Hudson Maxim
Can I see it?
Yes, on view now
Where is “Hudson Maxim” now? Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 3rd Floor, 20B, Washington, D.C. Yes, on view now. Checked September 25, 2026.
Washington, D.C., United States
RoomLuce Foundation Center, 3rd Floor, 20B
Open now· until 7:00 PM
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the sculpture
Hudson Maxim invented many weapons that influenced modern warfare, including the first smokeless powder made in America and "maximite," the first high explosive able to pierce armor. As a child, he received little schooling and once worked for seventy-five cents to buy his first atlas so that he could "see where Napoleon lived." In 1888 he began experimenting with explosives and a year later built a dynamite factory and smokeless-powder mill in Maxim, New Jersey, a town named for him. Although he developed many forms of "concentrated destruction," Maxim was a firm believer in peaceful arbitration and wrote many books and lectures on the subject.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Details
- Accession number
- 1922.3.1
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Image: Smithsonian American Art Museum — CC0
