Past Exhibitions

Dance Masks of Mexico

View 180 masks and selected instruments from the recently acquired Donald Cordry collection, considered one of the most extensive and best documented of its kind.

February 23, 1979 – December 31, 1979

Fernando Botero: A Retrospective Exhibition

Visit 66 works, often parodies of "official" art, in the first American retrospective to honor Botero, a 47-year-old Colombian artist currently living in Paris.

January 1, 1980 – December 20, 1979

Whiskey Rebels

See the instrument used by Federal tax collectors to measure the alcohol content of whiskey in a small exhibit about the Pennsylvania Whiskey Rebellion of 1794.

June 15, 1979 – December 9, 1979

Prints for the People: Selections from New Deal Graphics Projects

See 67 lithographs, etchings, woodcuts and screen prints that focus on the New York print workshop of the Works Projects Administration of the 1930s.

September 14, 1979 – December 2, 1979

American Art Museum

Murals Without Walls: Arshile Gorky's Newark Airport Murals Rediscovered

Take in two large panels created for the Neward Airport in 1936-37 as a WPA project. Titled Aviation, the ten-panel series was the subject of considerable controversy and was subsequently painted over and presumed lost.

October 4, 1979 – November 25, 1979

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

The Cooper-Hewitt Collections: Glass

View approximately 125 examples that document the art of glassmaking, with emphasis on techniques used to form and decorate glass.

August 28, 1979 – November 25, 1979

Arshile Gorky: The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Collection

Visit the first public showing of the Hirshhorn Museum's entire collection of 21 paintings and 8 drawings by Gorky (1904-1948), whose work bridged Surrealism and early Abstract Expressionism.

October 4, 1979 – November 25, 1979

Eminent Figures from the American Catholic Religious Tradition

In conjunction with the Papal visit, see portraits of notable American Catholics.

October 8, 1979 – November 22, 1979

Smithsonian Castle

David Smith: The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Collection

See 26 sculptures, 3 paintings and 3 drawings from the HMSG collection, one of the largest in the U.S.

July 28, 1979 – November 18, 1979

The Art of Russia, 1800-1850

View 145 Russian paintings and graphics as well as 21 examples of complementary decorative art, most of which have never been shown in the West.

August 3, 1979 – November 12, 1979

Renwick Gallery

The Geological Art of William Henry Holmes

See drawings and paintings by W.H. Holmes, geologist, artist, archeologist and administrator (1846-1933), who had an extraordinary career at the U.S. Geological Survey and the Smithsonian Institution.

September 15, 1979 – November 11, 1979

Images of Children

Enjoy 32 works that comprise a special installation from the HMSG collection in honor of the International Year of the Child, focusing on images of children by artists of the late 19th and 20th centuries.

August 17, 1979 – November 4, 1979

Asian Art Museum, West Building

Four Guardian Kings from Kamakura Period

View a rare set of 4 polychromed wood statues representing the guardians of the four cardinal directions from a Buddhist shrine.

February 1, 1979 – November 1, 1979

American Portrait Prints: A Survey

View some 50 portrait prints of famous contemporaries by artists from the 18th-20th centuries.

May 11, 1979 – October 31, 1979

Asian Art Museum, West Building

Sales Exhibition: Couturier Crafts

Admire and purchase wearable art created by craftsmen across the country, including handwoven coats, sweaters, quilted vests, unusual hats and headgear and gold and silver jewelry.

September 12, 1979 – October 31, 1979

Renwick Gallery

Chinese Paintings from the Ch'ing Dynasty

See about 20 examples of work by the innovative academic painters that were so influential during the beginning years of the Ch'ing Dynasty (1644-1911),

June 15, 1979 – October 22, 1979

Two Centuries of Change: The Idea of Downtown Washington

Consider the diverse cultural heritages of the DC community through photographs, portrait reproductions and text in this exhibition which shows how downtown Washington has changed as a place to live, work and play.

September 14, 1979 – October 11, 1979

They Have Made a Nation

Visit an exhibition that covers the period from the secession of South Carolina through the First Battle of Manassas.

May 26, 1979 – October 8, 1979

Asian Art Museum, West Building

Chinese, Japanese and Korean Ceramics

See the distinctive styles and techniques of the three Oriental cultures in a major exhibition of about 350 objects from the Freer's collections.

April 10, 1978 – October 1, 1979

Beyond the Ocean, Beneath a Leaf

See nature photography by Kjell Sandved, MNH Staff Photographer.

August 1, 1979 – September 23, 1979

Return to Albion: Americans in England 1760-1940

Examine the lives of famous American expatriates who left a mark on England's history by choosing to live there.

April 20, 1979 – September 16, 1979