Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Charles Willson Peale As Printmaker: The Challenges of Messotint Portraiture

Stop by a small exhibit of approximately 12 objects that are all the known portrait prints by the 18th-century portraitist Charles Willson Peale.

July 24, 1981 – January 3, 1982

Portrait Gallery

1981 Trees of Christmas

Visit the 5th annual holiday exhibition and see 12 trees showing the diversity of the nation's past, its present, and its ethnic heritage.

December 19, 1981 – January 3, 1982

American History Museum

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

Sculpture at the Hirshhorn: Photographs by Lee Friedlander

In conjunction with the reopening of the museum's sculpture garden, 52 black-and-white photographs of the original outdoor display are on view.

October 1, 1981 – January 3, 1982

Hirshhorn Museum

Portraits by George Bellows

View 14 portraits by the distinguished American artist in the first exhibit to focus on his portraiture.

November 4, 1981 – January 3, 1982

Portrait Gallery

The Year of the Hopi

See 41 watercolors, delicate and precise, showing kachina dancers painted by artist Joseph Mora in the early 1900s.

November 13, 1981 – January 3, 1982

Natural History Museum

The Hopi Indians of northeastern Arizona believe that messenger spirits, called kachinas, come to live in their villages during the growing and harvest seasons. The Hopis celebrate this period with dances and ceremonies.

November 13, 1981 – January 3, 1982

Natural History Museum

American Association of University Women: 100 Years of Scholarship and Service

See objects associated with the achievements of Margaret Mead, Rachel Carson, Marie Curie, Marina del Prado Nunez and others--all examples of women whose work was supported by the fellowship program of AAUW.

November 6, 1981 – December 31, 1981

American History Museum

A Holiday Cornucopia

Admire and purchase handmade holiday ornaments and decorative arts by 17 artists, many of whom have been represented in past Renwick exhibitions.

December 1, 1981 – December 31, 1981

Renwick Gallery

Autumn's Voices

View 21 works of Japanese art--paintings, a piece of calligraphy, ceramics and 2 wooden drums--dating from the early 13th to the early 19th centuries, that show a variety of interpretations of autumnal motifs in Japanese art.

October 15, 1981 – December 13, 1981

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Revelations of Nature

Using close-up lenses, Greenwell reveals seldom observed and little known details in wildflowers, insects, birds, and mammals of the Washington area.

October 10, 1981 – December 6, 1981

Natural History Museum

Hearing Aids

Marvel at 25 objects, mostly 19th-century hearing devices-- trumpets, speaking tubes, ear scoops--from a recently acquired collection as well as selections from the permanent collection.

November 2, 1981 – December 3, 1981

American History Museum

The Photophone

Speak and hear yourself over an operational model of the 1880 photophone invented by Alexander Graham Bell.

June 1, 1981 – December 1, 1981

American History Museum

By Sea and By Land: Independence with the Help of France

See portraits, paintings, letters, swords, cannon, and other objects commemorating the bicentennial of the Battle of Yorktown, the decisive battle of the Revolutionary War.

October 10, 1981 – November 30, 1981

Smithsonian Castle

Mast, Foos & Co. Iron Wind Turbine Engine (windmill)

See a recently acquired windmill made by Mast, Foos & Co. around 1898.

November 1, 1981 – November 30, 1981

American History Museum

Ibero-American Art: Selections from the Hirshhorn Museum Collection

See 26 paintings, sculptures, and drawings by various Spanish, Mexican, South American, and Portuguese artists of the 20th century. The exhibition honors the millennium of the Castillian language and the fusion of Iberian cultures.

November 1, 1981 – November 15, 1981

Hirshhorn Museum

Americans in Glass

View blown, cast, fabricated, and engraved pieces of contemporary studio glass by 20 invited artists and 55 selected by jury.

August 25, 1981 – November 15, 1981

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Culture of Okinawa

See a musical instrument, costumes, and other artifacts, which reflect Okinawa's traditional role as a cultural crossroads for Asian arts.

November 4, 1981 – November 15, 1981

Natural History Museum

R.B. Kitaj

This exhibition, the first comprehensive retrospective of this American's works, includes 102 paintings and pastels.

September 17, 1981 – November 15, 1981

Hirshhorn Museum

Atomic Clock (Hydrogen Maser)

Observe the original Hydrogen Maser, the most stable and precise of atomic clocks, invented by Norman F. Ramsey of Harvard University.

August 25, 1980 – November 15, 1981

American History Museum

The Grand Beehive Exhibition

Enjoy approximately 100 objects that are diverse expressions of Utah's state symbol, the beehive, which was first adopted by the Mormon settlers of Utah,

April 24, 1981 – November 8, 1981

Renwick Gallery

Meat Inspection - 75 Years

See meat inspection equipment, photographs, and an autographed copy of "The Jungle," by Upton Sinclair, in this exhibition commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Meat Inspection Act of 1906.

September 30, 1981 – November 6, 1981

American History Museum

China's Inner Frontier

View prints from over 100 photographs taken by F.R. Wulsin's 1923 expedition to northwest China. The photographs, taken on one of the few Western expeditions to this region, portray the people and their way of life as well as panoramic landscapes.

October 8, 1981 – November 5, 1981

Natural History Museum

Magazine Covers: Art for the People

Enjoy more than 100 magazine covers and original art by artists, illustrators, and photographers--primarily European and American--from the mid-19th century to the present.

August 25, 1981 – November 1, 1981

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

New Accessions (20th-Century Art)

View 29 paintings, drawings, and sculptures, that highlight the museum's continuing program of acquiring contemporary works as well as those of historic significance.

June 12, 1981 – November 1, 1981

American Art Museum