in 1962, breeskin left the baltimore museum of art to become the head of washington gallery of modern art. breeskin curated shows such as “roots of abstract art in america” in 1965, but she resigned two years later. from 1960 to 1974, she served as the curator of contemporary painting and sculpture at the national collection of fine arts later called the national museum of american art where she featured artists such as mary cassatt, milton avery, h. lyman sayen, william j. johnson, and bob thompson.