Past Exhibitions

Recent Acquisition: Max White

On view is this early canvas by Alice Neel--a portrait of Charles Williams White, a reclusive young novelist who wrote under the penname of Max White.

June 1, 1989 – June 30, 1989

American Art Museum

Thomas Eakins Photographs: A Selection from the Permanent Collection

Honoring the 150th anniversary of the invention of photography, this exhibition includes 43 photographs of motion studies, people, nudes, and Arcadian scenes by the 19th-century realist painter Thomas Eakins.

March 21, 1989 – June 26, 1989

1989 Presidential Scholars' Exhibition

See 30 works of art by 7 high school students-- the1989 Presidential Scholars in the Arts.

June 18, 1989 – June 25, 1989

American Art Museum

Sounding Forms: African Musical Instruments

See 150 musical instruments made by a number of sub-Saharan African peoples, as well as art objects that depict musicians and their instruments.

April 26, 1989 – June 18, 1989

African Art Museum

Iroquois Beadwork

Trace the history of Iroquois beadwork from the introduction of glass beads in the mid-1700s to the present time.

February 21, 1989 – June 1, 1989

Featured Object: "Javanese Mother and Child" by Paul Bogatay

View a clay sculpture by the artist (1905-1972) created in 1936 when Americans were intrigued with exotic island cultures.

March 1, 1989 – June 1, 1989

Renwick Gallery

Rare Fossil Finds: 470 Million Year-Old Fossils from China

The research case features rare 470-million-year-old fossils from China.

March 1, 1989 – June 1, 1989

American Women of the Etching Revival

This exhibition commemorates the 100th anniversary of the first comprehensive exhibit of works by American women. The show includes approximately 70 etchings by such artists as Mary Cassatt, Ellen Day Hale, Martha Scudder Twachtman, and Gabrielle Clements.

March 15, 1989 – May 31, 1989

At Home in America: Heritage, Hope and Reality

See everyday life of Asian Americans portrayed through photographs.

May 1, 1989 – May 31, 1989

Inventing Sound Recording: Emil Berliner, the Grammaphone and the Disk Record

Commemorate the 100th anniversary of the development of the phonograph record by German-born U.S. inventor Emil Berliner, a pioneer in sound recording.

December 2, 1987 – May 31, 1989

The Seasoned Eye II

See 50 photographs created by men and women over 50 years of age, sponsored by Modern Maturity, a magazine published by the American Association of Retired People.

April 1, 1989 – May 31, 1989

Aldabra: Naturalist Paradise

Explore research done at the giant tortoise nature reserve located on these Indian Ocean islands, which are part of the Republic of the Seychelles.

July 29, 1988 – May 30, 1989

Numbers, Letters, Images

View 17 modern and contemporary works from the museum's permanent collection reflecting the theme Numbers, Letters, Images.

November 9, 1988 – May 22, 1989

Recent Acquisitions, 1986-1988

Artists Milton Avery, Magdalena Jetelova, Tony Cragg, Philip Guston, Martin Puryear, and Stuart Davis are represented in this overview of modern works acquired by the museum as gifts or purchases since 1986.

March 15, 1989 – May 14, 1989

Asian Art Museum, East Building

A Jeweler's Eye: Islamic Arts of the Book from the Vever Collection

View 160 Persian and Indian paintings, manuscripts, calligraphies, and bookbindings, that offer a comprehensive survey of the art of the Islamic book from the 11th to the 19th centuries.

November 20, 1988 – April 30, 1989

Ede/Memorial

View the kinetic sculpture Church Ede by artist Sokari Douglas Camp.

April 1, 1989 – April 30, 1989

African Art Museum

On Watch: Benton and the U.S. Navy

Take in 15 World War II-era paintings and drawings by American artist Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975) that capture the intensity of life aboard a submarine and in a bustling wartime ship-building yard.

April 1, 1989 – April 30, 1989

American Art Museum

Focus on Flight (1988 Photography Contest Winners)

See the photographs from a recent contest for amateur photographers held at the Air & Space Museum.

October 31, 1988 – April 30, 1989

Air and Space Museum

RAP Commissions Art in 1989

See 16 serigraphs, lithographs, and posters commissioned by the Resident Associate Program since 1972, to celebrate Smithsonian Resident Associate and Washington-area occasions, and to help support RAP's outreach projects.

January 1, 1989 – April 30, 1989

Ripley Center

Flora of Southern Africa

See over 30 botanical plates by watercolorist Elise Bodley for a book on the botany of southern Africa.

February 5, 1989 – April 30, 1989

Flowers from the Royal Gardens of Kew: Two Centuries of Curtis's Botanical Magazine

Enjoy 76 original watercolors from the collections of the Royal Botanic Gardens and a related assortment of 30 engraved and lithographic prints, portraits and related memorabilia.

January 26, 1989 – April 30, 1989

Daniel Buren Works

See a site-specific installation by the French artist, who uses striped forms.

February 1, 1989 – April 23, 1989