As part of the Smithsonian Institution, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden belongs to the nation. Its distinctive circular building on the Mall is a Washington landmark, holding one of the world's finest and most comprehensive collections of twentieth-century art.

This sumptuous volume highlights 150 works in full-color reproductions, creating a survey of the century that begins with Auguste Rodin's monumental Burghers of Calais of 1884-89 and comes to the present. It also serves as an introduction to the pleasures of the museum itself.

Stimulating commentaries on the individual works by the museum's curators offer a wealth of information in an easy, informal style. James T. Demetrion, the director, contributes a brief history of the museum and its collection and how it evolved out of one man's passion for collecting new art.

Many internationally known artists of the twentieth century are included in this selection, together with contemporary and emerging ones. Europe and America are equally well represented, as are painting and sculpture. This book presents a great museum and provides an overview of a century of creative energy. It is written for the general reader, but students and scholars will also find much in it to interest them.