Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Sharing Traditions: Five Black Artists in 19th-Century America

Visit 49 oil paintings and sculptures by artists who contributed significantly to the mainstream of American art.

January 15, 1985 – April 7, 1985

European Roots of American Pharmacy (Squibb Collection)

See prints, jars, and other objects from the Squibb collection of pharmaceutical artifacts, which was assembled in Germany during the early years of the 20th century.

October 10, 1984 – April 2, 1985

American History Museum

White House Families: Life Magazine Photographs of Presidential Children

Survey the photographs of the 23 surviving offspring of Presidents of the United States taken by photographer Harry Benson for LIFE magazine's November 1984 issue.

February 15, 1985 – April 1, 1985

Portrait Gallery

American Pilots' Association: 100 Years

This exhibition marks the centennial of the American Pilots' Association, a trade association of licensed marine pilots.

January 1, 1985 – March 31, 1985

American History Museum

Jacqueline Cochran: World Record Holder

Learn about the career of Jacqueline Cochran, who held more speed, altitude, and distance records than any pilot in history.

February 11, 1982 – March 31, 1985

Air and Space Museum

Conservation of Modern Art

See 17 modern works from the collection, including paintings, works on paper, and sculpture, which have undergone conservation treatments.

February 2, 1985 – March 31, 1985

Hirshhorn Museum

Views of a Vanishing Frontier (Karl Bodmer Indian Watercolors)

This exhibition commemorates the 150th anniversary of the expedition conducted by the German naturalist Prince Maximilian and Swiss artist Karl Bodmer, who explored the Western frontier.

January 4, 1985 – March 31, 1985

Natural History Museum

A Temple Playground: Nepal Photographs by Heidi Larson

See some 20 black-and-white photographs of Nepal, where Larson recently worked with UNICEF.

February 1, 1985 – March 13, 1985

Natural History Museum

Birds of Galapagos Islands: Traditional Watercolors by Lee Mark Steadman

Admire some 30 watercolor illustrations and field sketches of birds of land, shore, and sea.

January 11, 1985 – March 10, 1985

Natural History Museum

Embellished Calendars: An Illustrated History

View more than 100 picture calendars, dating from the 13th century to the present, that show how their embellishment has been affected by changing tastes, styles, and technologies.

November 20, 1984 – February 24, 1985

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Praise Poems: The Katherine White Collection

View a major exhibition including 50 objects, primarily figural sculptures and masks from major cultural regions in West and Central Africa.

October 31, 1984 – February 24, 1985

African Art Museum

Homage to Franz Kline: Photographs by Aaron Siskind

Celebrate the friendship between Siskind and Kline through 48 photographs, selected from The Homage to Franz Kline series.

December 7, 1984 – February 24, 1985

American Art Museum

Newcomb Pottery: An Enterprise for Southern Women

View 210 ceramic pieces produced at Newcomb Pottery, the only major art pottery in the South and one of the major centers of the Arts and Crafts Movement in America.

November 2, 1984 – February 24, 1985

Renwick Gallery

Metropolitan Opera Centennial: A Photographic Album

Enjoy131 photographs of Pavoratti and Puccini, Carusco and Callas, Scotti, and Sills, as well as the chorus and stagehands, audiences, and first-nighters.

November 15, 1984 – February 10, 1985

Portrait Gallery

Miguel Covarrubias Caricatures

Delight in 84 drawings and paintings of celebrities of the 1920s and 1930s by the Mexican-born satiric artist, many of which appeared in Vanity Fair and The New Yorker magazines.

November 15, 1984 – February 10, 1985

Portrait Gallery

The Gentleman from Indiana: Booth Tarkington (1869-1946)

Centered around NPG's recently acquired 1906 portrait of Tarkington by John White Alexander, this small exhibition explores the once immense popularity of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Penrodand The Magnificent Ambersons.

July 6, 1984 – February 10, 1985

Portrait Gallery

American History As Seen from the Museum of American History

See photographs taken by SI photographers, showing events in and around the museum, including the Redskins parade, Bicentennial events, protests and rallies, and the parade honoring the hostages upon their return from Iran.

August 10, 1984 – February 5, 1985

American History Museum

Masterpieces of Chinese Painting

View 30 important paintings--hanging scrolls, hand scrolls, album leaves--from the Sung (960-1279) through the Ch'ing (1644-1911) dynasties.

August 3, 1984 – February 3, 1985

Asian Art Museum, West Building

European Illustration: 1974-1984

See more than 150 pieces of original artwork produced for use in books, magazines, advertising, and posters in Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Italy, Poland, and Russia.

November 13, 1984 – February 3, 1985

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

MAS*H: Binding Up the Wounds

See sets from the television program known as the Operating Room and "the Swamp." Props and memorabilia from the program are supplemented by fan letters.

July 30, 1983 – February 3, 1985

American History Museum

Japanese Drawings

View 35 brush-and-ink drawings by 19th-century Japanese artists.

March 16, 1984 – January 31, 1985

Asian Art Museum, West Building

Food and Health

View objects highlighting the development of the modern sciences of dietetics and nutrition.

October 9, 1984 – January 31, 1985

American History Museum

Stamp Collecting: King of Hobbies...Hobby of Kings

In recognition of this popular hobby, this exhibition highlights four prominent philatelists's collections.

October 16, 1984 – January 31, 1985

American History Museum

Time and the Presidency

See 21 likenesses of presidents selected from NPG's collection of original art work for Time magazine covers.

January 13, 1984 – January 29, 1985

Portrait Gallery

New Vistas: American Art Pottery, 1880-1930

See 76 pottery examples, primarily from the recently donated William and Marcia Goodman Collection, supplemented with photographs, catalogues, and other documents.

November 6, 1984 – January 27, 1985

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum