Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

1939

This small exhibition reveals how Americans used entertainment to distract themselves during a turbulent year when the country was recovering from the Great Depression and World War II loomed -- 1939.

November 24, 2010 – October 21, 2012

American History Museum

Pushing Boundaries: Portraits by Robert Weingarten

View Robert Weingarten's photo biographies, which are composites of images that his subjects have identified as representing who they are.

July 2, 2012 – October 14, 2012

Ripley Center

Slavery at Jefferson's Monticello: Paradox of Liberty

Learn about slavery in America through the lives of six slave families living at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello plantation.

January 27, 2012 – October 14, 2012

American History Museum

Portraiture Now: Asian American Portraits of Encounter

Seven artists from across the country offer provocative artistic responses to the Asian experience in America and the meaning of being Asian American.

August 12, 2011 – October 14, 2012

Portrait Gallery

Black Box: Jeroen Eisinga

Watch Jeroen Eisinga's Springtime (2009–11), in which he is enveloped by bees.

June 28, 2012 – October 14, 2012

Hirshhorn Museum

IndiVisible: African-Native American Lives in the Americas

This exhibition explores the cultural integration and diffusion of African American and American Indian people, especially those of blended heritage.

February 9, 2012 – October 1, 2012

American Indian Museum New York

The Art of Video Games

In this exhibition, the museum is the first to comprehensively examine the evolution of video games as an artistic medium.

March 16, 2012 – September 30, 2012

American Art Museum

Against All Odds: Rescue at the Chilean Mine

See the actual rescue capsule used to rescue the 33 Chilean miners trapped underground for two months in 2010.

August 5, 2011 – September 30, 2012

Natural History Museum

We Are Here! Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship

Paintings, photos, installation art, videos and sculpture reveal the issues, concerns, and methods of leading contemporary Native artists.

June 2, 2012 – September 23, 2012

American Indian Museum New York

Worlds within Worlds: Imperial Paintings from India and Iran

See 50 of the finest folios and paintings from the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery collections, which form one of the world's most important repositories of Mughal and Persian paintings.

July 28, 2012 – September 16, 2012

Asian Art Museum, East Building

Neil Armstrong's Visor and Gloves

See the visor and gloves astronaut Neil Armstrong wore when he walked on the moon.

September 5, 2012 – September 12, 2012

Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center

In Vibrant Color: Vintage Celebrity Portraits from the Harry Warnecke Studio

Some of the first celebrity photographs to appear in color were created by Harry Warnecke in the 1930s for the New York Daily News. See 24 of Warnecke's celebrity portraits from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.

March 2, 2012 – September 9, 2012

Portrait Gallery

Graphic Design—Now In Production

How graphic design has broadened its reach over the past decade, expanding from a specialized profession to a widely deployed tool, is explored. (on view at Governors Island)

May 26, 2012 – September 3, 2012

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Best in the World: Native Athletes in the Olympics

Follow Native American athletes who provided some of the most dramatic moments in Olympic history, especially at the 1912 Games in Stockholm, Sweden.

May 25, 2012 – September 3, 2012

American Indian Museum DC

African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond

Explore the African American experience from the Harlem Renaissance through the Civil Rights era and beyond as depicted in 100 artworks by 43 black artists.

April 27, 2012 – September 3, 2012

American Art Museum

Communities in a Changing Nation: The Promise of 19th-Century America

Explore the excitement and dynamism of American life during the 19th century through the experiences of three communities.

February 12, 1999 – September 3, 2012

American History Museum

Pictures for Everyone

The images on view explore how 19th-century audiences received and shared visual information that crossed many barriers, including those of race, class, and language.

May 3, 2011 – September 3, 2012

American History Museum

In Memoriam: Gore Vidal

See a portrait of author Gore Vidal (1925-2012).

August 3, 2012 – August 29, 2012

Portrait Gallery

Landsat: Four Decades of Earth Observation

Learn how the Landsat satellite series has monitored changes on the Earth's surface since 1972.

July 23, 2012 – August 20, 2012

Air and Space Museum

Sweet Silent Thought: Whistler's Interiors

In this small-scale exhibition, examine themes that recur in James McNeill Whistler's works.

August 20, 2011 – August 19, 2012

Asian Art Museum, West Building

Winged Spirits: Birds in Chinese Painting

Examine birds in Chinese paintings that are rendered in such fine detail that more than 35 species can be scientifically identified.

February 11, 2012 – August 12, 2012

Asian Art Museum, West Building

Suprasensorial: Experiments in Light, Color, and Space

The international light-and-space art movement of the mid- and late 20th century is explored through large-scale installations by five South American artists.

February 23, 2012 – August 12, 2012

Hirshhorn Museum

X-Ray Vision: Fish Inside Out

X-rays of some of the fish in the museum's collection reveal delicate and exquisite details and help scientists understand the evolutionary development of fish.

February 4, 2012 – August 5, 2012

Natural History Museum

Art of the Stamp: Owney the Postal Dog

See Bill Bond's original painting used to create the Owney stamp.

July 20, 2011 – August 5, 2012

Postal Museum

In Memoriam: Andy Griffith

See a portrait of actor Andy Griffith (1926-2012), star of The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock, by Art Shay.

July 9, 2012 – August 2, 2012

Portrait Gallery