Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

The Goldsmith: Jewelry and Other Objects by Contemporary Artist-Craftsmen of North America

See jewelry, hollow ware, flatware and architectural and decorative accessories of 145 artists, selected from a recent competition.

May 17, 1974 – August 18, 1974

Renwick Gallery

Restoration of Musical Instruments

Four different kinds of restoration are shown - organ, keyboard, string, and an 18th century disassembled trumpet.

July 1, 1974 – July 31, 1974

American History Museum

Edward Weston

View examples of the photographs and some of the equipment used by this noted 20th century American photographer.

July 1, 1974 – July 31, 1974

American History Museum

Fourth of July

See historical objects from the 19th and 20th centuries pertaining to the celebration of the holiday.

July 1, 1974 – July 31, 1974

American History Museum

Thirty Years in Computer Programming

Visit an exhibit honoring Grace Hopper for the first half of the month, and Desk Calculators, with examples, for the last half of the month.

July 1, 1974 – July 31, 1974

American History Museum

Exploring the World of Chocolate

See a wide variety of items, ranging from cocoa beans ready to be roasted to a 10-pound chocolate bar, including a 19th century candy machine and an 18th century Meissen chocolate pot.

July 1, 1974 – July 31, 1974

American History Museum

The 50th anniversary of the Freer Gallery includes the following exhibits:
Ceramics from the World of Islam
Chinese Figure Painting
Japanese Ukiyo-e Paintings
Christian Manuscripts
Christian Jewelry

May 1, 1973 – July 15, 1974

Asian Art Museum, West Building

Anne Ryan Collages/Supplementary Collage Exhibition

Visit the first major museum exhibition of works of Anne Ryan (1889-1954), who "found her medium" at the age of 58.

May 24, 1974 – July 14, 1974

American Art Museum

Student Art from District of Columbia Public Schools

View more than a hundred works, including paintings, wire sculptures, paper mache, silkscreens, photographs, and etchings from elementary and secondary schools.

June 1, 1974 – July 2, 1974

Anacostia Community Museum

Scales and Balances

See weighing devices ranging from a Roman steelyard, circa 2nd century A.D., through an equal-arm balance of the mid-19th century.

June 1, 1974 – June 30, 1974

American History Museum

Bust of Lyndon Baines Johnson

Visit a bust of Lyndon Baines Johnson by Jimilu Mason.

May 29, 1974 – June 30, 1974

Portrait Gallery

Samuel F. B. Morse: Artist and Inventor

Explore a small exhibit devoted to the developer of Morse code, which helped spur the commercial use of telegraphy.

June 1, 1974 – June 30, 1974

American History Museum

Early American Farm Tools

See a training yoke, berry scoop, flail, pruning saw, flax hackle, bail hook and a corn cutter.

June 1, 1974 – June 30, 1974

American History Museum

"Save the Whale" Children's Art

Paintings by school children in the U.S. and abroad center on the theme of the threatened extinction of the whale.

May 2, 1974 – June 30, 1974

Natural History Museum

200 Years of Royal Copenhagen Porcelain

See a selection of 137 porcelain, stoneware, and faience works from the historical and contemporary collections of the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Manufactory, Ltd., the oldest Danish enterprise in the field of applied art.

April 12, 1974 – June 30, 1974

Renwick Gallery

5th Members Exhibition Washington Print Club

See 50 graphics, all from the private collections of Club members, including works by Milton Avery, Mary Cassatt, Edvard Munch and Jacque Villon.

May 3, 1974 – June 16, 1974

American Art Museum

Anatomy of a Gallop

See a comparison of motion as seen through the eyes of the artists, lithographers Currier and Ives, and the eye of a photographer, Eadward Muybridge, the first photographer to do animal motion studies.

January 7, 1974 – June 7, 1974

American History Museum

Bhutan: The Land of Dragons

From the kingdom in the heart of the Himalayas, via private and S.I. collections come baskets, textiles, works of silver and gold, woodenwork and costumes to illustrate the Bhutanese way of life.

March 1, 1974 – June 7, 1974

Natural History Museum

Joseph Cornell (1903-1972)

Visit a birthday exhibition - Cornell was born on Christmas Eve - of works rarely or never shown, including 4 collages, 1 silk-screen print, and 20 assemblage sculptures (or box constructions).

December 23, 1973 – June 2, 1974

American Art Museum

The First 10 Years of the Museum of History and Technology

Each of the 5 Departments from the museum will feature 1 or 2 examples from each of their collections, as well as books, exhibit catalogues, and other publications written by Department and Division members.

April 1, 1974 – May 30, 1974

American History Museum