Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Grain and Feed Implements and Devices

Visit a newly acquired collection of pieces involved, for the most part, with the inspection and evaluation of grain quality in the late 19th century.

March 1, 1974 – March 31, 1974

American History Museum

American Self-Portraits

View about 100 works illustrating 300 years of changing taste and fashion in portraiture, in this International Traveling Exhibition Foundation show.

February 1, 1974 – March 15, 1974

Portrait Gallery

See a selection of some 30 paintings made by a panel of artists and art critics invited by the Pakistan Ministry of Information to choose significant and interesting works of contemporary Pakistani artists.

January 17, 1974 – March 3, 1974

Renwick Gallery

Presentation Canes

See canes given as gifts, dating from Benjamin Franklin's time through Franklin Delano Roosevelt's.

February 1, 1974 – February 28, 1974

American History Museum

Violin Making

Follow the different stages in making a violin.

November 1, 1973 – February 28, 1974

American History Museum

Illustrated Covers

See mostly advertising and propaganda covers, including some Civil War patriotic covers, and political campaign covers, dating from the mid-19th century into the 20th century.

February 1, 1974 – February 28, 1974

American History Museum

Watches that Went to War

See a watch that belonged to General Sherman, a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution, and one that deflected a bullet, thus saving a soldier's life.

February 1, 1974 – February 28, 1974

American History Museum

Steinberg at the Smithsonian; The Metamorphoses of an Emblem

Follow 36 drawings on Smithsonian stationary that illustrate how Saul Steinberg, artist-in-residence at the Institution in 1967, wittily contained, adapted, re-read, and reworked the Smithsonian symbol at the top of the pages of official stationery.

December 21, 1973 – February 24, 1974

American Art Museum

Modern American Woodcuts

Take in a survey of 20th century American woodcuts, many from the NCFA collection, others from the Library of Congress. Artists include Milton Avery, Carol Summers, Max Weber, and Leonard Baskin.

November 30, 1973 – February 10, 1974

American Art Museum

Marguerite Zorach: The Early Years 1908-1920

View 40 paintings, drawings and prints centering around a group of 1912 California canvases not exhibited in 60 years. The exhibit is intended as a re-evaluation of Mrs. Zorach's status as an artist.

December 7, 1973 – February 3, 1974

American Art Museum

Portrait of Pearl Buck

See a 1968 oil portrait of the author Pearl S. Buck, added to the permanent collection at a presentation ceremony January 21, 1974.

January 21, 1974 – February 3, 1974

Portrait Gallery

James Renwick in Washington

See photos and architectural renderings that detail the architect's buildings in Washington.

January 28, 1972 – January 31, 1974

Renwick Gallery

Railroad Handcar

Dating from about 1900, the handcar on display is representative of those used by railway lamp tenders, signalmen, etc.

January 1, 1974 – January 31, 1974

American History Museum

New Images 1839-1973

The opening print show in the Hall of Photography compares old and new photographic printing processes and their results.

April 6, 1973 – January 20, 1974

American History Museum

Tribal Costumes of Southern Africa: Watercolor Portraits by Verda V. Peters and Olemara Peters

View over 400 watercolors documenting the colorful originality of the clothing of the peoples of Southern Africa.

November 2, 1973 – January 13, 1974

Natural History Museum

Robert Loftin Newman (1827-1912)

See some 80 printings and 25 drawings on loan from 42 private and public collections. Considered a wonderful colorist, many of his works are on variations of the Mother and Child theme, religious and secular.

October 26, 1973 – January 6, 1974

American Art Museum

Music Machines: American Style

See barrel organs and player pianos to the most up-to-date high fidelity equipment.

December 1, 1972 – January 1, 1974

American History Museum

A Child's World: Sears, Roebuck and Company Collection of American Toys, 1890-1960

Enjoy over 500 cast iron and tinplate toys.

January 1, 1972 – January 1, 1974

American History Museum

Turkish Art from the Ottoman Period

See about 25 objects commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Turkish Republic.

August 1, 1973 – December 31, 1973

Asian Art Museum, West Building

Fine Art for Everyone: The Chromolithography of Louis Prang, 1865-1900

See about 20 chromolithographs by Louis Prant of Boston that illustrate an inexpensive, popular method of reproduction of the 19th century.

July 1, 1973 – December 31, 1973

American History Museum

Synthetic (Man-Made) Crystals

Visit a spectacularly colorful exhibit explaining the role of these newly developed materials, the technology that produces them and their relationship to natural materials.

May 11, 1973 – December 31, 1973

Natural History Museum

Tea Drinking in the 18th Century

Visit an exhibit of tea pots and tea cups from the period of the American Revolution.

November 1, 1973 – December 31, 1973

American History Museum

History of Paints and Varnishes

See paint samples, mixing machines, and brushes from the 1920s.

December 1, 1973 – December 31, 1973

American History Museum

The Black Presence in the Era of the Revolution, 1770-1800

View portraits, prints, broadsides, petitions, poems, letters and related objects—about 150 in all—assembled from public and private collections around the country that show the participation of black men and women in the Revolutionary War and the early years of the Republic.

July 4, 1973 – December 25, 1973

Portrait Gallery

Africa: Three Out of Many: Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria

See art objects and other artifacts relating to religion and everyday life in these countries.

September 15, 1973 – December 22, 1973

Anacostia Community Museum