Conceived as the nation's museum of modern and contemporary art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden has as its genesis a passion for collecting and for the art of our time. We continue to foster this abiding interest in the contemporary into the twenty-first century. Key artists of the twentieth century-from Picasso and Giacometti to de Kooning and Warhol-are all represented in the collection by fine works of art. The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden has primarily focused its collection-building and exhibition-planning on the post-World War II period, with particular emphasis on art created during the last 25 years.