Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Smokey Bear's New Honey Tree

Marvel at an automated honey- and berry-dispensing tree constructed to mark the 40th anniversary of Smokey's becoming the symbol for prevention of forest fires.

August 1, 1984 – August 31, 1984

National Zoo

At Home in the Sky: Aviation Art of Frank Wootton

See a retrospective including 57 paintings and sketches of civil and military aircraft, landscapes, and equestrian subjects by Frank Wootton, considered the foremost aviation artist today.

September 15, 1983 – August 26, 1984

Air and Space Museum

Edward Colonna, American Art Nouveau Designer

See approximately 134 examples of furniture, glass, jewelry, textiles, and design drawings, highlighted by pieces he created in the 1890s in Paris.

April 27, 1984 – August 19, 1984

Renwick Gallery

Artistic Collaboration in the Twentieth Century

View more than 100 works by 70 teams of artists, both American and European, between 1913 and 1983, including Gilbert and George, Ernst and Arp, and Picasso and Dali.

June 9, 1984 – August 19, 1984

Hirshhorn Museum

Southeastern Potteries

This exhibition traces the evolution of contemporary approaches to pottery in the Southeast regions of the U.S.

June 27, 1984 – August 19, 1984

American History Museum

Black Wings: The American Black in Aviation

See an expanded version of the exhibition circulated by SITES, including among its additional artifacts photo murals and audio-visual programs, and the flight suit worn by black astronaut Guion Bluford during preparations for his 1983 space shuttle flight.

April 1, 1984 – August 5, 1984

Anacostia Community Museum

Visual Space in Music: Drawings by John De Cesare

See some 50 pencil drawings, notable for their outstanding draftsmanship and use of vibrant color, that express De Cesare's personal theory of the relationship between art and music.

May 1, 1984 – August 5, 1984

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Ethiopia: The Art of a Christian Nation

See 18 painted wood icons that form the nucleus of an exhibition that illustrates the stylistic evolution of Ethiopian religious art.

May 23, 1984 – August 5, 1984

African Art Museum

Chinese Paintings

See approximately 30 paintings spanning the Sung dynasty (960-1279) through the Ch'ing dynasty (1644-1912) and including 2 recently accessioned works by Tao-chi, a 17th-century painter with a wide reputation in the West.

March 9, 1984 – July 31, 1984

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Artisans in Metal: New Work from Boston University

Admire and purchase approximately 40 objects created by both students and faculty of the school.

May 10, 1984 – July 22, 1984

Renwick Gallery

Exploring Microspace

This exhibition looks at the instruments that scientists have used to explore the microscopic world and what they have found there.

March 16, 1984 – July 15, 1984

Natural History Museum

Circles of the World: Traditional Art of the Plains Indians

Investigate the Southwest American Indian belief that the circle is the perfect form--a metaphor for the universe--through domestic, ceremonial, tribal, and spiritual objects organized in four concentric "circles of the world."

April 24, 1984 – July 15, 1984

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Fanfare, Part I

See 31 examples from the 18th century, "the Golden Age of Fans," in the first of 3 consecutive installations.

February 14, 1984 – July 8, 1984

Renwick Gallery

Finished in Beauty: Southwest Indian Silver

Admire several hundred masterworks in silver--necklaces, bracelets, earrings, concha belts, collar points, and larger items such as horse bridles--mainly Navajo, of different types and from several periods.

April 17, 1984 – July 8, 1984

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Adire Cloth from Nigeria

See examples of the indigo-dyed and patterned textiles produced by the skilled dyers among the Yoruba women of Nigeria.

April 23, 1984 – July 5, 1984

African Art Museum

1984 Discover Graphics

See selected etchings from the Resident Associate-sponsored Discover Graphics program.

May 12, 1984 – July 4, 1984

American History Museum

The Metropolitan Opera Centennial

This case features documents, stage props, and photographs, including memorabilia of Enrico Caruso and Rise Stevens, and the headdress worn by Leontyne Price as Cleopatra.

April 13, 1984 – June 30, 1984

American History Museum

Recently Acquired Chinese Ceramics

See 8 pieces selected from the recently acquired collection of ancient Chinese ceramics.

June 1, 1984 – June 30, 1984

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Willys Model MB Jeep

In honor of D-Day, June 6, 1984, see a Willys Model MB Jeep, typical of the four-wheel drive jeeps used in World War II, including the D-Day maneuvers.

June 1, 1984 – June 30, 1984

American History Museum

Special Installation: Paul Manship (1885-1966)

See a representative selection of the American artist's work from the NMAA permanent collection. Manship (1885-1966) enjoyed greater celebrity than any other American sculptor of his time.

August 4, 1983 – June 24, 1984

American Art Museum

The Art of Cameroon

A crossroads for the migrations of many peoples, the diversity of Cameroon's population is reflected in the great variety and richness of art forms. Objects from the steppes and the forest are shown, but the primary focus of the exhibition is the art of the West African kingdoms of the Cameroon grassfields.

February 1, 1984 – June 17, 1984

Natural History Museum

Clay for Walls: Surface Reliefs by American Artists

View 39 works by 20 contemporary artists who create decorative or sculptural ceramic wall reliefs.

September 16, 1983 – June 17, 1984

Renwick Gallery

German Expressionist Sculpture

This major loan exhibition includes more than 120 works in porcelain, wood, stone, plaster, and bronze, from 1905 to the 1920s.

April 4, 1984 – June 17, 1984

Hirshhorn Museum

Inventing Standard Time

Commemorating the 100th anniversary of the acceptance of Standard Time in the U.S., see more than 60 objects, including 2 rare sundials, maps of time zones, railroad watches, and other objects.

November 18, 1983 – June 14, 1984

American History Museum

Nepal

Featured are some twenty objects from Nepal, most dating from the 1940s and 1950s.

December 1, 1983 – June 10, 1984

Natural History Museum