Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Provincetown Printers/A Woodcut Tradition

Examine 75 color woodcuts by artists who used a technique developed in the Massachusetts art colony during the early part of the 20th century.

September 9, 1983 – January 8, 1984

American Art Museum

Masterpieces from Versailles: Three Centuries of Portraiture

On loan from France's national portrait collection are 43 paintings dating from the reign of Louis XIII (1610-1643) to the final years of the monarchy under Emperor Napoleon III (1851-1871).

November 11, 1983 – January 8, 1984

Portrait Gallery

Holiday Tree for the Birds

A large Norway spruce, bedecked with lights and edible treats for birds and squirrels by Friends of the National Zoo, has become an annual holiday attraction for Zoo visitors, both feathered and non-feathered.

December 12, 1983 – January 2, 1984

National Zoo

1983 Trees of Christmas

Twelve trees decorated with handcrafted ornaments reflect our ethnic heritages, crafts of historic periods, and nature.

December 15, 1983 – January 2, 1984

American History Museum

Selections from the First Annual Washington Craft Show

Admire and purchase works created by 18 artists who work in ceramics, fiber, glass, leather, metal, paper, and wood.

October 6, 1983 – January 2, 1984

Renwick Gallery

Mammalia Africana

View sketches and drawings of animals of Africa by Jonathan Kingdon, a scientific illustrator associated with the Department of Zoology, Oxford University.

November 5, 1983 – January 2, 1984

Natural History Museum

Precious Legacy: Judaic Treasures from Czechoslovak State Collections

On loan from the Czechoslovak State Jewish Collection in Prague, these religious and secular objects were amassed by the Nazis, through confiscation, to show the material culture of the "race" Hitler wished to annihilate.

November 9, 1983 – January 1, 1984

Natural History Museum

Hindu and Buddhist Art of India

View approximately 25 paintings and sculpture depicting themes found in the art of India.

April 12, 1982 – December 31, 1983

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Frank Lloyd Wright and the Prairie School

See how Wright worked and how his style developed during the first 40 years of his long and productive career in these original drawings, related prints, photographs, and objects.

August 30, 1983 – December 31, 1983

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

A Permanent Record of India: The Photographs of Bourne & Shepherd

See 19 photographs selected from a 19th-century catalog by Bourne and Shepherd Co. that include ethnological and scenic subjects and portray the British influence of the 1860s and 1870s in India as well as Afghanistan, Burma, and Nepal.

August 5, 1983 – November 30, 1983

Natural History Museum

Lewis H. Latimer (1848-1928): The Art of Invention

See a selection of his patent drawings of inventions, a light bulb and light sockets, which he developed while working for the Edison Company.

September 15, 1983 – November 30, 1983

American History Museum

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney: Artist and Patron (1875-1942)

See a small exhibition that includes photographs, papers, letters and personal notebooks documenting the art patron's support of American artists— support which culminated in the creation of the Whitney Museum of American Art.

July 8, 1983 – November 27, 1983

Portrait Gallery

Blessed Are the Peacemakers

Commemorating the bicentennial of the Treaty of Paris, view portraits of the American, British, French, and Spanish "peacemakers" who were involved in the signing of the treaty, which marked the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War.

September 3, 1983 – November 27, 1983

Portrait Gallery

Purchases by the Hirshhorn Museum, 1974-83

On view are 64 paintings, 52 sculptures, and 31 works on paper in this exhibition of major works acquired through purchase over the past ten years.

September 15, 1983 – November 13, 1983

Hirshhorn Museum

Winston S. Churchill: Painting as a Pastime

View 50 paintings by the renowned statesman and honorary American citizen that make up a virtual diary of his private life after 1915, including landscapes from his home and travels and portraits of his family and friends.

September 21, 1983 – November 2, 1983

Smithsonian Castle

The Flying Roosevelts

View 23 photographs revealing FDR's association, on a personal and official level, with aircraft between 1918 and 1945.

January 25, 1982 – October 31, 1983

Air and Space Museum

Wethersfield Meteorites

View two celebrated meteorites that fell in the same town, Wethersfield, Connecticut, eleven years apart.

July 22, 1983 – October 30, 1983

Natural History Museum

American Artists and their Craft

Admire a changing exhibition of the work of American artists and craftmen.

May 6, 1983 – October 30, 1983

Renwick Gallery

A Penny Saved: Architecture in Cast Iron Toy Banks

Take in nearly 100 examples of toy banks in architectural shapes, most fashioned by American craftsmen between 1870 and 1940.

August 2, 1983 – October 23, 1983

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Whiz Bang: A Short History of Sound

This 20-minute slide presentation traces the history of sound from nature--thunder, water and birds--to electronic and industrial sounds.

October 7, 1983 – October 17, 1983

American History Museum

African Art in Color

See 67 objects that explore polychromy in traditional African art.

May 18, 1983 – October 16, 1983

African Art Museum

Photography and Architecture: 1839-1939

View more than 170 photographs that chronicle aspects of the history of architecture through photography, and, conversely, the history of photography as shown in architectural records.

July 26, 1983 – October 16, 1983

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Scandinavian Modern 1880-1980

Document the history of Scandinavian design during the last century with more than 330 works—furniture, ceramics, glass, metalwork, and textiles—from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.

July 8, 1983 – October 10, 1983

Renwick Gallery

Portraits on a Page of History: The Career of James B. Longacre (1794-1869)

Trace the development of the American artist's multi-faceted career as engraver, portraitist, and illustrator and chief engraver to the U.S. Mint.

April 9, 1983 – October 10, 1983

Portrait Gallery

From the Earth: African Ceramic Art

View 84 objects made from clay, representing the ceramic art styles of 28 cultures from 19 African nations.

May 18, 1983 – October 9, 1983

African Art Museum