Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Chinese Lacquered Furniture

Visit 4 examples of Chinese lacquered furniture from the 15th to the 18th century.

October 14, 1990 – July 14, 1991

Beyond the Java Sea: Art of Indonesia's Outer Islands

Approximately 200 masterworks of Indonesian art illustrate diverse Indonesian cultural life, including large stone sculptures, intricate gold jewelry, clothing, and textiles.

April 19, 1991 – July 14, 1991

Natural History Museum

Dancing Traditions: Plains Dolls

View 10 dolls including female and male doll dancers with original regalia by Charles Chief Eagle (Oglala Sioux).

March 13, 1991 – July 14, 1991

American Indian Museum New York

Crossroads/Footprints/Dreamkeeper

Engage in a video/audio installation to explore African/Diaspora symbolic language, including religious icons, African drumming, and scenes of everyday life.

June 3, 1991 – July 7, 1991

Arts and Industries Building

Traditional Native American Textiles from Bolivia

See textiles from two Andean regions of Bolivia: Jalq'a and Tarabuco, near the city of Sucre.

June 28, 1991 – July 7, 1991

Ripley Center

Brazil Via New York/Oxygen Share

Learn about the depletion of the Brazilian rain forest in an exhibition dedicated to Chico Mendes, recently murdered activist and popular leader.

April 17, 1991 – July 7, 1991

Arts and Industries Building

The Works of the 1990 Presidential Scholars in the Arts: Visual Arts and Writing

This exhibition features the works of the Presidential Scholars, a group of graduating high school seniors recognized for their academic and artistic achievements.

June 17, 1991 – July 7, 1991

Portrait Gallery

Small Wonder: The Harmonica in America

Enjoy approximately 50 harmonicas from the late 19th to the early 20th century.

February 5, 1991 – July 1, 1991

American History Museum

Casitas: An Urban Cultural Alternative

Learn about the style and use of "casitas," a Caribbean architectural form, and see one built on-site by members of the Puerto Rican community from the Bronx.

February 1, 1991 – June 30, 1991

Arts and Industries Building

Westward to Promontory: Andrew J. Russell Photographs

Original prints from 1866-1869 of Union Pacific Railroad depict the first transcontinental railroad construction in North America.

April 2, 1991 – June 30, 1991

American History Museum

Camp Logan

See reproductions of historical documents and photographs on the Houston Riot and Court Marital of 1917, involving members of the 24th Infantry regiment stationed at Camp Logan in Houston, Texas.

June 1, 1991 – June 30, 1991

Anacostia Community Museum

Comparisons: An Exercise in Looking

Explore the question of how one work of art may be judged against the other by examining 15 pairs of comparable objects by the same artists.

December 11, 1990 – June 30, 1991

Hirshhorn Museum

The Photographs of Arthur B. Rickerby: The UPI & Life Years

Photographs from 1941-1971 capture famous images of the 20th century and relive moments in time that celebrate American history.

April 10, 1991 – June 28, 1991

American History Museum

Ann Hamilton/Kathryn Clark Works

A site-specific installation, View, covers the Hirshhorn's third floor ambulatory and Lerner Room windows with a skin-like grid of translucent, amber-toned wax sheets (12" x 16"), each naming an extinct animal or plant.

March 20, 1991 – June 23, 1991

Hirshhorn Museum

John Muir's Yosemite: Photographs by Galen Rowell

Admire color photographs by Galen Rowell inspired by the conservation efforts of park's founder John Muir.

March 21, 1991 – June 16, 1991

Natural History Museum

Tokens of Affection: The Portrait Miniature in America

These 208 works were painted between 1750 and 1850 by 70 artists, including John Singleton Copley, Charles Willson Peale, and Edward Greene Malbone.

March 29, 1991 – June 16, 1991

American Art Museum

Indians As Children See Them

Discover 51 works by New York schoolchildren who offer vivid interpretations of Native American cultures in the Fourth Annual Juried Native American Art & Essay Exhibition.

March 19, 1991 – June 2, 1991

American Indian Museum New York

The Space Shuttle: 10th Anniversary

Celebrate the 10th anniversary of the space shuttle with a display of various shuttle models sporting creative paint schemes.

April 4, 1991 – May 31, 1991

Air and Space Museum

Personal Views:Young Photographers Focus on Anacostia (DC Art/Works Summer Youth Employment Program)

Students instructed by Ron Cooke, Tomorrow's World Art Center, present photographs of their views of Anacostia.

March 17, 1991 – May 29, 1991

Anacostia Community Museum

Antoin Sevruguin: Photographs of Iran

View photographs by Antoin Sevruguin, who worked in Iran from the 1880s to the 1920s.

September 30, 1990 – May 27, 1991

Asian Art Museum, East Building

Winslow Homer in the 1890s: Prout's Neck Observed

Explore Homer's favorite themes of man and nature, fishermen and the sea, and his home and family in 15 paintings and 13 works on paper.

February 8, 1991 – May 27, 1991

American Art Museum

Directions: Mike Kelley: "Half a Man"

Stuffed animals, home-knit afghans, and baby blankets reflect adult issues in this selection of 32 recent sculptures by this Los Angeles-based artist.

February 20, 1991 – May 19, 1991

Hirshhorn Museum

"A Cloth of Honor" by Okon Akpan Abuje

View a shrine cloth (12 ft. high, 5 ft. wide) featuring an applique panel depicting the deceased, his wife, and his daughter.

February 6, 1991 – May 5, 1991

African Art Museum

Recent Acquisitions (1990-91)

View paintings, sculpture, prints, and photographs recently acquired by the National Portrait Gallery.

November 8, 1990 – May 5, 1991

Portrait Gallery

Sigmar Polke

Decode the layers of images and meaning, diverse materials, and the broadly experimental approach in paintings by this German artist in his first retrospective in the United States.

February 13, 1991 – May 5, 1991

Hirshhorn Museum