The National Gallery of Art acquires two works by alum
The National Gallery of Art in Washington recently acquired two of David T. Hanson's photographic works for its permanent collection: a triptych from his toxic waste series "Waste Land" and an aerial photograph of waste ponds from "Colstrip, Montana."
These two pieces will be included in the National Gallery’s major exhibition "Beneath the Surface: Mining and American Photography," opening in May 2026. The show will then travel to the Milwaukee Art Museum (Fall 2026) and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art (Spring 2027).
Also, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York will be exhibiting 23 photographs from Hanson's photographic series "The Cloud of Unknowing" in the Museum’s exhibition "Household Gods: Hindu Devotional Prints," from January 22, 2026- July, 2027. The exhibition will consist of four four-month installations of the Museum’s collection of stunning oleographs of Hindu deities created in India from 1860-1930. Displayed throughout the entire exhibition in a slow-rolling loop on an installation monitor, Hanson’s photographs will feature contemporary images of devotional prints in daily use in India, with four of his pictures printed as photo murals (one for each of the four rotation iterations of the show). This will be the first museum exhibition of his "Cloud of Unknowing" photographs.
