Washed Out in Washington: Lincoln Photo Basks in the Sun

Sometimes, it’s the little things that count.
The Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery just reopened their spacious, jointly occupied facility in Washington’s Old Patent Office Building, after a lavish $283-million renovation and reinstallation. But amidst all the state-of-the-art enhancements, they inexplicably lost sight of one elementary, important tenet of museum display:
Do not expose works on paper to direct sunlight. Images fade.
Natural light in art museums is always a mixed blessing. It enlivens the space but potentially harms the art. The two federal museums decided to uncover previously hidden windows and let the sun shine in. But they were generally careful to keep light-sensitive works away from the rays.
So imagine my surprise when I visited the museums, the day before their July 1 public opening, and came upon an 1864 Mathew Brady albumen silver print of Abraham Lincoln and an 1865 wood engraving of Lincoln’s second inaugural ball, both directly opposite the glass doors of one of the entrances to the museum, drenched in sunlight. They were part of the exhibition “Temple of Invention,” devoted to the history of the lovingly restored, landmark Greek Revival building.
While I was there, two museum employees went around the room with light meters and determined that those sheets were getting too much sun. When I asked about their findings, one of them told me that the works would need to be moved.
But the next day, there they still were—in even greater jeopardy, because the entrance doors were almost constantly open, to accommodate the steady influx of inaugural visitors. Now, not even glass got between the sun and the precious photograph of the 16th President.
What’s the point of grandly appointed surroundings, if you can’t get the basics right?