Past Exhibitions

Saul Steinberg (1914–1999) was famous worldwide for giving graphic definition to the postwar age through a dozen books of drawings and hundreds of incisive illustrations for the New Yorker and other periodicals.

The 2007 "Renwick Craft Invitational," a biennial exhibition series at the Renwick Gallery established in 2000 to honor the creativity and talent of craft artists working today, will feature glass artist Paula Bartron, paper artist Jocelyn Châteauvert, gl

Eadweard Muybridge (1830–1904), a preeminent landscape photographer who is best known for his stop-action photographs of humans and animals in motion, traveled to South America in 1875 for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company.

Joseph Cornell: Navigating the Imagination is a landmark exhibition that expands the critical and public appreciation of Cornell as a modern American master.

The exhibition is the first time this remarkable collection has been on display in Washington, D.C. Marie and Hugh Halff, who live in San Antonio, acquired these masterpieces during the past 20 years.

Ruth Duckworth, Modernist Sculptor is a comprehensive retrospective that positions Duckworth within the modernist movement and provides an overdue assessment of her contributions to the contemporary art world.

"American ABC" demonstrates how portrayals of the nation's youngest citizens took on an important symbolic role in the United States’ long journey toward maturity and provides a window into the everyday life of the period—the world of families, children's

William Wegman (b. 1943) is beloved by the public and held in critical esteem by the international art world for his smart, gently subversive humor that parodies all things familiar.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum holds the largest and most complete collection of work by the African American modernist William H. Johnson (1901–1970) and has done much in the past 30 years to preserve his art and establish his reputation.

William Christenberry (b. 1936) looks for the spirit of Southern culture in the landscape and architecture of rural Alabama.

This exhibition honors the completion of the building's glorious renovation and marks the 170th anniversary of President Andrew Jackson signing legislation that authorized the building's construction.

"Grant Wood's Studio: Birthplace of 'American Gothic'" presents his decorative art and design work within the larger context of his paintings, drawings and prints for the first time.

George Catlin's Indian Gallery is hung in the Grand Salon on the second floor of the Renwick Gallery in a way that recalls the Indian Gallery as Catlin displayed it during his tours in Europe.

"Modernism in American Silver: 20th-Century Design" highlights more than 200 outstanding works, from art moderne to contemporary, by the foremost designers of production silver.

High Fiber illustrates the diversity of contemporary art created with fiber and presents many of the important milestones of the American fiber art movement, from the mid 20th century when artists began to explore fibers fully as an expressive medium to t

From elegant and streamlined to bright and bold, the designs in "Right at Home: American Studio Furniture" highlight the originality, craftsmanship and personalities of studio furniture artists.

Several hundred of the museum's greatest treasures by artists such as John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer and Childe Hassam are on view in the Grand Salon at its Renwick Gallery while renovations continue at the museum’s historic main building.

This retrospective gathers 40 years of jewelry and sculpture by Robert Ebendorf, a major American artist in metal. Surveying 95 pieces, this exhibition chronicles significant shifts in jewelry during the last half of the 20th century.

The individualistic and groundbreaking jewelry designs in "Jewels & Gems" highlight the spirit, wit and ingenuity of American studio jewelry artists.

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) is famous for his innovative architecture; less well known are his designs for decorative windows.

George Catlin and His Indian Gallery celebrates a crown jewel in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's collection—the nearly complete surviving set of Catlin's first Indian Gallery painted in the 1830s.