Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Seto and Mino Ceramics

Track 47 objects that how how ceramics have evolved from the 9th century to the present day in the adjacent Seto and Mino regions of central Japan.

January 23, 1996 – August 8, 2001

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Chinese Arts of the Brush, 17th-18th Century

See 16 Chinese landscape paintings from the mid-17th to mid-18th century that reflect the century long development in four major art centers after the Manchus took over China in 1644.

January 21, 2001 – July 22, 2001

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Whistler and the Thames

Visit a collection of etchings, lithographs, and litho tints, as well as an oil painting and one pastel drawing of London's Thames River by American artist James McNeill Whistler.

December 17, 2000 – June 17, 2001

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Winged Figures

Honor Abbott Thayer's birth 150 years ago with three of his monumental winged-figure paintings.

June 5, 1999 – March 18, 2001

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Poets and Parties

Enjoy drawings, screens, and scrolls that include portraits of poets, women, historical personages, characters from literature and legend.

July 2, 2000 – February 4, 2001

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

The Tea Ceremony in Japan

Learn about the connoisseurship of tea-ceremony utensils, through which the tea ceremony chanoyu brings order, meaning, and pleasure.

July 2, 2000 – February 4, 2001

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Brushing the Past: Later Chinese Calligraphy from the Gift of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth

See an exhibition illustrating the evolution of Chinese calligraphy over 3,500 years.

April 30, 2000 – January 2, 2001

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Picturing Whistler

See 30 portraits of James McNeill Whistler (1834-1919) from the Charles Lang Freer collection that range in date from around 1845 to 1897.

May 21, 2000 – December 3, 2000

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

The Dragon's Moan

See three examples of the qin (or zither): one is from the original bequest of Charles Lang Freer and the other two are new acquisitions.

February 6, 2000 – October 1, 2000

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

The Idea of China in Japanese Art

See examples of paintings, lacquerware, and ceramics that introduce the complex idea of China as it affected Japanese artistic production and appreciation.

December 19, 1999 – June 11, 2000

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

The Tea Ceremony in Japan

Explore the basic procedures of the Japanese Tea ceremony, focusing on the range of objects used in typical gatherings.

April 4, 1999 – June 2, 2000

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Whistler and the Hadens

Trace the early years of Whistler's career through 30 etchings, drypoints, drawings, and an oil painting.

June 20, 1999 – April 30, 2000

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

View examples of 17th- and 18th-century Indian Mughal paintings and manuscripts from the collection of Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna, an English military officer who assembled the collection in India during the last half of the 19th century.

August 21, 1999 – February 6, 2000

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Masterpieces of Chinese Painting

See a selection of 10th- to early 18th-century paintings and calligraphy from the gallery's renowned collection of Chinese art.

May 29, 1999 – January 30, 2000

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

A Breath of Spring

View the masterpiece of 14th-century Chinese handscroll painting by Zou Fulei with full translations of several poems and related documents.

May 17, 1999 – January 9, 2000

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Selections from the Japanese Collection

See 35 works of Japanese art--painting, calligraphy, ceramics, and mixed media--many of which have never been exhibited before and are recent acquisitions.

April 4, 1999 – November 28, 1999

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Masterworks of Indian Painting III

View a changing selection of 16th- through 19th-century Indian paintings from the Mughal dynasty (1526-1858) and the Rajput courts.

January 23, 1999 – August 8, 1999

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Whistler and the Leylands

See 31 works--primarily etchings and drypoints--that focus on Whistler's printmaking career under the patronage of Frederick Richards Leyland, a Liverpool ship owner.

July 3, 1998 – June 6, 1999

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Beyond the Legacy: Anniversary Acquisitions

In observance of the Freer's 75th anniversary, see 100 recent acquisitions that bridge four millennia of Asian art.

October 11, 1998 – April 11, 1999

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Japanese Art in the Age of Koetsu

View 44 paintings, calligraphy, ceramics, and lacquerware created by Hon'ami Koetsu (1558-1637) and his contemporaries during Kyoto's cultural renaissance of the early 17th century.

June 6, 1998 – February 15, 1999

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

In the Mountains

See 26 paintings and objects, dating from the 10th to 14th centuries, that explore the depiction of mountains--real and imaginary--in Chinese art.

January 31, 1998 – August 2, 1998

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Masterworks of Indian Painting I

View a changing selection of 16th- through 19th-century Indian paintings from the Mughal dynasty (1526-1858) and the Rajput courts.

December 31, 1997 – June 14, 1998

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Ancient Egyptian Glass

View 15 glass vessels for storing scented oils, perfumed ointments, or cosmetics.

August 24, 1994 – June 12, 1998

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

An Invitation to Tea

Focus on the centuries-old Japanese tea ceremony with 25 objects from Japan, Korean, China, Turkey, and Vietnam.

November 9, 1996 – April 26, 1998

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Japanese Art of the Meiji Era (1868-1912)

Visit 52 works--paintings, drawings, ceramics, lacquer, metalwork, and cloisonne--from the Meiji Era (1868-1912) in Japan.

September 20, 1997 – April 26, 1998

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery