National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Stephen G. Stein © Robert Adams, Courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
The Sea Beach, 2016, gelatin silver print. Image: 22.6 x 28.3 cm (8 7/8 x 11 1/8 in.)
Solo show from 29 May at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
American Silence: The Photographs of Robert Adams
The landscape in the USA vacillates between desolation and beauty. Robert Adams retells its story in his photographs. The solo show American Silence at the National Gallery of Art indicts the destruction and pays tribute to what remains.
by Bettina Röhl,
May 29, 2022
Robert Adams' (*1937) ongoing body of work now spans five decades. His photography narrates the evolution of American landscapes, allows their beauty to leak out and captures the inadequate human response. The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., is dedicating a solo show to the photographer and his narrative of people and landscape from 29 May.
American Silence divides Adams' images into three chapters that place the chronology of devastation in a moral context: The Gift, Our Response and Tenancy. The sections hold 175 photographs of the artist's major projects. They show suburbs, shopping malls, highways, houses, shops, rivers, the sky, the prairie and the sea. As a counterpoint to destroyed landscapes, some of the photographs also function as a homage to what remains.
The exhibition title refers to »the reverential way he looks at the world around him and the almost palpable silence of his work«, says the National Art Gallery. Interested visitors can find the exhibition until 2 October on the ground floor of the West Building, in galleries 23-29.
Dive deeper into the art world
1. ABSURIA: The International Festival of Abstract and Surrealist Photography in Tours
Elitza Nanova Receives Special Prize for Abstract Photography
The first ABSURIA: The International Festival of Abstract and Surrealist Photography in Tours recently opened, with Elitza Nanova—a participant in the Art.Salon artist program—taking part. She was awarded a special prize at the festival for her work Abstract 12. ABSURIA runs through September 30.
June 10, 2026
London: Julio Le Parc at the Tate Modern
Systems of Light and Deception
Interactive installations, light sculptures, and large-scale geometric-abstract paintings: The Tate Modern presents the diverse body of work by Julio Le Parc, spanning seven decades. For the recently deceased artist, audience participation has always been a central aspect of his practice. The Julio Le Parc exhibition opens on June 11 in London.
June 10, 2026
