Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

From the Regenia Perry Collection: The Backyard of Derek Webster's Imagination

This exhibition of nine pieces created by Derek Webster between 1980–1996 is from the Regenia A. Perry Folk Art Collection, part of the Anacostia Community Museum’s folk art collection.

October 17, 2016 – July 9, 2017

Anacostia Community Museum

Celebrate: John F. Kennedy

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery joins the nationwide celebration of the life and legacy of President John F. Kennedy on the centennial of his birth.

May 19, 2017 – July 9, 2017

Portrait Gallery

Body of Devotion: The Cosmic Buddha in 3D

Like all Buddhas (fully enlightened beings), the Cosmic Buddha, a life-size limestone figure of Vairochana, is wrapped in the simple robe of a monk. Body of Devotion is an interactive installation that explores not only the work itself, but also the evolving means and methods of studying sculpture, from rubbings and photographs to the technological possibilities of today.

January 30, 2016 – July 9, 2017

Asian Art Museum Sackler Gallery

Korea Gallery

On view are some 85 objects, including Korean ceramics, wooden furniture, stone and wooden sculptures, paintings, and textiles.

June 8, 2007 – July 5, 2017

Natural History Museum

American Ballet

This display showcases costumes worn by ballerinas Violette Verdy, Marianna Tcherkassky, and Misty Copeland.

January 25, 2017 – June 18, 2017

American History Museum

Double Take: Daguerreian Portrait Pairs

This show highlights the depth of the National Portrait Gallery’s early photography collection, featuring fourteen historic daguerreotypes—two portraits each of famous mid-19th century figures, including Frederick Douglass, Jenny Lind, Zachary Taylor, and Jefferson Davis.

June 17, 2016 – June 4, 2017

Portrait Gallery

For a Love of His People: The Photography of Horace Poolaw

Through the themes of portraiture, community, family, military, and performance, the exhibition gives a glimpse of Native life in 20th-century Oklahoma.

November 11, 2016 – June 4, 2017

American Indian Museum DC

Chinamania

Contemporary artist Walter McConnell interrogates the nineteenth century craze for Chinese blue-and-white ceramics through his reinstallation of Kangxi porcelains similar to those originally displayed in the Peacock Room.

July 9, 2016 – June 4, 2017

Asian Art Museum Sackler Gallery

Peacock Room REMIX: Darren Waterston's Filthy Lucre

Filthy Lucre, an immersive interior by painter Darren Waterston, reinterprets the James McNeill Whistler’s famed Peacock Room as a resplendent ruin.

May 16, 2015 – June 4, 2017

Asian Art Museum Sackler Gallery

Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye!

This small exhibition features historic Transformers toys and props used in the major motion picture.

January 22, 2010 – June 1, 2017

Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center

One Life: Babe Ruth

Babe Ruth's memorable persona is highlighted in a selection of historic prints, photographs and personal paraphernalia representing “the Babe” both as a Yankee slugger and a national celebrity.

June 24, 2016 – May 21, 2017

Portrait Gallery

Color in a New Light

Journeying through the collections of the Smithsonian Libraries—from chemistry to catalogs, from colorblind tests to couture—we might see color in a new light.

January 23, 2016 – May 15, 2017

Natural History Museum

New York City: A Portrait Through Stamp Art

This exhibition explores the diversity of topics highlighting the cultural heritage of New York City with thirty pieces of original artwork.

December 10, 2015 – May 14, 2017

Postal Museum

orchids: A MOMENT

The Smithsonian Gardens and United States Botanic Garden 2017 Orchid Exhibition, showcases over 100 orchids in a limited-time display amidst the Hirshhorn’s unique architecture.

January 14, 2017 – May 14, 2017

Hirshhorn Museum

Celebrate: Ella Fitzgerald

April 25 marks the 100th birthday of American jazz and popular song vocalist Ella Fitzgerald. The museum is recognizing the anniversary by displaying her photograph by William Gottlieb for the first time in the museum.

April 13, 2017 – May 14, 2017

Portrait Gallery

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

Bill Viola: The Moving Portrait

Video-art pioneer Bill Viola believes that cameras are the keepers of souls. From the moment he first picked up a video camera as an art student in 1970, he was captured by the technology. The exhibition Bill Viola and the Moving Portrait is the National Portrait Gallery’s first exhibition devoted to media art.

November 18, 2016 – May 7, 2017

Portrait Gallery

Kung Fu Wildstyle

This month-long exhibition and program series highlights connections between African American and East Asian art, music, and film.

April 1, 2017 – April 30, 2017

Asian Art Museum Sackler Gallery

Bettina Pousttchi: World Time Clock

Over the last seven years, artist Bettina Pousttchi traveled around the globe creating World Time Clock, a serial work that consists of twenty-four photographs taken in twenty-four different time zones, in cities as far-flung as Bangkok, Auckland, Mexico City, and Tashkent

June 9, 2016 – April 23, 2017

Hirshhorn Museum

Scraps: Fashion, Textiles, and Creative Reuse

Offering creative, alternative approaches to confronting textile waste, Scraps: Fashion, Textiles, and Creative Reuse will present the work of three designers who put sustainability at the heart of the design process.

September 23, 2016 – April 23, 2017

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

In Memoriam: Chuck Berry

The National Portrait Gallery recognizes the life and accomplishments of rock ’n’ roll legend Chuck Berry with a collage by Red Grooms (1978), currently installed in the museum’s In Memoriam space on the first floor.

March 21, 2017 – April 9, 2017

Portrait Gallery

Primordial Landscapes: Iceland Revealed

Photographer Feodor Pitcairn and poet Ari Trausti Guðmundsson reveal a land of fire, ice, hardy life, and natural beauty. Experience the remote beauty of Iceland, a land sculpted by the elements and forged by active geologic activity.

July 2, 2015 – April 3, 2017

Natural History Museum

Gene Davis: Hot Beat

Brightly colored stripes multiply in rhythmic repetitions across the surface of a painting by Gene Davis (1920-1985). Remarkably original when they first appeared in the 1960s, these paintings became the signature expression for one of the leading Color Field painters.

November 17, 2016 – April 2, 2017

American Art Museum

Harlem Heroes: Photographs by Carl Van Vechten

This installation, presented in celebration of the opening of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, features thirty-nine images, all works from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s permanent collection.

August 26, 2016 – April 2, 2017

American Art Museum

Passion for the Exotic: Louis Comfort Tiffany and Lockwood de Forest

This exhibition highlights the artistic glass production of one of America's most acclaimed designers. Tiffany’s tireless experimentation with new techniques and radiant hues is given added historical dimension through the exhibition's installation in the mansion's library designed by Tiffany's former business partner, Lockwood de Forest.

March 12, 2016 – March 26, 2017

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum