Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Selling American Ideas: The Advertising Council, 1942-1992

A small display and a video series trace the evolution of Ad Council campaigns.

May 11, 1992 – August 30, 1992

American History Museum

The Metric System in America: Improvement or Inconvenience?

Trace the development of the metric system from the 1790s to the present.

September 3, 1991 – August 19, 1992

American History Museum

Poster Portraits

This exhibition features posters promoting wild west shows, athletic events, political campaigns, and Hollywood films.

March 27, 1992 – August 16, 1992

Portrait Gallery

Arnold Newman's Americans

See Newman's photographs of major personalities of post-depression America that were published in such national magazines as Life, Look, Fortune, and Holiday.

April 15, 1992 – August 16, 1992

Portrait Gallery

Directions: Thomas Struth: Museum Photographs

Recent large-scale color photographs by this German artist document visitors gazing at masterpieces in European art museums.

May 21, 1992 – August 16, 1992

Hirshhorn Museum

When Kingship Descended from Heaven: Masterpieces of Mesopotamian Art from the Louvre

See 32 objects created between 3500 B.C. and 2230 B.C. in the kingdoms of Sumer and Akkad that explore the relationship between kingship and society.

March 8, 1992 – August 9, 1992

Asian Art Museum, East Building

Joyful Noise: The Roots of New Orleans Music

Visit an exhibition of photographs documenting New Orleans street music.

January 21, 1992 – July 26, 1992

American History Museum

John McQueen: The Language of Containment

Enjoy this artist's first solo exhibition of 43 baskets made of unconventional natural materials, with written text often woven into their forms, becoming literally containers of language.

March 20, 1992 – July 26, 1992

Renwick Gallery

Views of Paradise: Tile Paintings by Marie Balian

View an exhibition of tile paintings depicting Middle Eastern gardens by Marie Balian, an artist of Armenian descent.

February 29, 1992 – July 26, 1992

Ripley Center

Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation, 1965-1985

Celebrating the Columbus Quincentenary, this survey of works by Mexican American artists incorporates their social and cultural context.

May 8, 1992 – July 26, 1992

American Art Museum

1992 Discover Graphics

View a display of 60 graphics selected from artwork created by 150 students in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area.

May 16, 1992 – July 19, 1992

Ripley Center

Working People

Award-winning photographer Milton Rogovin documents the shared experiences of steel workers and coal miners around the world.

January 21, 1992 – July 19, 1992

American History Museum

Recent Acquisitions (1991-1992)

See paintings, sculpture, photographs, prints, and drawings of notable Americans acquired by the gallery during the past year, including images of George Washington, Thomas Paine, Fritz Kreisler, Theodore Dreiser, Will Rogers, and George Balanchine.

May 9, 1991 – July 12, 1992

Portrait Gallery

Art As Activist: Revolutionary Posters from Eastern and Central Europe

View a collection of 82 revolutionary posters created during 1989-1990 by prominent as well as unknown artists.

June 8, 1992 – July 12, 1992

Ripley Center

Lincoln and His Contemporaries: Photographs by Mathew Brady from Frederick Hill Meserve Collection

See an exhibition of 60 prints made from the original Mathew Brady glass plate negatives of mid-19th-century Americans, including Abraham Lincoln and P.T. Barnum.

February 1, 1991 – July 12, 1992

Portrait Gallery

About Faces: Ceramics Face Vessels

View a showcase of approximately 18 decorated ceramic jugs made in the mid-19th century.

February 4, 1992 – July 7, 1992

American History Museum

Between Home and Heaven: Contemporary American Landscape Photography

Reconsider America's relationship to the land by addressing a broad spectrum of issues related to individual and cultural interaction with the natural landscape in these 131 works created by photographers.

March 6, 1992 – June 28, 1992

American Art Museum

Elizabeth Layton: Drawing on Life

Approximately 30 drawings by Elizabeth Layton on such themes as aging, depression, dieting, marriage, death, grandmothering, world hunger, and the nuclear threat are featured in this retrospective.

April 3, 1992 – June 28, 1992

American Art Museum

Martin Puryear

Trace Washington-born Martin Puryear's evolution as a sculptor from the early 1970s to the present through about 35 works in wood, rawhide, and other materials.

February 5, 1992 – June 21, 1992

Hirshhorn Museum

The Levy-Franks Family Colonial Portraits

Visit 7 portraits painted between 1725 and 1735 that are among the few surviving family portrait groupings from the colonial period.

February 1, 1992 – May 31, 1992

Portrait Gallery

Time Covers the War: Personalities from World War II

Visit an exhibition of Time magazine covers marking the 50th anniversary of America's entrance into World War II.

December 7, 1991 – May 17, 1992

Portrait Gallery

Collecting Portrait Prints: Washington Print Club Biennial

See 54 portrait prints, dating from the 15th century to the present.

December 17, 1991 – May 17, 1992

Portrait Gallery

The Art of Painting a Story: Narrative Images from Iran

View 28 paintings from Persian histories, epics, romances, and mystical poems that describe Iran's imaginative illustrative traditions.

December 22, 1991 – May 10, 1992

Asian Art Museum, East Building

Directions: Francesc Torres: Memorial

A dramatic sculptural environment by this Spanish-born, New York-based artist offers reflections on the Persian Gulf War.

February 13, 1992 – May 3, 1992

Hirshhorn Museum

The "Edgehill" Portrait of Thomas Jefferson

Admire the painting of American president and gentleman scholar Thomas Jefferson, painted by renowned American artist Gilbert Stuart.

May 18, 1989 – May 1, 1992

Portrait Gallery