Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Charles Lang Freer and Egypt

See some 70 small glass vessels, bronzes, amulets, and sculptures from the New Kingdom to the Roman Period from Freer's eclectic collection of Egyptian artifacts.

June 13, 1998 – August 14, 2011

Asian Art Museum, West Building

Calder's Portraits: A New Language

Featured are Alexander Calder's three-dimensional wire portraits alongside contemporary documents by other artists.

March 11, 2011 – August 14, 2011

Portrait Gallery

Black Box: Laurent Grasso

See two of Laurent Grasso's video works that depict strange interfaces between the natural world and humankind.

April 4, 2011 – August 14, 2011

Hirshhorn Museum

See how the civilizations that have embraced Buddhism have given a local and distinctive interpretation and sensibility to the representation of the Buddha as well as to the other images and symbols characteristic of Buddhist art.

May 9, 1993 – August 8, 2011

Asian Art Museum, West Building

Chinamania: Whistler and the Victorian Craze for Blue-and-White

Follow the craze for blue-and-white porcelain in Whistler's England during the 1870s through 23 works of art.

August 7, 2010 – August 7, 2011

Asian Art Museum, West Building

Korean Ceramics

View Korean ceramics made between 200 and 1900, ranging from tableware and Buddhist cinerary urns to bowls, bottles, and storage jars.

March 1, 1997 – August 7, 2011

Asian Art Museum, West Building

Vantage Point: The Contemporary Native Art Collection

View significant works by 25 Native American artists in a range of media that highlight the museum's collection of contemporary art.

September 25, 2010 – August 7, 2011

American Indian Museum DC

Echoes of the Past: The Buddhist Cave Temples of Xiangtangshan

Majestic 6th-century Chinese Buddhist sculpture is combined with 21st-century 3D-imaging technology in this exploration of one of the most important groups of Buddhist devotional sites in early medieval China.

February 26, 2011 – July 31, 2011

Asian Art Museum, East Building

History in the Making: Renwick Craft Invitational 2011

This exhibition features works by four extraordinary artists, who are creating works of superior craftsmanship that address the classic craft notion of function without sacrificing a contemporary aesthetic: Cliff Lee, Matthias Pliessnig, Judith Schaecter, Ubaldo Vitali.

March 25, 2011 – July 31, 2011

Renwick Gallery

GRAB

Photographs document the Laguna Pueblo tradition of Grab Day, a community-wide prayer of abundance, thanks, and renewal.

January 29, 2011 – July 31, 2011

American Indian Museum New York

So Much Need of Service: The Diary of a Civil War Nurse

The experiences of Civil War nurse Amanda Akin reflect the sacrifices of millions of Americans who contributed to the war effort.

April 22, 2011 – July 29, 2011

American History Museum

Word, Shout, Song: Lorenzo Dow Turner - Connecting Communities through Language

Learn how the Gullah people of Georgia and South Carolina have retained traces of their West African culture and language that their enslaved ancestors brought to the Americas.

August 9, 2010 – July 24, 2011

Anacostia Community Museum

Close to Home: Photographers and Their Families

This exhibition presents 32 color and black-and-white photographs from the museum's permanent collection made during the past three decades by nine established and emerging artists: Tina Barney, Virginia Beahan, Christopher Dawson, Muriel Hasbun, Martina Lopez, Elaine O'Neil, Larry Sultan, Margaret Strickland, and Carrie Will.

February 4, 2011 – July 24, 2011

American Art Museum

The Orchid in Chinese Painting

The orchid -- a symbol of friendship, loyalty, and patriotism -- is the focus of 20 Chinese paintings on view.

January 15, 2011 – July 17, 2011

Asian Art Museum, East Building

Perspectives: Lu Chunsheng

The video History of Chemistry I by renowned Chinese photographer and video artist Lu Chunsheng is on view.

March 19, 2011 – July 17, 2011

Asian Art Museum, East Building

From Earth to the Solar System

View 30 images that make connections between our home planet and the rest of the solar system.

June 1, 2011 – July 10, 2011

Air and Space Museum

Americans Now

Drawn from the Portrait Gallery's permanent collection, this exhibition features individuals prominent in sports, entertainment, and other fields of endeavor during the last 10 years.

August 20, 2010 – July 10, 2011

Portrait Gallery

A Song for the Horse Nation

The story of the horse's influence on American Indian tribes from the 1600s to the present is depicted.

November 14, 2009 – July 7, 2011

American Indian Museum New York

Waves at Matsushima

Paintings and prints record the Bay of Matsushima, an area now substantially altered by the recent earthquake and tsunami, and pay homage to Japan,

May 28, 2011 – July 5, 2011

Asian Art Museum, East Building

Contemporary Japanese Porcelain

Twentieth-century Japanese artists give fresh interpretations to the time-honored art of porcelain.

April 25, 2005 – July 5, 2011

Asian Art Museum, East Building

Set in Style: The Jewelry of Van Cleef & Arpels

Explore the historical significance of Van Cleef & Arpels's contributions to jewelry design in the 20th century with more than 350 works, including jewels, timepieces, fashion accessories, and objects d'art.

February 18, 2011 – July 4, 2011

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum