Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

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

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

More Than Land Or Sky: Art from Appalachia

View an exhibition presenting the fine arts of the Appalachian region are 105 paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints and mixed media works by 69 artists.

October 30, 1981 – January 3, 1982

American Art Museum

Cast and Recast: The Sculpture of Frederic Remington

View 20 casts of Remington's best-known works, including early, late and posthumous casts, recasts from original bronzes, and replicas modeled by other artists. Also learn about French sand and lost wax casting through models, molds, tools, works in process, and photographs.

September 18, 1981 – January 3, 1982

American Art Museum

We Never Sleep: Fifty Years of Pinkerton Men

Follow the saga of Allan Pinkerton's rise from an incendiary labor agitator in Scotland to one of America's most prominent law and order advocates.

July 31, 1981 – January 3, 1982

Portrait Gallery

Space Shuttle Art

See 28 works of art documenting the development of the Space Shuttle project, commissioned by NASA to record key events in the U.S. space program.

November 1, 1981 – January 3, 1982

Air and Space Museum

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

Hopi Kachina: Spirit of Life

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

The Accomplishments of Age

Encounter 14 personalities who, in their seventies or older, made significant contributions to the life of the nation and are the subjects of a tribute in conjunction with the 1981 White House Conference on Aging.

November 1, 1981 – January 4, 1982

Portrait Gallery

Bonestell Space Art

Enjoy twenty "landscapes" by space artist Chesley Bonestell displayed with a photograph of the artist.

July 1, 1980 – January 14, 1982

Air and Space Museum

Screens of the Rimpa School

See 6 screens that typify the elegant and decorative painting of the 17th- and 18th-century Rimpa school of Japan.

October 10, 1980 – January 15, 1982

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

The John H. Phipps Donation (19th-Century Bird Volumes)

Take flight with a collection of rare 19th-century illustrated volumes of birds and other natural history subjects.

October 1, 1981 – January 15, 1982

American History Museum

Season's Greetings

Get in the holiday spirit with approximately 45 Christmas cards and related memorabilia.

December 5, 1981 – January 15, 1982

American History Museum

The Print in the U.S. from the 18th Century to the Present

Trace the development of American printmaking from small engraved works of the 18th century to the large prints of the past 25 years in this exhibition of 90 prints from several Smithsonian museums.

October 2, 1981 – January 17, 1982

American Art Museum

Immovable Objects: Suburbs

View original drawings, building and site plans, brochures and promotional literature, models, and photographs relating to suburbs.

November 10, 1981 – January 24, 1982

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Pottery by Maria Martinez

See 2 bowls by the celebrated American Indian potter, who is associated with a distinctive black pottery.

December 1, 1981 – January 31, 1982

Renwick Gallery

Nikola Tesla, Inventor and Electrical Engineer

Nikola Tesla, American inventor, is best known for his development of polyphase alternating current, the system now used worldwide. On view are pictures of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, where Tesla first presented his system to the public.

October 15, 1981 – January 31, 1982

American History Museum

The Imperial Image: Painting for the Mughal Court

See 74 works from 1560-1640, considered the most important period of Islamic art in India.

September 25, 1981 – January 31, 1982

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

Old Books, Rare Books?

See two old books, Picturesque America and The Nuremberg Chronicle, with information on how to judge if a volume is rare and possibly valuable, or simply old.

October 30, 1981 – January 31, 1982

Natural History Museum