Past Exhibitions

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

Women and Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America

See rare artifacts and photographs from more than 400 communities that explore the role of Catholic sisters in American life.

January 15, 2010 – April 25, 2010

Ripley Center

Women and Rookwood Pottery

Founded in 1880 by Maria Longworth Nichols in Cincinnati, the company developed various types of art pottery which influenced the art pottery movement of the late 19th century.

August 1, 1974 – August 31, 1974

Women and Flight

Take in 75 black-and-white photographs of 37 women currently involved in aviation and space exploration by staff photographer Carolyn J. Russo.

June 14, 1997 – September 12, 1997

Air and Space Museum

Women War Workers

Though objects and photos, this showcase examines the issue of women working in industries during WWII, and the conflicts resulting from reduced opportunities at the war's end.

May 27, 1995 – March 27, 1996

View approximately 300 photographic and installation-based works of Wolfgang Tillmans, internationally recognized for his photography that captures often overlooked objects and moments in everyday life.

May 10, 2007 – August 12, 2007

Wolfgang Laib: A Retrospective

Survey the work of German artist Wolfgang Laib (b. 1950) who since the mid-1970s has deepened the Minimalist aesthetic by creating objects from pure organic materials.

October 26, 2000 – January 22, 2001

Within the Emperor's Garden, The Ten Thousand Springs Pavilion

See a model of the Ten Thousand Springs Pavilion (Wan Chun Ting), a celebrated example of classic Chinese architecture in the Forbidden City in Beijing, China, made by Chinese artisans demonstrating traditional Chinese carving and fine furniture techniques.

April 18, 2007 – June 3, 2007

Ripley Center

With Pen and Graver: Women Graphic Artists Before 1900

The changing role of women in the 19th and early 20th century is examined through prints, photographs of women printmakers, copperplates, books, and tools.

February 24, 1995 – January 28, 1996

Wish You Were Here: Artists on Vacation

View snapshots, sketchbooks, and postcards -- to name a few -- that illustrate artists on vacation.

June 28, 2007 – September 21, 2007

Archives of American Art

Wish Tree for Washington, D.C.

A summer favorite, Ono’s interactive artwork invites visitors to tie handwritten wishes to branches of a living Japanese dogwood tree.

June 23, 2018 – September 3, 2018

Winter into Spring: American Landscapes

Visit a group of 19 American landscapes by American artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that includes oil paintings, watercolors, and pastels by Whistler, Dewing, Thayer, Tryon, Metcalf, and Charles Adams Platt, architect of the Freer.

March 1, 1982 – May 31, 1982

Winter Sports

See prints of wintry scenes; picture post cards, some 100 years old; and several 18th and 19th century sleighs.

December 1, 1977 – December 31, 1977

Winter Relief: A Selection of Relief Prints

See a selection of black-and-white and color prints depicting winter scenes.

January 15, 1992 – February 15, 1992

Winston Spencer Churchill

See a portrait, photographs and cartoons that are used to illustrate the multi-facets of his long career.

November 27, 1974 – January 30, 1975

Portrait Gallery

Winston S. Churchill: Painting as a Pastime

View 50 paintings by the renowned statesman and honorary American citizen that make up a virtual diary of his private life after 1915, including landscapes from his home and travels and portraits of his family and friends.

September 21, 1983 – November 2, 1983

Smithsonian Castle

Winslow Homer: Four Views of Nature

See three technically innovative watercolors and the monumental oil painting Early Evening, painted by American artist Winslow Homer.

November 22, 2008 – May 25, 2009

Winslow Homer in the 1890s: Prout's Neck Observed

Explore Homer's favorite themes of man and nature, fishermen and the sea, and his home and family in 15 paintings and 13 works on paper.

February 8, 1991 – May 27, 1991

American Art Museum

Winslow Homer Drawings

Visit a selection of works from the Cooper Hewitt National Museum of Design's collections to mark the opening of that museum in New York.

October 7, 1976 – December 12, 1976

Winogrand 1964

See 185 photographs of America taken in 1964, a year after the assassination of President Kennedy, that reflect the country at a cultural crossroads from the Civil Rights movement to the Vietnam War.

September 3, 2004 – November 28, 2004

Ripley Center

Winners of the 1997-1998 Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest

The 50 state winners of the 1997-1998 Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest are on view.

July 11, 1997 – July 30, 1997

Postal Museum

Winged Spirits: Birds in Chinese Painting

Examine birds in Chinese paintings that are rendered in such fine detail that more than 35 species can be scientifically identified.

February 11, 2012 – August 12, 2012

Winged Figures

Honor Abbott Thayer's birth 150 years ago with three of his monumental winged-figure paintings.

June 5, 1999 – March 18, 2001