Current Exhibitions

My Visit

World of Stamps

See stamps that have shaped history and honored people and places around the world.

September 22, 2013 – Permanent

Postal Museum
My Visit

Window on Collections

These permanent displays feature more than 3,500 items from the museum's collection that reveal the remarkable breadth and diversity of Native American objects.

September 21, 2004 – Permanent

American Indian Museum DC
My Visit

Visual Art and the American Experience

This art exhibition illustrates the critical role that African American artists played in shaping the history of American art.

September 24, 2016 – Permanent

African American History and Culture Museum
My Visit

Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa's Arts

Visionary offers broad thematic connections between works from across the spectrum of times, places, and media represented in the museum’s holdings.

November 4, 2017 – Permanent

African Art Museum
My Visit

Unbound: Narrative Art of the Plains

This exhibition celebrates the full expression of narrative art among Native nations of the Great Plains.

June 1, 2024 – January 20, 2026

American Indian Museum DC
My Visit

Twentieth-Century Americans

Four galleries showcase the major cultural, scientific, and political figures of the 20th century.

July 1, 2006 – Permanent

Portrait Gallery
My Visit

Tsedaye Makonnen: Sanctuary :: መቅደስ :: Mekdes

Explore sculptures that explore the dehumanization of Black women and themes related to the power of motherhood and sisterly solidarity.

December 13, 2024 – Ongoing

African Art Museum
My Visit

The Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room

The Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room includes more than two hundred bronzes, paintings, silk hangings, and carpets that were created in Tibet, China, and Mongolia between the thirteenth and early twentieth centuries.

March 5, 2022 – Ongoing

Asian Art Museum Sackler Gallery
My Visit

The Struggle for Justice

This exhibition showcases major cultural and political figures who struggled to achieve civil rights for disenfranchised or marginalized groups.

February 12, 2010 – Permanent

Portrait Gallery
My Visit

The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture

The Shape of Power examines the ways in which sculpture has shaped and reflected attitudes and understandings about race in the U.S.

November 8, 2024 – September 14, 2025

American Art Museum
My Visit

The Peacock Room Comes to America

The Peacock Room invites visitors into its captivating environment to to seek out unexpected resonances across cultures and eras.

September 3, 2022 – Indefinitely

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery
My Visit

Added to My Visit Removed from My Visit

The Art of Knowing in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayas Added

~~The Art of Knowing in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayas~~ Removed

View My Visit

The Art of Knowing in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayas

The Art of Knowing brings together highlights from our collections to explore religious and practical knowledge across time, space, and cultures

March 25, 2023 – Ongoing

Asian Art Museum Sackler Gallery
My Visit

Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork

Contemporary Japanese metalworking breathes life into traditional methods that have been passed down and practiced over generations. The artists featured in Striking Objects create masterpieces that combine tradition with creativity and innovation.

March 2, 2024 – January 11, 2026

Asian Art Museum Sackler Gallery
My Visit

State Fairs: Growing American Craft

The first exhibition dedicated to artists’ contributions to the great U.S. tradition of state fairs.

August 22, 2025 – September 7, 2026

Renwick Gallery
My Visit

Added to My Visit Removed from My Visit

Star Power: Photographs from Hollywood’s Golden Age by George Hurrell Added

~~Star Power: Photographs from Hollywood’s Golden Age by George Hurrell~~ Removed

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Star Power: Photographs from Hollywood’s Golden Age by George Hurrell

George Hurrell created definitive, timeless images of many of the most glamorous figures of filmdom’s golden era.

March 1, 2024 – January 4, 2026

Portrait Gallery
My Visit

Stamps Around the Globe

Browse stamps from every country that has ever produced stamps—including countries that no longer exist!

September 22, 2013 – Permanent

Postal Museum
My Visit

Shifting Boundaries: Perspectives on American Landscapes

This exhibition explores the views of New England portrayed by American painters William Metcalf, Dwight Tryon, Winslow Homer, and Abbott Thayer and how they have evolved and been reshaped over time.

July 13, 2024 – July 26, 2026

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery
My Visit

Shahzia Sikander: The Last Post

Through precisely inked and animated scenes, this video artwork critically considers the legacy of British colonialism in Asia.

July 3, 2025 – July 12, 2026

American Art Museum
My Visit

Setting the Bar: Arts of the Song Dynasty

Elegance and refinement in form, line, and color characterize the visual arts of China during the Song dynasty. As new technology enhanced ceramic production and the number of kilns rose, fresh approaches to decoration developed.

October 14, 2017 – Indefinitely

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery
My Visit

Ruffled Feathers: Creating Whistler’s Peacock Room

Ruffled Feathers offers visitors a chance to explore the Peacock Room’s tangled history and the personal and global forces that shaped it.

July 13, 2024 – January 31, 2027

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery
My Visit

Revolutions: Art from the Hirshhorn Collection, 1860–1960

A major survey of artwork made during a transformative period characterized by new currents in science and philosophy, and ever-increasing mechanization.

March 22, 2024 – November 29, 2026

Hirshhorn Museum
My Visit

Rediscovering Korea's Past: Korean Ceramics

Today we admire the translucent gray-green celadon glaze on Korean ceramics of the Goryeo period as one of the great achievements of world potters.

October 14, 2017 – Indefinitely

Asian Art Museum Freer Gallery
My Visit

Reclaiming My Time

Works by contemporary Black designers engage ideas about cultural heritage, bodies at rest, and histories of labor and leisure.

May 31, 2024 – January 2026

African American History and Culture Museum
My Visit

Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience.

This exhibition explores how art depicts Black resistance, resilience, and protest.

September 10, 2021 – Ongoing

African American History and Culture Museum
My Visit

Recent Acquisitions, 2023

Recent Acquisitions showcases 21 additions to the National Portrait Gallery’s collection with an exclusive focus on portraits representing women or made by women.

November 3, 2023 – October 19, 2025

Portrait Gallery

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