Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Kitsch to Corbusier: Wallpaper from the 1950s

See how post-WWII interests are expressed in over 50 wallpaper designs by Le Corbusier, Calder, Matisse, and Miro.

April 11, 1995 – August 20, 1995

Field for Dreams: A Recently Acquired 18th-Century Bedcover

See a rare English embroidered bedcovering made between 1720 - 1740 and other related items from the museum's collection.

June 6, 1995 – August 20, 1995

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Art Deco New York: The Chanin Gates

Examine the Art Deco gates, designed by architect Irwin Chanin, acquired by Cooper-Hewitt when New York City's Chanin Building was sold.

April 5, 1994 – August 20, 1995

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

An Introduction to the Carnegie Mansion

Visit an exhibition that introduces the history of the mansion now housing the museum.

August 16, 1994 – August 20, 1995

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

In Pursuit of the Butterfly: Portraits of James McNeill Whistler

View 80 paintings, sculptures, prints, and photos that show aspects of the artist's public and private lives (1834-1903) as portrayed by fellow artists.

April 7, 1995 – August 13, 1995

Portrait Gallery

The Passionate Observer: Photographs by Carl Van Vechten

See 76 portrait photographs that serve as a visual catalogue of the artist's life and times from 1880-1964.

June 16, 1995 – August 13, 1995

Portrait Gallery

The Harmon and Harriet Kelley Collection of African American Art

This exhibition features 123 paintings, photos, and sculptures by 71 African American artists of the 19th and 20th centuries.

April 20, 1995 – July 30, 1995

Anacostia Community Museum

...and They Called Us 'colored'

See 30 photographs of early 20th-century Seward, Oklahoma, taken by African American photographers Opal Childs-Glover and Fred Younger.

January 24, 1995 – July 30, 1995

American History Museum

1995 Discover Graphics

View 41 graphics created by students of Discover Graphics, a project of The Smithsonian Associates. The works were selected by a panel of Smithsonian Institution graphic arts curators.

May 20, 1995 – July 17, 1995

Ripley Center

Images of Vietnam: March 1970 - February 1971

See Vietnam photos by Stephen Warner, army journalist and Gettysburg College graduate.

February 7, 1995 – July 16, 1995

American History Museum

Cape Verde Photographs

See an exhibit of photographs by Ron Barboza being held in conjunction with Smithsonian's Folklife Festival.

June 17, 1995 – July 15, 1995

Ripley Center

Will Barnet: An Intimate View from the Museum's Collection

Paintings, prints, and newly acquired drawings span 6 decades and several styles of this artist's work from the museum's collection.

March 17, 1995 – July 4, 1995

American Art Museum

Directions: Cindy Sherman: Film Stills

View 69 black-and-white photographs made between 1977 and 1980 that suggest stills from Grade-B, Hitchcock-esque, noir films.

March 15, 1995 – June 25, 1995

Hirshhorn Museum

1995 Presidential Scholars Installation

This exhibition features art by high school students selected as 1995 Presidential Scholars in the Visual Arts.

June 2, 1995 – June 20, 1995

American Art Museum

Marriage in Form: Kay Sekimachi and Bob Stocksdale

View 36 baskets and woven hangings by Sekimachi and 42 turned wooden bowls by Stocksdale.

March 31, 1995 – June 18, 1995

Renwick Gallery

Uncommon Beauty in Common Objects: The Legacy of African American Craft Art

See one of the first circulating exhibits of African American crafts featuring works by 85 recognized and emerging artists from across the country.

April 7, 1995 – June 18, 1995

Renwick Gallery

Aerial Inspirations: Silk Batiks by Mary Edna Fraser

Admire 50 of Mary Edna Fraser's large-scale, silk batik art works, which demonstrate the interplay of water, land, and sky patterns. Images are based on her own aerial photography as well as satellite images.

September 9, 1994 – June 4, 1995

Air and Space Museum

Fifty Years a King: Thailand's American Born Monarch

View 43 photographs honoring the King of Thailand to celebrate Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month.

May 23, 1995 – June 4, 1995

Natural History Museum

Air Traffic Control in the U.S.: The First 50 Years

Examine the past, present, and future of air traffic control in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of air traffic control in the U.S.

July 6, 1986 – June 1, 1995

Air and Space Museum

Artistic Impressions of Ellington

As part of the Duke Ellington Youth Project, see over 50 artworks by students from 18 D.C. public schools including sculptures, photographs, silk-screens, and water color prints.

April 28, 1995 – May 31, 1995

American History Museum

Landscape As Culture: Photographs by Lois Conner

See how 87 platinum photographs, taken with a 100-year-old banquet camera, reveal the intersection of nature and humanity in China and South Asia.

August 14, 1994 – May 30, 1995

Asian Art Museum, East Building

Recent Acquisitions (1994-95)

On view are recently acquired color carbro photographic prints and caricatures. The prints by Harry Warnecke are of Lucille Ball and Orson Welles. The caricatures are by Alfred Frueh.

December 9, 1994 – May 29, 1995

Portrait Gallery

Federal Profiles: Saint-Memin in America, 1793-1814

Visit a portrain record of Federal America by French artist Saint-Memin, including those of Thomas Jefferson, Stephen Decatur, Meriwether Lewis, and Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton.

December 2, 1994 – May 29, 1995

Portrait Gallery

Art Changes Things: The Art and Activism of Georgette Seabrooke Powell

Georgette Seabrooke Powell is an artist, activist, art therapist, educator, and nonprofit executive in Washington, D.C. On view is a retrospective spanning her sixty-year career.

March 4, 1995 – May 28, 1995

Anacostia Community Museum

Elaine Lustig Cohen: Modern Graphic Designer

Visit books, stationery, signage, and other works that reveal Cohen's importance in the evolution of design.

February 7, 1995 – May 23, 1995

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum