Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Our Changing Land

In this exhibition, a life-size, primeval forest gives way to an Indian corn field; and then to an abandoned tobacco farm; and finally to roads, bridges, and parkland surrounding a modern capital city.

November 4, 1975 – September 30, 1980

Natural History Museum

Masterworks of Korean Art

View 48 pieces of ceramics with celadon and other glazes, metalwork, and a small group of paintings from the 3rd and 1st centuries B.C. to the 15th century.

March 19, 1980 – October 3, 1980

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Art Deco Posters from the Collection of the Library of Congress

On exhibit are 20 posters created in the 1920s and early 1930s by such artists as Cassandre, Carlu, and E. McKnight Kauffer. The exhibition is augmented by a poster by Cassandre from the Hirshhorn collection.

July 31, 1980 – October 5, 1980

Hirshhorn Museum

Max Weber: Prints and Color Variations

Enjoy 105 small abstract relief prints, including color variations pulled from the same block, as well as hand-colored lithographs.

July 11, 1980 – October 5, 1980

American Art Museum

Supermarkets: Fifty Years

This case features a 1937 Goldman Supermarket Cart (patented 1938), filled with 1930s grocery packages from the Smithsonian collections.

August 15, 1980 – October 13, 1980

American History Museum

Beach, Boardwalk, Boulevard

Enjoy about 100 framed color photographs and graphic panels, printed memorabilia and related artifacts such as a wicker boardwalk chair and bathing costume from the turn of the century.

August 26, 1980 – October 19, 1980

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Mustard Pots from the Colman Collection

Admire more than 150 silver mustard containers made by British silversmiths, ranging in date from 1724 to the present.

August 26, 1980 – October 19, 1980

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Wallpaper from the Cooper-Hewitt Collection

See some 150 Chinese, European, and American wallcoverings dating from the late17th to the early 20th centuries.

August 12, 1980 – October 26, 1980

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Recent Acquisitions (20th-Century Works)

See 20th-century works by Alexander Brook, Joseph Cornell, Emilio Cruz, Morris Louis, Herman Maril, Reginald Marsh, Howard Mehring, Milton Resnick, and Mark Rothko.

August 16, 1980 – October 26, 1980

American Art Museum

Early Museums

Two historic museum catalogs from SI collections, one dated 16th century, the other 18th century, are supplemented by natural history objects representative of Renaissance museum collections. I

June 1, 1980 – October 31, 1980

Natural History Museum

Electroworks

Explore more than 250 examples of prints, limited-edition books, graphics, animation, textiles, and 3-D pieces produced by artists and designers on office copy machines.

September 2, 1980 – November 2, 1980

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

The Image of the Black in Western Art

See a representative selection of reproductions of art and artifacts from Egypt, Nubia, the Greco-Roman world, Byzantium, and medieval Western Europe in 100 framed photographs.

September 27, 1980 – November 2, 1980

African Art Museum

Unsuccessful Candidates for the Presidency, 1912-1976

Visit likenesses of Norman Thomas, Henry Wallace, Adlai Stevenson, Barry Goldwater, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford in a small exhibit.

July 3, 1980 – November 9, 1980

Portrait Gallery

Contemporary Crafts from Oregon

Admire and purchase articles of glass, wood, ceramics, textiles, paper, and wood created by members of the Contemporary Crafts Association, Portland.

October 2, 1980 – November 9, 1980

Renwick Gallery

Chinese Calligraphy

View 28 written scrolls and rubbings in a major exhibition of calligraphy, regarded by the Chinese as the supreme artistic achievement.

May 9, 1980 – November 10, 1980

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Belgian Lace

Admire 87 items of clothing and accessories created in various techniques--bobbin, needle, mixed techniques, and "fake" lace--dating from the late 19th century to the present.

May 16, 1980 – November 11, 1980

Renwick Gallery

Berlin Porcelain

See 196 objects documenting the work of the State Porcelain Factory, KPM, founded in the 18th century, including pieces created for Frederick the Great in 1868 and Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1903.

September 12, 1980 – November 23, 1980

Renwick Gallery

Native Flora of Louisiana

See approximately 50 watercolors of Louisiana plants executed by Margaret Stones, a British botanical artist, for Louisiana State University.

September 27, 1980 – November 23, 1980

Natural History Museum

Zelda and Scott: The Beautiful and Damned

The Fitzgeralds and their circle, the glamorous celebrities who exemplified the Jazz Age, are seen in portraits and photographs, manuscripts and memorabilia.

June 6, 1980 – November 30, 1980

Portrait Gallery

Recent Accessions

This case features several objects chosen to represent the broad interests of the Department of History of Science and Technology.

October 20, 1980 – November 30, 1980

American History Museum

Man & Beast: The Washington Print Club 8th Biennial Members' Exhibition

Enjoy 64 American and European works on paper, considered by club members to be the choicest in their private collections.

September 18, 1980 – November 30, 1980

American Art Museum

Official Photographs: Portraits of the Carter Administration

See 24 photographic portraits of both former and current members of the Carter Administration.

October 1, 1980 – November 30, 1980

Portrait Gallery

Appliqued Textiles of the Dahomey Kingdom

View 18 colorful textile hangings, traditional symbols of power in the royal courts of the Fon people of the Republic of Benin (formerly Dahomey). A Fon royal palace courtyard is re-created in the exhibition gallery.

April 15, 1980 – December 14, 1980

African Art Museum

Edwin Dickinson: Selected Landscapes

The 56 oil paintings of New England and French scenes, with broad, atmospheric areas of color and form, span the career (1891-1978) of the American artist, known for poetic interpretations of nature.

September 18, 1980 – December 14, 1980

Hirshhorn Museum

The Craft of Sound: Three Centuries of Viola Da Gamba

View 15 antique instruments and bows, most of which are on loan from the Caldwell Collection

December 1, 1980 – December 15, 1980

American History Museum