Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Shades of Green and Blue: Chinese Celadon Ceramics

See 44 Chinese ceramics that illustrate the development of the gray-green glaze known in the West as celadon.

August 2, 1997 – September 7, 2004

Whistler in Paris: Lithographs from the Belle Epoque, 1891-1896

See 26 of the best of Whistler's lithographs, many of which offered unexpected glimpses of this artist as a contented family man.

February 21, 2004 – August 15, 2004

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Birds and Beasts in Japanese Art

Visit an exhibition highlighting the Freer Gallery's diverse and visually exciting collection of birds and animals in a variety of artistic media.

January 31, 2004 – July 18, 2004

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Guardians of the Law: Chinese Luohan Painting

See 22 late 12th- to 18th-century works as well as an 8th-century Tang ewer that examine major trends in the evolution of Chinese luohan paintings.

December 2, 2003 – May 23, 2004

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Mr. Whistler's Galleries: Avant-Garde in Victorian London

Visit an exhibition marking the centenary of Whistler's death on July 17, 1903, highlighting his importance to the history of exhibition design.

November 20, 2003 – April 4, 2004

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Whistler's Greatest Etchings: The 1889 Amsterdam Set

Retrace the development of Whistler's artistry by comparing 14 rare Amsterdam impressions with major examples of the artist's earlier work as a printmaker.

June 28, 2003 – February 1, 2004

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Tales and Legends in Japanese Art

Explore tales and legends from Japanese and Chinese sources through Japanese paintings in a variety of formats.

June 21, 2003 – January 4, 2004

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Tea Utensils Under Wraps

See some significant and decorative solutions to storing and protecting tea ceremony vessels that are treasured as works of art.

June 21, 2003 – January 4, 2004

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

In Pursuit of Heavenly Harmony: Paintings and Calligraphy by Bada Shanren (1626-1705) from the Bequest of Wang Fangyu and Sum Wai

View 33 works by one of the most renowned and influential individualist painters and calligraphers of the early Qing dynasty.

April 26, 2003 – October 19, 2003

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

South Asian Sculpture

Admire 19 examples of sculpture--including spectacular examples of gold jewelry--created to embellish sacred spaces in southern Asia.

March 12, 2000 – September 7, 2003

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Chinese Buddhist Sculpture in a New Light

See a collection of devotional objects created in China for Buddhist worship that possess great visual and spiritual power, and were so popular that they spawned the manufacture of forgeries, which were then bought by foreign collectors.

April 14, 2002 – September 7, 2003

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Whistler in Venice: The Pastels

See 14 unusually beautiful and rare pastels that Whistler completed while in Venice between September 1879 and November 1880, capturing the varied moods of the watery city.

January 18, 2003 – June 15, 2003

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

The Floating World Revealed-Ukiyo-e Paintings and Prints

Paintings and woodblock prints from the entertainment and theater districts and pleasure quarters of Japan's great cities during the Edo period.

December 7, 2002 – May 26, 2003

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Tea in the Floating World

Enjoy a small exhibition of tea ceremony paraphernalia that looks at the less familiar side of tea-drinking customs during the Edo period.

December 7, 2002 – May 26, 2003

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Palaces and Pavilions: Grand Architecture in Chinese Painting

Learn how real imperial structures and mythical Daoist palaces have been pictured over the centuries in Chinese art in these rarely shown scrolls, album leaves, and 3-dimensional objects dating from the 2nd century c.e. to the 19th century.

September 29, 2002 – March 30, 2003

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Whistler's Nudes

View some 35 of Whistler's most beautiful pastels and lithographs featuring thinly dressed female models striking dramatic poses in his studio.

April 21, 2002 – January 5, 2003

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

More than Flowers: Sources of Tradition in Japanese Painting

View thirteen paintings from the museum's collection of Rimpa art by such masters as Ogata Kenzan, Ogata Korin, and Sakai Hoitsu.

September 2, 2001 – November 24, 2002

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Japanese Screens

See screens from the Muromachi (1333-1573), Momoyama (1573-1615), and Edo (1615-1868) periods, depicting animals and plants as well as sages, aristocratic entertainments, and commoners' outings.

March 24, 2002 – November 3, 2002

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

The Potter's Brush: The Kenzan Style in Japanese Ceramics

See 10 objects by Ogata Kenzan (1663-1743)--one of Japan's greatest ceramic artists--as well as almost 90 examples of Kenzan ware produced over subsequent centuries.

December 9, 2001 – October 27, 2002

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

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

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Cherry Blossom Festival Poster Contest: Best in Show

See the "Best in Show" artwork from the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival Poster Contest.

March 24, 2002 – April 7, 2002

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Storage Jars of Asia

Take in a selection of 24 of the biggest and boldest jars made in East, Southeast, and West Asia between the second millennium B.C. and the 16th century.

October 29, 2000 – March 10, 2002

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Three Friends of Winter: Pine, Bamboo, and Plum in Chinese Painting

Examine the "three friends of winter": evergreen bamboo, pine, and plum trees that are traditionally associated with winter and also closely identified with the Chinese scholar in private life.

August 12, 2001 – January 20, 2002

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Dinner for Five: Japanese Serving Dishes for Elegant Meals

View ceramic dishes used for "kaiseki," a light meal that originated in the Japanese tea ceremony but later also flourished in the context of stylish restaurants.

March 4, 2001 – October 21, 2001

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Real and Imagined Places in Japanese Art

Visit 29 Japanese paintings, ceramics, and lacquer works that present various views of real and imagined places.

March 4, 2001 – October 21, 2001

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery