Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Young Americanos: Photographic Visions of Our Community

See photographs taken by children from 5 major U.S. cities that offer a special perspective on the Latino community.

September 21, 2001 – November 15, 2001

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

You Must Remember This

See costumes worn by movie stars and other memorablia from Warner Bros. Studio.

February 1, 2012 – November 16, 2015

American History 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

Asian Art Museum Sackler Gallery

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

Asian Art Museum Sackler Gallery

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

Asian Art Museum Sackler Gallery

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

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

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 Sackler 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 Tiger

Marvel at some 40 photographs by wildlife photographer Michael Nichols, from the National Geographic book Year of the Tiger.

November 11, 1998 – April 26, 1999

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

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Year of the Coast

See specimens from the nearby seashore. Various coastal features and life forms are highlighted.

October 1, 1980 – April 1, 1996

Natural History Museum

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

Hirshhorn Museum

Yani: The Brush of Innocence

See 69 paintings by young Chinese artist Wang Yani, who began painting at age 2, along with a small group of historical Chinese paintings that illustrate the artistic tradition from which her work emerges.

June 25, 1989 – October 22, 1989

Asian Art Museum Sackler Gallery

Xu Bing: Monkeys Grasp for the Moon

This whimsical sculpture, hanging from the atrium to the refllecting pool, is composed of 21 laminated wood pieces, with each forming the word "monkey" in a dozen different languages.

October 14, 2017 – March 13, 2020

Asian Art Museum Sackler Gallery

X-Ray Vision: Fish Inside Out

X-rays of some of the fish in the museum's collection reveal delicate and exquisite details and help scientists understand the evolutionary development of fish.

February 4, 2012 – August 5, 2012

Natural History Museum

X-Ray Photography of Fossils

See 45 radiographs taken by Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Sturmer of Lower Davonian plant and marine animal fossils taken in the fossil-rich Rheinische Schiefergebirge area.

May 7, 1977 – July 17, 1977

Natural History Museum

Wyss Institute Selects

Wyss Institute Selects is the 18th installment in the exhibition series that invites designers, artists, architects and public figures to examine and interpret the museum’s collection.

July 12, 2019 – March 13, 2020

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Wrought Iron: Rendering from the Index of American Design

See 16 watercolors of utilitarian wrought iron objects from the Index of American Design. The Index, a 1930s Federal project, is a collection of realistically executed drawings and watercolors of crafts and folk arts.

July 14, 1977 – October 24, 1977

Renwick Gallery

Written in Bone: Forensic Files of the 17th-Century Chesapeake

This exhibition features archaeological discoveries that reveal the historic importance of Jamestown and its contribution to the American way of life.

February 7, 2009 – January 5, 2014

Natural History Museum

Writing, Carving, and Rubbing: China's Calligraphic Arts

Follow the evolution of Chinese calligraphy through six major script types in the past three millenniums.

April 4, 2009 – October 25, 2009

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Writing and Reading

Learn from a range of objects from various periods and cultures that provide a survey of the basic skills of writing and reading.

September 15, 1981 – January 3, 1982

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum