Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Lino Tagliapietra in Retrospect: A Modern Renaissance in Glass

This exhibition is the first retrospective to thoroughly examine the art of Italian master glass blower Lino Tagliapietra.

October 3, 2008 – January 11, 2009

Renwick Gallery

Desert Jewels: North African Jewelry and Photography from the Xavier Guerrand-Hermes Collection

See highlights from the renowned Paris-based fashion empire Hermes' collection of both stunning North African jewelry and historic late 19th- and early 20th-century photographs by some of the region's most prominent photographers.

October 8, 2008 – January 11, 2009

African Art Museum

Gettysburg Address

To celebrate Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday, the museum showcases the rarely exhibited White House's copy of the Gettysburg Address.

November 21, 2008 – January 11, 2009

American History Museum

Garden and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur

See a groundbreaking exhibition of recently rediscovered Indian paintings from the royal court collection of Marwar-Jodhpur (in the modern state of Rajasthan) that has three sections devoted to garden and cosmos leitmotifs.

October 11, 2008 – January 4, 2009

Asian Art Museum, East Building

Through the Eyes of the Eagle: Illustrating Healthy Living for Children

See nearly 70 original watercolors used in the Eagle Books -- a diabetes-prevention series developed for Native schoolchildren.

October 3, 2008 – January 4, 2009

American Indian Museum New York

Through the Eyes of the Eagle: Illustrating Healthy Living for Children

See nearly 70 original watercolors used in the Eagle Books -- a diabetes-prevention series developed for Native schoolchildren.

October 3, 2008 – January 4, 2009

American Indian Museum DC

Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams: Natural Affinities

This exhibition features 42 paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) and 54 photographs by Ansel Adams (1902-1984) that reveal their deep commitment to the American landscape.

September 26, 2008 – January 4, 2009

American Art Museum

In Plane View: Abstractions of Flight

Discern the details of the often overlooked "simple beauty" of aircraft and spacecraft design in 56 color photographs by museum photographer Carolyn Russo.

March 21, 2008 – January 2, 2009

Air and Space Museum

TxtStyles: Fashioning Identity

View never before or rarely seen African costumes and textiles drawn from the National Museum of African Art's collection.

June 11, 2008 – December 28, 2008

African Art Museum

Black Box: Semiconductor

The film short featured is Magnetic Movie (2007, 4.47 min.), an eye-dazzling "documentary" created during the artists' residency at the NASA Space Sciences Laboratories, UC Berkeley.

August 25, 2008 – December 14, 2008

Hirshhorn Museum

Moving Perspectives: Yang Fudong, Cao Fei and Ou Ning

View the first installation in a year-long series of video art from Asia with these two contrasting works -- one dreamlike and lyrical, the other fast and pulsating.

September 6, 2008 – November 30, 2008

Asian Art Museum, East Building

Herblock's Presidents: "Puncturing Pomposity"

This exhibition reveals how one of America's greatest political cartoonists—Herbert Lawrence Block—viewed the American presidency for most of the 20th century.

May 2, 2008 – November 30, 2008

Portrait Gallery

Currents: Recent Acquisitions

Visit a selection of acquisitions that reflects the great diversity of works being acquired by the Hirshhorn, ranging from conceptual photography to sculpture.

October 18, 2007 – November 16, 2008

Hirshhorn Museum

Small Masterpieces: Whistler Paintings from the 1880s

View 23 of the most beautiful of Whistler's small oil paintings -- many produced in his studio or from nature.

April 2, 2005 – November 14, 2008

Asian Art Museum, West Building

Earth and Sky: Photographs by Barbara Bosworth

View more than 40 photographs by Barbara Bosworth (b.1953), including The Bitterroot River, a series that deals with loss and recovery, and recent color photographs of songbirds and the New England landscape surrounding her home near Boston, Massachusetts.

June 20, 2008 – November 11, 2008

American Art Museum

East of the River: Continuity and Change

Continuity and change are underlying themes in the history of communities east of the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C., from Native American settlements to the present.

September 15, 2007 – November 9, 2008

Anacostia Community Museum

Botanica Magnifica

On view in this research case is a single image of wild ginger (Hedychium longicornutum) from the five-volume work Botanica Magnifica, a collection that includes photographs of specimens in the Smithsonian's living plant collections taken by Jonathan Singer.

April 18, 2008 – November 4, 2008

Natural History Museum

The Lost Amazon: The Photographic Journey of Legendary Botanist Richard Evans Schultes

Black-and-white photographs of the Amazon River and adjacent regions -- including portraits of people, landscapes, and plants.

April 17, 2008 – November 2, 2008

Natural History Museum

Africa Rifting: Lines of Fire, Namibia/Brazil

Watch a video that uses coastal landscapes of southern Africa and Brazil to explore the concepts of rift, synchronicity, and transcendence, concepts that the artist infuses with deep spiritual meaning.

June 14, 2006 – October 31, 2008

African Art Museum

RECOGNIZE! Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture

Images of hip hop stars are as pervasive as the music itself, and the National Portrait Gallery is featuring the work of artists who have explored this phenomenon.

February 8, 2008 – October 26, 2008

Portrait Gallery

Nature's Best Photography: Ocean Views

View a selection of images -- taken by photographers of all levels from around the world -- from a special Nature's Best Photography contest created to complement the museum's upcoming Ocean Hall.

June 11, 2008 – October 26, 2008

Natural History Museum

Japanese Arts of the Edo Period, 1615-1868, Part 2

Visit the second part of this exhibition that also features a selection of paintings, lacquer, and ceramics of the Edo period from the Freer Gallery's extensive permanent collection.

March 8, 2008 – October 19, 2008

Asian Art Museum, West Building

Tea for Everyone: Japanese Popular Ceramics for Tea Drinking

Discover a later moment in the history of tea when enjoyment of powdered tea (matcha) became widespread among Japanese people.

March 8, 2008 – October 19, 2008

Asian Art Museum, West Building

Perspectives: Y.Z. Kami

See three new monumental works by artist Y.Z. Kami as part of the Perspectives series of contemporary Asian art.

March 15, 2008 – October 13, 2008

Asian Art Museum, East Building

Local Color: Washington Painting at Mid-Century

See 27 large-scale, luminous, abstract paintings from the museum's permanent collection dating from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s by Washington D.C.-based artists.

July 4, 2008 – October 13, 2008

American Art Museum