Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Galleries for 18th to Early 20th Century Art

Selections from the permanent collection offer insights into the rich artistic and cultural history of the United States.

July 1, 2006 – September 21, 2025

American Art Museum

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 – September 15, 2025

Asian Art Museum, West Building

Time and Navigation: The Untold Story of Getting from Here to There

This exhibition reveals why a good clock is crucial to navigation and how increasingly accurate timekeeping has influenced how we find our way.

April 12, 2013 – March 27, 2022

Air and Space Museum

The Great Inka Road: Engineering an Empire

Explores the foundations of the Inka Road in earlier Andean cultures and the legacy of the Inka Empire during the colonial period and in the present day.

June 26, 2015 – June 27, 2021

American Indian Museum DC

Trailblazing: 100 Years of Our National Parks

Featuring original postage stamp art from the United States Postal Service and artifacts loaned by the National Park Service, the exhibition explores the myriad—and sometimes surprising—ways that mail moves to, through and from our national parks.

June 9, 2016 – March 3, 2019

Postal Museum

Cultivating America's Gardens

Highlights early horticulture publications using books and objects from Libraries and Gardens collections of the Smithsonian.

May 4, 2017 – September 16, 2018

American History Museum

Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation

Learn about the Indian American experience and their dynamic role in shaping American society.

February 27, 2014 – August 16, 2015

Natural History Museum