Finding 10: Photograph of Dwight D. Eisenhower Presenting Award to Joan Miró

Taken at the White House on May 18, 1959, this photograph shows President Dwight D. Eisenhower presenting the 1958 Guggenheim International Award to the Spanish artist Joan Miró. Best known for his biomorphic surrealist paintings, Miró received the award in recognition of Night and Day, his ceramic murals at the UNESCO building in Paris.

The Guggenheim International Award was given every two years between 1956 and 1971 to a work of art created within the previous three years. Based on the selection of an international committee, winning artists received a prize of $10,000. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation intended the award to be both a recognition of outstanding achievements in the visual arts and an important manifestation of international goodwill.

—Amanda Brown, National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) grant intern