Past Exhibitions

Zhandra Rhodes Gown

In conjunction with RAP's 20th anniversary is a chiffon evening gown created by British designer Zhandra Rhodes.

October 1, 1985 – October 28, 1985

American History Museum

Zero to Infinity: Arte Povera, 1962-1972

This show features over 140 sculptures and large-scale installations by 14 artists who were part of a loose-knit movement known as Arte Povera ("poor art").

October 24, 2002 – January 20, 2003

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Zen, Tea, and Chinese Art in Medieval Japan

In this exhibition, Chinese and Japanese paintings, lacquer ware, and ceramics illuminate this remarkable period of cultural contact and synthesis.

December 13, 2014 – June 14, 2015

Zelda and Scott: The Beautiful and Damned

The Fitzgeralds and their circle, the glamorous celebrities who exemplified the Jazz Age, are seen in portraits and photographs, manuscripts and memorabilia.

June 6, 1980 – November 30, 1980

Zaida Ben-Yusuf: New York Portrait Photographer

Photographer Zaida Ben-Yusuf (1869-1933) was an important figure in the pictorialist photography movement in late 19th and early 20th century New York.

April 11, 2008 – September 1, 2008

Yves Klein: With the Void, Full Powers

The first American retrospective in nearly 30 years of this highly influential French artist's career examines his life and work.

May 20, 2010 – September 12, 2010

Yousuf Karsh: American Portraits, Part II

Photographic portraits by Yousuf Karsh (1908–2002) include those of Georgia O'Keeffe, Jonas Salk, Marian Anderson, Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Arden, I.M. Pei, and Eleanor Roosevelt.

May 2, 2014 – November 2, 2014

Yousuf Karsh: American Portraits, Part I

Photographic portraits by Yousuf Karsh (1908–2002) include those of Georgia O’Keeffe, Jonas Salk, Marian Anderson, Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Arden, I. M. Pei, Isamu Noguchi, and Eleanor Roosevelt.

November 8, 2013 – April 27, 2014

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Young Whistler: Early Prints and the "French Set"

See 23 of James McNeill Whistler's most important etchings produced up to 1858, related drawings and watercolors, and some of the artist's tools.

August 28, 2004 – March 13, 2005

Young Visions: A New Look at Our World Beyond Homelessness

See 25 photographs by 3 young, formerly homeless photographers known as "Dion and Friends" that depict both the hardships and the triumphs of their lives.

January 1, 1993 – March 1, 1993

Arts and Industries Building

Young America: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Trace the transformation from colonies to nationhood from about 1760 to the decade after the Civil War in this exhibition.

January 3, 2000 – May 29, 2003

American Art Museum

Yoshida Hiroshi: Japanese Prints of India & Southeast Asia

View 32 prints of Southeast Asia produced by Yoshida Hiroshi (1876-1950) using a refined photographic technique he developed in the 1920s to reveal a translucent quality similar to watercolors.

August 1, 1999 – October 17, 1999

Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought

View 100 masterworks of the Yoruba people of Nigeria and Benin.

May 16, 1990 – August 26, 1990

African Art Museum

Yokohama: Prints from 19th-Century Japan

Enjoy 80 woodblock prints that focus on the manners and customs of the foreign residents of the port city of Yokohama.

May 27, 1990 – September 9, 1990

Yoga: The Art of Transformation

Explore how the meanings of yoga changed over time as it became a global phenomenom through more than 120 masterpieces, including 10 folios from the first illustrated compilation of asanas made for a Mughal emperor in 1602 that have never been shown in the United States.

October 19, 2013 – January 26, 2014

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Yinka Shonibare Selects: Works from the Permanent Collection

Visit an exhibition, curated by Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare, that explores modes of transportation, from the 16th to the 20th centuries, as both a means of economic advancement and as a leisure time activity.

October 7, 2005 – September 24, 2006

Yinka Shonibare MBE

See the most comprehensive exhibition of works by this internationally renowned Nigerian, London-based artist to date.

November 10, 2009 – March 7, 2010

African Art Museum

Yesterday's Tomorrows: Past Visions of the American Future

See more than 300 objects--toys, models, posters, photographs, costumes, advertisements, drawings--created by artists, engineers, inventors, film makers, and other visionaries of the last 100 years.

August 7, 1984 – September 30, 1984

American History Museum

Yellow Mountain: China's Ever-Changing Landscape

See prints and paintings depicting the scenic Yellow Mountain (Mount Huangshan or Huangshan) in Anhui province, arguably the most beautiful mountain in China.

May 31, 2008 – August 24, 2008

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Yellow Diamond from Zale Corporation

Marvel at the largest existing diamond-in-the-rough in the world, weighing 890 carats.

November 22, 1984 – January 6, 1985

Natural History Museum

Year of the Horse: Chinese Horse Paintings

Celebrate the Year of the Horse in this exhibition including 19 Chinese horse paintings and calligraphy dating from the 11th to the 20th century.

February 10, 2002 – September 2, 2002

Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors

Spanning over five decades, the exhibition focuses on the evolution of the Japanese artist’s immersive, multi-relfective infinity Mirror Rooms. Free Timed Pass is required.

February 23, 2017 – May 14, 2017