''DC Waterfront, Maine Avenue'' is a painting by

Delilah Pierce Delilah Williams Pierce (March 3, 1904 – 1992) was an African American artist, curator and educator based in Washington, District of Columbia. Pierce is best known for abstract paintings depicting the natural world. Her work also includes portr ...

. It is in the collection of the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's lar ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Pierce used

oil paint Oil paint is a type of slow-drying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. Oil paint also has practical advantages over other paints, mainly because it is waterproof. The earliest surviving ...

on board, in 1957, to depict

Maine Avenue Maine Avenue is a diagonal avenue in the Washington, D.C. (southwest), Southwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. Maine Avenue connects Independence Avenue (Washington D.C.), Independence Avenue with M Street (Washington, D.C.), M Street SW, and has ...

along the

Southwest Waterfront The Southwest Waterfront is a neighborhood in Washington, D.C. (Southwest), Southwest Washington, D.C. The Southwest quadrant is the smallest of Washington's four Address (geography)#Quadrants, quadrants, and the Southwest Waterfront is one of on ...

in Washington, D.C. The painting depicts multiple buildings in the background, one with umbrellas in front of it. In the foreground, Pierce painted boats in the

Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...

, dockside. ''DC Waterfront, Maine Avenue'' was purchased by the Smithsonian in 2009 using Deaccession Funds. The artwork was included in the 2005 exhibit, ''Delilah W. Pierce: Natural Perspective'', at the

University of Maryland University College The University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) is a public university in College Park, Maryland, and the largest institution in the University System of Maryland. Established in 1947 as the College of Special and Continuation Studies of the U ...

References

1957 paintings Paintings in the Smithsonian American Art Museum Maritime paintings {{20C-painting-stub