Exploring Alexander von Humbolt's Impart on American Identify.

• Position: Museums Today - Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.

"The exhibition places U.S. art squarely in the center of a conversation about [the naturalist's] lasting influence, with artworks that reveal how the American wilderness became emblematic of the country's distinctive character."

THE EXHIBITION "Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture" is the first to examine Humboldt's impact on five spheres of American cultural development--the visual arts, sciences, literature, politics, and exploration--between 1804-1903. It will be on view March 20-Aug. 16 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.--the exhibit's sole venue.

Humboldt (1769-1859) was a renowned Prussian naturalist and explorer and one of the most-influential figures of the 19th century. He published more than 36 books, traveled across four continents, and wrote well over 25,000 letters to an international network of colleagues and admirers.

In 1804, after traveling five years in South America and Mexico, he spent six weeks in the U.S. During his stay, Humboldt--through a series of lively exchanges of ideas about the arts, science, politics, and exploration with influential figures such as Pres. Thomas Jefferson and artist Charles Willson Peale--shaped American perceptions of nature and the way American cultural identity became grounded in the natural world.

The exhibition centers on the fine arts as a lens through which to understand how deeply intertwined Humboldt's ideas were with the U.S.'s emerging identity. It includes more than 100 paintings, sculptures, maps, and artifacts as well as a video introduction to Humboldt and the scientist's connections to the Smithsonian through an array of current projects and initiatives.

"[Curator] Eleanor Jones Harvey has dusted for Humboldt's fingerprints on American art and culture and found them nearly everywhere, including the founding of the Smithsonian Institution," says Stephanie Stebich, director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. "The Smithsonian, with its vast range of disciplines and multitude of collections and ongoing research, is the perfect setting for this expansive evaluation of Humboldt's impact in the United States.

"Humboldt encouraged American landscape painters to embrace our natural wonders as emblems of our cultural identity. As a country, we have much to thank Humboldt for, as reflected in the countless namesake places and species across our land. Most importantly, Humboldt's influence on America's love of and protection of...