Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Chinese and Korean Ceramics

See 18 works ranging from the late 13th to early the 12th centuries B.C. to the late 15th to the early 16th centuries A.D.

August 1, 1986 – March 15, 1987

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Literary Themes in Japanese Art

Observe 13 paintings that illustrate a variety of interpretations of themes from Japanese literature, ranging in date from the 13th to the 19th centuries.

February 14, 1986 – February 28, 1987

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Scholar-Painters of the Nanga School

Visit 16 hand scrolls, hanging scrolls, and screens by Japanese painters of the 18th and 19th centuries.

November 8, 1985 – February 28, 1987

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

From Concept to Context: Approaches to Asian and Islamic Calligraphy

View 55 works from the Freer collection that examine calligraphy in the art objects of 3 cultures.

July 29, 1986 – January 31, 1987

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Islamic Metalwork from the Freer Collection

Admire 37 intricately crafted examples of vessels, plates, ewers, weapons, and other objects in brass, silver, bronze, and gold that explore the technical and aesthetic development of metalwork in the Islamic world from the 7th-8th through the 17th centuries.

September 27, 1985 – November 9, 1986

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Garden Potteries and Offical Kilns: Clan-sponsored Ceramics in the Edo Period

Observe 38 pieces of ceramics made under the direct sponsorship of feudal lords, a little-known aspect of Japan's ceramic production during the Edo period (1615-1868)

January 17, 1986 – November 2, 1986

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Wonders of Creation, Oddities of Existence: An Exhibition in Celebration of Halley's Comet

See 21 paintings, 2 pieces of metalwork, and a ceramic bowl that examine Islamic attitudes toward the cosmos from the 13th through the 18th centuries.

March 3, 1986 – October 1, 1986

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Chinese Bird-and-Flower Paintings

Admire 30 album leaves and hanging and hand scrolls from the 12th-19th centuries, depicting mythical, imaginary, and realistic birds as well as a colorful array of flowers.

February 1, 1986 – June 29, 1986

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Meisho-e: Famous Places of Japan

Taking its name from the Japanese word for "pictures of famous places," visit an exhibition that includes some 18 examples of paintings, prints, drawings, and ceramics depicting renowned locations of the archipelago.

October 18, 1985 – February 9, 1986

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Ch'ing Dynasty Calligraphy and Painting

Visit approximately 30 masterpieces of China's Ch'ing Dynasty (1644-1911).

September 6, 1985 – February 2, 1986

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

The Glazed Ceramic Tradition of Seto and Mino Wares

Follow the evolution of glazed wares in neighboring pottery districts during Japan's medieval period through a number of rare early pieces, as well as by representative Momoyama period (1568-1615) wares.

April 26, 1985 – January 12, 1986

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

The Arts of South Asia

See some 70 objects, ranging in date from the 2nd century B.C. through the 18th century, that offer a complete survey of the Freer's painting, sculpture, and decorative art from the Indian subcontinent.

May 15, 1985 – December 1, 1985

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Japanese Calligraphy

Visit 14 hanging and hand scrolls and album leaves that feature traditional styles of Japanese writing and cursive styles developed during the 8th through the 12th centuries.

December 21, 1984 – November 3, 1985

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Japanese Theater in the Edo Period

See Kabuki and puppet theater performances that are the subjects of many of these paintings on hanging scrolls, hand-scrolls, screens, and wood-block prints, all of the Edo period (1615-1868).

July 26, 1985 – October 14, 1985

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Ming Dynasty Calligraphy and Painting

View 25 hand and hanging scrolls executed by 40 artists of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) that present comparisons between calligraphy and painting.

February 8, 1985 – September 2, 1985

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

The Riza-i Abbasi Album (Masterpieces of Iranian Drawing)

View 27 drawings, many of them signed and dated by or attributable to Riza-i Abbasi (also known as Aga Riza), acknowledged by art historians to have been among the greatest artists of Iran's Safavid empire (1502-1736).

June 1, 1985 – September 2, 1985

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

From the Hand of Mani: Iranian Paintings from the Freer

See 32 pages representing the Freer's finest Iranian manuscripts that show the development of an Iranian idiom in manuscript painting between the 14th and 16th centuries.

January 19, 1985 – April 28, 1985

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Kyoto Ceramics

See 25 pieces of ceramic ware from Kyoto, characterized by witty design, refined workmanship, and colorful enamel decoration.

November 15, 1984 – April 21, 1985

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Masterpieces of Chinese Painting

View 30 important paintings--hanging scrolls, hand scrolls, album leaves--from the Sung (960-1279) through the Ch'ing (1644-1911) dynasties.

August 3, 1984 – February 3, 1985

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Japanese Drawings

View 35 brush-and-ink drawings by 19th-century Japanese artists.

March 16, 1984 – January 31, 1985

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Islamic Manuscript Illumination

Admire the decoration of religious and secular manuscripts in 19 folios produced in Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan between the 10th and 16th centuries.

January 27, 1984 – December 31, 1984

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Autumn Colors

View artworks from the Kamakura and Edo periods that bring together the colors that Japanese artists have used to describe a variety of autumnal subjects.

October 19, 1984 – December 14, 1984

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art

Visit nearly 300 paintings, watercolors, pastels, drawings, and prints by James McNeill Whistler as part of the observance of the 150th anniversary of his birth.

May 11, 1984 – December 2, 1984

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Korean Influences in Japanese Ceramics

Visit some 25 objects from the Freer's ceramics collection that examine the enduring appeal in Japan of Punch'ong ware--Korean ceramics introduced in the 16th century.

February 17, 1984 – November 11, 1984

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Japanese Fans

See 19 Japanese fans from the Freer collection in an exhibition planned to complement one of European fans at the Renwick Gallery.

April 6, 1984 – October 12, 1984

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery