Past Exhibitions

Asian Art Museum Sackler Gallery

A Glimpse of Ancient Yemen

A Glimpse of Ancient Yemen highlights a small selection of objects that were excavated from the region by the pioneer archaeologist Wendell Phillips and his team in 1950 and 1951.

August 18, 2018 – March 13, 2020

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

A Human Ideal in African Art/Bamana Figurative Sculpture

View 45 sculptures in an exhibition that explores and illustrates the traditional use of the human image in the art of the Mali's Bamana people.

April 30, 1986 – June 15, 1986

African Art Museum

A Jeweler's Art: Masterpieces from Van Cleef & Arpels

View brooches, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, vanity and powder boxes, watches, evening bags, and special commissions dating from the 1920s through the 1950s.

July 13, 1990 – November 30, 1990

Asian Art Museum Sackler Gallery

A Jeweler's Eye: Islamic Arts of the Book from the Vever Collection

View 160 Persian and Indian paintings, manuscripts, calligraphies, and bookbindings, that offer a comprehensive survey of the art of the Islamic book from the 11th to the 19th centuries.

November 20, 1988 – April 30, 1989

A Journey Through Chinese Hell: "Hell Scrolls" of Taiwan

View two rare sets of Chinese "Hell Scrolls," which depict the 10 stages or "courts" of hell, as envisioned by this culture.

September 6, 1990 – March 10, 1991

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery

A Journey of Taste: Freer and Japanese Scroll Mounting 

Explore the mountings that surround East Asian paintings and their relationship not only to the artworks displayed in this exhibition but also to Chinese and Japanese works throughout the museum.

April 15, 2023 – March 3, 2024

A King and His Cloth: Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh I

See an exhibition featuring the 7x10' "adinkra" cloth owned by Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh I, king of Asante in Ghana from 1888 to 1896.

January 29, 1997 – March 23, 1997

African Art Museum

A Knot of Dreamers: The Brook Farm Community, 1841-1847

Examine the 19th-century agrarian-related idealistic community of Massachusetts through paintings, portraits, furnishings and memorabilia.

August 6, 1976 – September 19, 1976

Portrait Gallery

A Korean American Century

This comprehensive display of photographs focuses on the historic events affecting Korean immigration, and on the achievements of Korean Americans.

January 22, 2003 – June 8, 2003

A Korean Village in Transition: An Anthropological Field Trip

See more than 150 objects -- handicrafts juxtaposed against their factory-made replacements--that illustrate the effect of modernization on the traditions and techniques in Korea.

November 1, 1977 – December 15, 1977

A Letter from George Washington, November 30, 1785

On view is the letter George Washington wrote on November 30, 1785, to David Stuart, a trusted associate and stepfather to Washington's grandchildren.

February 25, 2010 – May 7, 2010

A Life in Art: Alma W. Thomas, 1891-1978

The 47 paintings, sculpture, and works on paper survey the career of Alma Thomas who, following many years as a teacher in the Washington public schools, began to paint when she was in her sixties and became nationally known for her abstractions.

November 26, 1981 – March 21, 1982

American Art Museum

A Magic Web: The Tropical Forest of Barro Colorado Island

See 40 photographs taken by ecologist Christian Ziegler at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute on Panama's Barro Colorado Island.

November 3, 2003 – June 6, 2004

National Zoo

A Material World

Through artifacts dating from the 1700s to the 1980s, this exhibition traces the changes in the material composition of objects of everyday life.

April 8, 1988 – December 1, 2002

A Material World: Swamp Rat XXX

See the 30th "Swamp Rat" designed by Don Garlits, the first top-fuel dragster to exceed 270 mph in a quarter-mile sprint.

October 20, 1987 – February 5, 2003

A Measure of Beauty: The Diffusion of Style in Early 19th-Century America

Visit about 80 prints, drawings, watercolors, bank notes, bandboxes and pieces of wallpaper by artists of the early 1800s, who emulated the standards of the antique works of Greece and Rome.

July 6, 1973 – August 5, 1973

American Art Museum

A Measure of Earth: The Cole-Ware Collection of American Baskets

See a collection of modern baskets that reveal the central role basketry has played in the everyday life of Americans.

October 17, 2013 – December 8, 2013

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

A Memorial to Jan Palach

Visit an exhibition that documents the memorial built in Prague to Czech Jan Palach through 2 scale models designed by architect John Hejduk, accompanied by David Shapiro's poem.

April 6, 1993 – September 26, 1993

A Modern Consciousness: D. J. DePree and Florence Knoll

Honor two designers of 20th century American furniture who contributed greatly to the success of two major companies, Herman Miller Incorporated and Knoll International. Some 50 pieces of furniture are on display.

April 11, 1975 – November 9, 1975

A More Perfect Union: American Artists and the Currents of Our Time

In celebration of its 60th anniversary, Art in Embassies’ traveling exhibition, A More Perfect Union: American Artists and the Currents of Our Time, will be on view at the National Museum of American History September 19–October 1, 2023.

September 19, 2023 – October 1, 2023

A More Perfect Union: Japanese Americans and the U.S. Constitution

Witness the experiences of Japanese Americans during WWII; decision-making and citizen action under the U.S. Constitution.

October 1, 1987 – January 11, 2004