Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Camera Portraits: Photographs from the National Portrait Gallery, London, 1839-1989

Celebrating the 150th anniversary of the invention of photography, see 150 images of legendary British personalities from London's National Portrait Gallery.

December 14, 1990 – February 18, 1991

Portrait Gallery

Moscow: Treasures & Traditions

View more than 200 works of Russian art dating from the 15th to the 20th century, including icons, paintings, engravings, fine metalwork of gold and silver, porcelains, and historic costumes.

November 16, 1990 – February 3, 1991

Ripley Center

Glassworks, Part I

Visit glass objects that range from architectonic structures and stained glass to figurative sculpture, by 5 different glass artists.

November 9, 1990 – February 3, 1991

Renwick Gallery

Images of American Industry from the Museum's Collection

A thematic selection of paintings and works on paper by Lozowick, Jacquette, and others is on view.

September 26, 1990 – February 3, 1991

Hirshhorn Museum

Recent Acquisition: The Top of Mount Sinai (by Miner Kellogg)

This painting by Miner Kellogg typifies the interest of 19th-century painters in Asian subjects taken from the richly Islamic and Hebrew cultures.

December 31, 1990 – January 31, 1991

American Art Museum

Featured Object: Garden Pin

Marvel at the playfully shaped silver and enamel elements that make up a storybook garden diorama in this pin, by one of America's most important studio jewelers.

January 1, 1991 – January 28, 1991

Renwick Gallery

Directions: Boyd Webb

View a selection of large-scale color photography by this New Zealand-born, London-based artist.

November 1, 1990 – January 27, 1991

Hirshhorn Museum

Lassie Come-Home

This 50th anniversary commemorative installation features an egg tempera portrait of Eric Knight and a wood sculpture of Lassie carved by Knight.

October 13, 1990 – January 27, 1991

Portrait Gallery

Made With Passion: The Hemphill Folk Art Collection

Capture the whimsy of 199 folk art objects that span the 19th and 20th centuries, including weathervanes, trade signs, painted furniture, sculpture, and drawings from the Hemphill folk art collection.

September 22, 1990 – January 21, 1991

American Art Museum

Sharks! Fact and Fantasy

This study of shark behavior--both myth and mystery--includes a walk-in shark cage, interactive devices, and touch samples of shark skins, and explores ancient species of sharks, shark habitats, and sharks and their relationship to man.

October 26, 1990 – January 20, 1991

Natural History Museum

Images of Innocence: The Child in American Art

Paintings and sculptures portray children in America from the 1830s to the 1890s.

November 25, 1987 – January 15, 1991

American Art Museum

Gold of Greece: Jewelry and Ornaments

Take in 200 objects, spanning 4,000 years, from the Benaki Museum in Athens.

September 11, 1990 – January 13, 1991

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Old Hickory: A Life Sketch of Andrew Jackson

See over 70 likenesses of the nation's 7th president, plus maps, personal letters, and portraits of his contemporaries.

November 9, 1990 – January 13, 1991

Portrait Gallery

John Baldessari

View a survey of over 70 paintings, photoworks, and photographic composites--often interwoven with text--by this influential Los Angeles artist.

October 18, 1990 – January 6, 1991

Hirshhorn Museum

North American Wild Flowers by Mary Vaux Walcott

See 50 watercolors by Mary Vaux Walcott (1860-1940), known as the "Audubon of Wild Flowers."

August 9, 1990 – January 6, 1991

Natural History Museum

Childe Hassam: An Island Garden Revisited

View 27 paintings and 13 works on paper that depict the Isles of Shoal by America's foremost Impressionist.

October 5, 1990 – January 6, 1991

American Art Museum

Dinamation's Dinosaurs Alive and in Color

Watch 18 robotic dinosaurs move and roar in simulated prehistoric habitats. Ten nests of offspring eat and crane their necks toward visitors.

April 12, 1990 – January 2, 1991

Natural History Museum

RAP Commissions Art Sale in 1990

See limited-edition graphic art commissioned by RAP since 1972. Proceeds from sales of this art underwrite RAP's Discover Graphics program, a special outreach to local high-school area students and their teachers.

September 18, 1990 – January 1, 1991

Ripley Center

Four Contemporary Calligraphers

View 22 English, Chinese, Arabic, and Hebrew manuscripts created by 4 contemporary calligraphers.

May 4, 1990 – January 1, 1991

Renwick Gallery

Submarine "Alvin"

See a 3/4-scale model of "Alvin," a 25-foot long, 3-man submarine capable of exploring and collecting specimens to depths of 12,000 feet.

October 1, 1980 – January 1, 1991

Natural History Museum

AIDS Series/Oiran and Mirror

View a painting by Asian American artist Masami Teraoka that deals with the use of condoms, in conjunction with "AIDS Awareness Day."

December 1, 1990 – December 31, 1990

American Art Museum

Recent Acquisition: Metamorphosis and Jacob and the Angel

These drawings by Jacob Kainen demonstrate his expressive use of spontaneous gesture and abstract shape.

November 30, 1990 – December 31, 1990

American Art Museum

North American Mammal Exhibit

Visit the new quarters for jaguars, pumas, bobcats, fishers, prairie dogs, raccoons, and Kit foxes in 3 moated enclosures and 8-cable suspension cages, with wolverines and porcupines to come.

May 1, 1980 – December 31, 1990

National Zoo

RAP 25th Anniversary Exhibition

See 2 kites from the Smithsonian's Resident Associate Program Kite Festival.

September 16, 1990 – December 31, 1990

Air and Space Museum

Quetzalcoatlus northropi (QN)

Marvel at a life-size, radio-controlled replica of a large prehistoric "creature," a pterodactyl-like craft resembling the Quetzalcoatlus northropi, whose 35-foot-plus fossil remains were found in Texas in the early 1970s.

September 16, 1988 – December 31, 1990

National Zoo