American Consulate in Belfast, and again in 2023 to our embassy in Ottawa, Canada.
Ellsworth Kelly, Model for Beijing Panels, painted aluminum panels on painted wood, 2003. Photo courtesy of the Frary Gallery, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center.
To the right is Ellsworth Kelly’s maquette for his Beijing Panels commissioned by FAPE for the new US Embassy in China in 2003. Made in that year is a model for the 18 foot high wall sculpture he designed including panels of red, white and blue to represent the United States. An opening permits viewing on the other side were Kelly made a similar arrangement in red and yellow, representing China. The simple design is elegant, controlled and understated.
Joel Shapiro, Toss-up, screenprint, 40 x 30 in., 2012. Photo courtesy of the Frary Gallery, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center.
Nearby is Joel Shapiro’s companionably simple, but far more energetic screenprint in red, white and blue. It was a gift to FAPE’s print collection from the artist and Gemini G.E.L. There are models in the show for two massive sculptures also commissioned from this artist: one, Now, for the US Consulate in Guangzhou, China and another, Conjunction for the US Embassy in Ottawa, Canada.
Frank Stella, The Symphony, lithograph/screenprint, 79 x 39 in., 1989. Photo courtesy of the Frary Gallery, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center.
In 1989 Frank Stella donated his large lithograph The Symphony to FAPE in an edition large enough for a print to be given to every US Embassy in the world. The lithograph was the first in FAPE’s Original Print collection. The swirling colorful and layered forms are typical of Stella’s move in the ‘80s away from the geometric formalism of his previous work to one of exuberant color, pattern and curving shapes. Any evident relation of its title to the image is hard to see—there doesn’t seem to be anything musical in it. Yet the overall energy of the composition may have suggested a symphony of instruments playing together.
Robert Rauschenberg, Domicile, lithograph, total 41 x 27 in., 1996. Photo courtesy of the Frary Gallery, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center.
Robert Rauschenberg was a long time believer in the social purpose of art, and its potential for cultural diplomacy. It led him to create, spending millions of his own money, the Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Exchange in 1984. Its stated intention was to promote world understanding through the visual arts. The undertaking involved working with local artists in ten countries, staging exhibitions, and extensive travel. It consumed nearly all of his energy through the early 90s.
1996 was the 10th anniversary of the founding of FAPE and Rauschenberg donated his lithograph Domicile to the program. The title refers to home—the United States—with images symbolic of its beauty, culture, industry and ordinary people. In the upper part are both older and newer architecture, ongoing construction, a person sitting on the front porch of a modest house, a rocket, car headlights and an American flag. Although small, the flag stands out remarkably over two huge American Beauty roses below it.
When considering this collection it is perhaps striking that from the beginning FAPE was and is exclusively interested in contemporary American art in the apparent conviction that it best represents the country and its culture. In that aim, they have pursued the best artists, many big names and some not so big. This exhibition demonstrates that clearly and is definitely worth the trip.
Artistic Generosity and the American Artist Abroad, April 7 – June 13, 2026, Frary Gallery, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, 555 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington DC. Tues-Fri 11-6, Sat 11-5. Free. frarygallery@jhu.edu
[1] See https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/2998
[2] In 1999 USIA was collapsed into Public Diplomacy at the Dept. of State.
[3] For this history, see https://art.state.gov/aie-history/
[4] Ibid., Compare Sen. Thomas McIntyre’s (D) statement to Congress in1965 supporting the Art in Embassies program.
[5] Brochure accompanying the exhibit.
[6] Wall text in the exhibition.
[7] https://www.nga.gov/stories/videos/carrie-mae-weems-and-54th-regiment
