Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Lines, Marks, and Drawings: Through the Lens of Roger Ballen

Experience how artist Roger Ballen organizes visual chaos into visual coherency.

June 19, 2013 – June 30, 2014

African Art Museum

Pollinarium

Living plants, butterflies, and bees are used to explore pollination.

April 19, 1996 – June 21, 2014

National Zoo

This exhibition is home to dozens of invertebrate species -- the most abundant creatures on earth -- from sea stars to spiny lobsters, to giant African millipedes, to tarantulas, to a giant Pacific octopus.

May 7, 1987 – June 21, 2014

National Zoo

Gravity's Edge

Exhibition of works by Morris Louis, Helen Frankenthaler, Anne Truitt, and others trace the exploration of the force of gravity and new perceptions of the edge in the process and understanding of postwar art.

February 7, 2014 – June 15, 2014

Hirshhorn Museum

Before and After the Horizon: Anishinaabe Artists of the Great Lakes

See how Native Anishinaabe artists past and present have been inspired by their deep indigenous roots in the Great Lakes region.

August 10, 2013 – June 15, 2014

American Indian Museum New York

In Memoriam: Maya Angelou

See a portrait of writer, poet, and activist Maya Angelou (1928-1914) by painter Ross Rossin.

May 29, 2014 – June 12, 2014

Portrait Gallery

Whales: From Bone to Book

Trace the process of Natural History from the discovery of a whale fossil on a beach to museum drawer to scientific illustration.

May 25, 2013 – June 8, 2014

Natural History Museum

Perspectives: Rina Banerjee

Artist Rina Banerjee's latest site-specific sculptural assemblage, A world lost, touches on themes of migration and transformation.

July 13, 2013 – June 8, 2014

Asian Art Museum Sackler Gallery

American Heroes

Despite the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, more than 33,000 nisei (second generation) volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army. Many served in the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and the Military Intelligence Service. On view is the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to those units in 2010.

February 19, 2014 – June 2, 2014

American History Museum

Commemorating Controversy: The Dakota—U.S. War of 1862

Explore the causes, voices, events, and long-lasting consequences of the conflict between Dakota akicitas (warriors) and the U.S. military and immigrant settlers.

January 11, 2014 – June 1, 2014

American Indian Museum New York

Meade Brothers: Pioneers in American Photography

Learn about the lives and careers of Charles R. Meade and Henry W. M. Meade, who are recognized as leading members of the first generation of American studio photographers.

June 14, 2013 – June 1, 2014

Portrait Gallery

One Life: Martin Luther King Jr.

Trace the trajectory of Martin Luther King Jr.’s career, from his rise to prominence as the leader of the national civil rights movement to his work as an anti-war activist and advocate for those living in poverty.

June 28, 2013 – June 1, 2014

Portrait Gallery

In Memoriam: Mickey Rooney

See a portrait of award-winning actor Mickey Rooney.

April 9, 2014 – May 28, 2014

Portrait Gallery

Making Marks: Prints from Crow's Shadow Press

See prints by contemporary Native American artists working at Crow's Shadow Press.

January 17, 2014 – May 26, 2014

American Indian Museum DC

Red Bull Stratos: Mission to the Edge of Space

See the pressurized balloon gondola in which Felix Baumgartner traveled to the edge of space.

April 2, 2014 – May 26, 2014

Air and Space Museum

Damage Control: Art and Destruction since 1950

This ground-breaking exhibition explores the theme of destruction in international contemporary visual culture.

October 24, 2013 – May 26, 2014

Hirshhorn Museum

Black Box: Santiago Sierra and Jorge Galindo

View video installation by 2 contemporary Spanish artists who combine “found” audio and fabricated visual elements to resonate beyond specific national associations, questioning the nature of political power.

February 14, 2014 – May 18, 2014

Hirshhorn Museum

Camilla's Purse

See what Holocaust survivor Camilla (Mia) Klaber Gottlieb carried in her purse to preserve her memories before, during, and after World War II.

January 24, 2014 – May 4, 2014

American History Museum

Dinosaurs: Reptiles, Masters of Land

All of the old favorites are on view in the exhibition hall—Diplodocus, T. rex, and Triceratops—and more.

December 4, 1981 – April 27, 2014

Natural History Museum

Fossil Plants and Animals: The Conquest of Land

Focus on the earliest plants and animals that evolved the complex adaptations needed to live on land through this exhibition.

April 17, 1980 – April 27, 2014

Natural History Museum

Fossil Mammals: Mammals in the Limelight

This exhibition focuses on the spectacular evolution of mammals as the dominant class of vertebrates following the extinction of the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago.

May 30, 1985 – April 27, 2014

Natural History Museum

Yousuf Karsh: American Portraits, Part I

Photographic portraits by Yousuf Karsh (1908–2002) include those of Georgia O’Keeffe, Jonas Salk, Marian Anderson, Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Arden, I. M. Pei, Isamu Noguchi, and Eleanor Roosevelt.

November 8, 2013 – April 27, 2014

Portrait Gallery

Early Life: Earliest Traces of Life

An overview of the origin and early evolution of life is presented.

June 27, 1986 – April 27, 2014

Natural History Museum

Women in Chinese Painting

Paintings in this exhibition illustrate the active and critical roles women played in traditional Chinese society.

November 9, 2013 – April 27, 2014

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Monuments Men: On the Frontline to Save Europe's Art, 1942-1946

Learn about the Monument Men, the U.S. Army unit charged with protecting European cultural sites from Allied bombing during World War II, and with recovering art looted by the Nazis after the war.

February 7, 2014 – April 21, 2014

Archives of American Art