Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

The de Havilland DH-4 (from "Flaming Coffin" to Living Legend)

This aircraft, the most used U.S. combat aircraft in World War I, was on view in the Arts and Industries Building for many years.

November 16, 1984 – June 30, 1985

Air and Space Museum

Thomas Hart Benton Mural

A major mural painting, Thomas Hart Benton's Achelous and Hercules is considered a splendid example of the artist's ability to raise the American experience to the level of myth.

April 1, 1985 – June 30, 1985

American Art Museum

Saving Our Soil: 50 Years

Over 25 documents, photographs, and objects celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Soil Conservation Service.

April 13, 1985 – June 30, 1985

American History Museum

1905 - 1985: 80 Years of Aerospace History

See 10 photographs portraying great events in aerospace history, including the flight of the 1st seaplane, the 1st spacewalk (by a Russian), and the 1stAmerican spacewalk.

January 16, 1985 – June 30, 1985

Air and Space Museum

Duala Cameroon Boat

See a dugout canoe model made by the Duala people of the Cameroon's coastal forests used for sea fishing.

May 10, 1985 – June 20, 1985

African Art Museum

Dimensional Rapture

See a mini-exhibition of 13 three-dimensional works created from "found objects" by members of a local art sorority, Eta Phi Sigma.

May 1, 1985 – June 16, 1985

Anacostia Community Museum

William Edward West: Kentucky Painter

See 40 portraits in the first major study of the ante-bellum painter

April 12, 1985 – June 16, 1985

Portrait Gallery

Quilts

Admire 3 quilts made between 1847 and the early 1900s.

October 15, 1983 – June 15, 1985

American History Museum

The Preservation of the Wright Flyer

The Wright brothers' Flyer, usually on view in Milestones of Flight, is being restored, in the first extensive work to be done on the Flyer since Orville Wright prepared it for exhibition in 1916.

February 8, 1985 – June 13, 1985

Air and Space Museum

African Masterpieces from the Musee de L'Homme

View 100 world-renowned works of art from West and Central Africa, most of which have never been on display outside of France.

April 8, 1985 – June 9, 1985

African Art Museum

Joseph Wright, American Artist (1756-1793)

Visit some 30 paintings and graphics survey the career of the artist, the first American-born student at the Royal Academy of Art, London.

February 15, 1985 – June 9, 1985

Portrait Gallery

20th-Century Drawings from the Museum's Collection

This installation of 30 works on paper includes works by Willem de Kooning, Arshile Gorky, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Larry Rivers.

April 1, 1985 – June 6, 1985

Hirshhorn Museum

Japanese Dolls of Festivity and Friendship

In honor of the Cherry Blossom Festival, take in a selection of some 12 dolls traditionally associated with Girls' and Boys' Day Festivals in Japan.

March 15, 1985 – May 27, 1985

Natural History Museum

Baseball Immortals: Photographs of Charles Martin Conlan, 1905-1935

Visit 60 black-and-white portraits of the sluggers, pitchers, managers, fielders, and umpires of baseball's golden age, the work of one of the most remarkable baseball photographers of his time.

October 20, 1984 – May 27, 1985

Portrait Gallery

The Natural History Building: A Visual Memoir

Take a look back with 90 photographs commemorating the 75th anniversary of the opening of the museum to the public.

March 16, 1985 – May 27, 1985

Natural History Museum

Old Master Prints from the Wallerstein Collection

Enjoy 120 prints, including works by Durer, Rembrandt, and Schongauer, in an exhibition organized by 3 institutions that were beneficiaries of donations by Leo Wallerstein and his heirs.

March 5, 1985 – May 26, 1985

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Spanning Niagara: The International Bridges, 1848-1862

Included are over 73 photographs, engravings, and other graphic representations of the more than a dozen bridges that have spanned the Niagara River from 1848 to the present.

January 11, 1985 – May 14, 1985

American History Museum

The Four Continents

See works in pottery, porcelain, metal, glass, ivory, and horn as well as drawings and prints--all fanciful images of the continents--selected from the James Hazen Hyde collection in the Cooper-Hewitt and other museums.

February 19, 1985 – May 12, 1985

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Life: The Second Decade, 1946-1955

Recall the major historical events and famous figures of the era as well as the lives, fads, rituals, and costumes of ordinary people through 200 vintage photographic prints from LIFE magazine's photo archives.

February 15, 1985 – May 12, 1985

American Art Museum

Cut Paper

View more than 150 examples of cut and pin-pricked paper, dating from the 17th century to the present, drawn mainly from the Cooper-Hewitt collection in this international exhibition.

February 12, 1985 – May 12, 1985

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Anthropological Illustrations by George Robert Lewis

Take in a retrospective exhibition of illustrations by George Robert Lewis of the NMNH Dept. of Anthropology.

April 20, 1985 – May 10, 1985

Natural History Museum

Someone You Can Count On: Visiting Nurse Associations in America, 1885-1985

See about 30 objects highlighting the development of the visiting nurse profession over the past 100 years.

March 1, 1985 – May 6, 1985

American History Museum

Eleanor Roosevelt: First Person Singular

Commemorating the centennial of Eleanor Roosevelt's birth with more than 100 objects, including photographs, memorabilia, and radio and filmed interviews.

September 13, 1984 – May 5, 1985

American History Museum

N'Debele Beadwork

View articles--mostly aprons--incorporating the striking geometric designs created by women of southern African villages.

March 1, 1985 – April 30, 1985

African Art Museum

Fabled Cloth: Batik from Java's North Coast

See approximately 60 batiks dating from about 1850 through the 1940s that illustrate the international influences on this traditional Indonesian art form.

January 29, 1985 – April 28, 1985

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum