Mysteries have long surrounded the acclaimed 17th-century Dutch master’s process and technique. During covid closures, National Gallery researchers performed a deep study of the museum’s four Vermeer paintings, as well as two 19th-century forgeries, using advanced imaging technology. This exhibit shares their findings.

Now in its 40th year, this popular event showcases an array of furniture, American and European silver, art, Asian antiquities, porcelain, Americana, antique and estate jewelry, glass, textiles, contemporary fine crafts and more. baltimorefallshow.com

The museum shares the work of six winning teams that participated in a three-year, $20 million initiative to find innovative ways to close the economic gap in the affordable-housing market. Conceived by MASS Design Group, the exhibit shares the winners’ novel ideas in the areas of housing finance, construction and resident services. Pictured: Breakthrough Challenge […]

Closed to visitors for renovation, the museum continues to engage patrons with online content as well as displays on its exterior. In her first U.S. installation, Austrian artist Katharina Cibulka covers the north-facing façade with a monumental net of bright-pink tulle bearing stitched messages that address gender-based inequity and social power structures.

The Rubell Museum DC, 
a new venue dedicated to contemporary art, has opened in a reinvigorated 1906 building in Southwest DC that once housed Randall Junior High.
Its inaugural exhibit honors the late 
Marvin Gaye, an alumnus of the school, and his 1971 album, “What’s Going On,” which voiced powerful commentary on issues of its day. […]

Modern design buffs will will get a very unique look into the homes of the architects, designers, and builders that created them on this self-guided tour. Organized by the Modern Architecture + Design Society and local partner/sponsor listModern, this tour invites guests to explore some of the area’s most spectacular modern homes. Architects, designers, and […]

Italian artist Giuseppe De Nittis, who was very much a part of the Paris art scene in the 1870s and ’80s, is known for his detailed realism. The Phillips unveils paintings from all periods of his career, including The Place du Carrousel: The Ruins of the Tuileries (pictured). Work by some of his comrades, including […]

This assemblage of paintings on paper and cloth created between 1700 and 1900 celebrates the palaces, lakes and mountains of Udaipur, a city in northwestern India, illustrating the region’s cultural and political evolution.

The first exhibition outside of Italy to be 
dedicated to this 15th-century master displays some 75 of his creations, from large-scale narrative paintings to drawings that once graced the homes of 
Venetian elite.

Charm City icon John Waters bequeathed 372 objects from his art collection to the Baltimore Museum of Art in 2020. This exhibit reveals about 90 of the works, including paintings, sculptures, photographs and prints by Diane Arbus, Nan Goldin, Cindy Sherman, Cy Twombly and Andy Warhol.

Matisse has long inspired contemporary artist Stanley Whitney, who was commissioned to create stained-glass windows for the BMA. This exhibit explores parallels between the artists’ work. Several Matisse prints—including The Lagoon (above)—are shown with sketches Whitney made for the commission.

The BMA shines a light on Senegal-born Omar Ba, who explores the notion of power through paintings, modular works and a site-specific mural. The artist portrays a range of people and subjects along with real and imagined creatures in his commentary on society.

During his short career, New York-based Darrel Ellis redefined Black male identity and family through his complex paintings, drawings and photography. This show presents 60 works on paper plus archival materials that chronicle the life and work of the mixed-media artist, who died in 1992 at age 33 of an AIDS-related illness.

Local designers partner with showrooms to create festive tabletops and seasonal décor. A party on December 6 kicks off the celebration; displays remain on view through the 16th. Home & Design is the media sponsor of the event, which benefits Children’s National Hospital.
 Pictured from last year's Fete: A stunning table by Myron Wolman in […]

This immersive, 10-screen film installation by Sir Isaac Julien focuses on 19th- century abolitionist Frederick Douglass and the influences of technology and images on human relations. Spanning space and time, the display interweaves Douglass’ speeches and writings with reenactments of his travels around the globe.

Charles Lang Freer, patron of the museum’s Freer Gallery, was intrigued by ancient Egypt. He visited the country three times, collecting works ranging from glass vessels to amulets and a Byzantine jewelry set, many of which will be on view for the first time in this exhibit. asia.si.edu

For centuries, some of the most ambitious and compelling art in Europe was painted on ceilings in styles ranging from Baroque to Neoclassical. The National Gallery spotlights 30 examples of remarkable ceiling decoration, from preliminary studies to large-scale models.

This immersive installation combines thousands of fine chromatic yellow and blue threads to create a color scheme that the eyes and mind cannot perceive. In what she calls an “imaginary, mysterious, unnamed space,” the multi-media artist pushes viewers to contemplate the divine—which, like these colors, she says, “is unnamable, untouchable, intangible.”

For 20 years, The Trawick Prize has recognized exceptional artists in DC, Maryland and Virginia. The Katzen celebrates 18 past prize-winners with a showing of their work in sculpture, painting, mixed media, film and more.

This ground-breaking show is not only the first major exhibition of Aboriginal Australian bark-painting in the U.S., it’s also the largest display of Aboriginal Australian art to be seen in the Western Hemisphere in 30 years. The Yolngu people in northern Australia’s Yirrkala region tell stories about the interconnectedness of man, animals and the land; […]

The Hirshhorn focuses on Chinese photography’s recent shift away from realism and toward conceptual art. The 186 images on view, made between 1993 and 2022, reveal how Chinese artists have independently embraced the immediacy of print and digital photography, recorded performance and video art.

Originally trained as a classical pianist, Linling Lu creates exuberant works of art inspired by the properties of sound. For this solo show, she created a series of abstract paintings that translate the musical notes of Philip Glass’ Etude no. 16 into spatial configurations, shown in the artist’s trademark rings of brightly colored, concentric circles.

Like the first installation of this exhibit, which remains on view through January 29, the second part also presents portraits by Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Brian Lanker of Black women who changed America. Subjects include seminal figures such as Cicely Tyson, tennis champion Althea Gibson (pictured) and Oprah Winfrey.

Léon Bonvin (1834-1866) is known for his exquisite watercolors, inspired by Japanese prints, photography and trends of the day. Following the French artist’s tragic suicide, Baltimore patron William Walters began to acquire Bonvin’s paintings, amassing what became the largest collection of his work in existence; Walters’ son later bequeathed the collection to the city of […]

An accomplished businesswoman and legendary arts patron, Hillwood founder Marjorie Merriweather Post applauded female artists and designers. Hillwood displays art and objects from its collection that depict women whom Post admired, along with work created by women—from an 18th-century Fabergé pencil holder to a 1790 French painting of Princess Elizabeth (pictured).

The museum presents a stunning array of antique Islamic prayer rugs collected around the globe from Ottoman Turkey to Mughal India. Exploring the spiritual meaning behind the rugs’ iconic motifs, the show also offers comparisons to Jewish traditions.

A major retrospective surveys the 50-year career of modern artist Philip Guston (1930 to 1980). Some 110 paintings and 115 drawings on view run the spectrum from figurative and abstract work to political satire in the Nixon era.

Now in its 46th year, this craft show will host more than 350 artists displaying handmade treasures. Attendees can browse basketry, ceramics, furniture, fiber art and works in wood and metal, along with jewelry and wearables.

In this collection of newly acquired work, 25 modern and contemporary artists reveal their emotional and spiritual selves. Taken as a whole, the pieces on view illustrate the power of art to shed light on our existence and to affect change.

This novel exhibit explores how the materials and methods artists employ in their work evoke history, memory and meaning among viewers. Paintings, sculptures, photographs, drawings, prints and textiles are among the 65 works on view from the museum’s permanent collection.

Approximately 80 recently acquired watercolors and drawings in the museum’s permanent collection provide a vast overview of British art created over two centuries. The display features portraits, landscapes, historic scenes and nude studies.

Commemorating hip hop’s 50th anniversary, this exhibit surveys the cultural, conceptual and aesthetic attributes that have made the art form a global phenomenon. Ninety works by famed contemporary artists such as Devin Allen, Monica Ikegwu and Amani Lewis are presented alongside apparel and other objects that embody hip hop culture.

Twenty-nine tours will take place throughout Virginia during this annual event, sponsored by the Garden Club of Virginia. Among them: a walking tour in Old Town Alexandria and visits to private properties overlooking the Blue Ridge mountains in Warrenton.

Now in its 90th year, this spring event offers participants a glimpse into some of Georgetown’s most spectacular homes and gardens. A parish tea at St. John’s Episcopal Church follows the self-guided tour. Proceeds benefit the church’s ministry and outreach.

Marking the 125th anniversary of the Spanish-American War, this exhibit examines the rise of the U.S. as an empire through the lens of portraiture and visual culture. More than 90 works from collections in Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Guam, Spain and the U.S. present an array of viewpoints in a fascinating look back at history.

In the 1990s, Drexciya, a Detroit-based techno duo, imagined an underwater kingdom populated by the offspring of pregnant women who were either pushed or jumped overboard during voyages of the transatlantic slave trade. Since then, many artists—including Ayana V. Jackson—have conjured their own interpretations of this mythical world. In her first solo museum exhibition, Jackson […]

Now in its 41st year, the Smithsonian Craft Show will display creations by 120 artists representing all facets of craft and design, from ceramics and basketry to glass, jewelry, furniture, fiber and wearable art. “Celebrating the American Spirit” is the theme of this year’s juried event, which will feature work by 13 Native American and […]

When they envisioned Washington’s architectural profile, America’s Founding Fathers and subsequent leaders frequently invoked Greek and Roman styles as a link to America’s political roots. This exhibit explores depictions of monuments, sculptures and public buildings throughout the nation’s capital that were designed to reflect the classical architecture of these ancient civilizations.

Martha Jackson Jarvis’ great-great-great-great grandfather, Luke Valentine, was a free Black militiaman who served during the Revolutionary War. In a series of 13 large abstract works on paper, the multi-media artist traces a journey Valentine made from Virginia to South Carolina. The assemblage not only captures shifts in terrain but also the dangers and emotions […]

This retrospective celebrates the 50-year career of Robert Houle (Saulteaux Anishinaabe, Sandy Bay First Nation). Embracing Western and Indigenous artistic traditions, Houle pays homage to the earth, the sacred and the creative moment in his paintings via color, light and gesture.

Lego lovers of all ages will delight in an around-the-world tour featuring reproductions of 37 iconic structures and places made entirely of Lego bricks. Edinburgh-based artist Warren Elsmore constructed the intricate models depicting attractions on every continent, from San Francisco’s Painted Ladies to the Shalamar Gardens of Pakistan. Pictured: A model of the Lincoln Memorial, […]

Italian Neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova (1757–1822) started each of his masterpieces in marble by producing a model in clay. More than 30 of some 60 surviving clay sketches shed light on the artist’s creative process.

The Renwick Invitational showcases 
mid-career and emerging artists deserving wider national recognition. Jurors selected six Native American artists for the 2023 exhibit, which examines the honors and burdens facing Native artists as they express their cultural traditions. Creations on display by Joe Feddersen, Lily Hope, Ursala Hudson, Erica Lord, Geo Neptune and Maggie Thompson address […]

This retrospective commemorates the life and work of artist and educator Benjamin Wigfall (1930–2017) in his native Richmond. After launching his career, Wigfall studied at Hampton University and Yale and later became a professor at State University of New York (SUNY), New Paltz. It was there that he founded his studio, Communications Village, as a […]

This show explores the powerful connection between video art and music, showcasing 29 time-based installations by 10 award-winning creators. Harnessing genres from hip-hop and jazz to spirituals and lullabies, the works explore personal and universal themes that form a commentary on contemporary life. This is the museum’s first fully accessible exhibition, designed in conjunction with […]

A text-and-image-based installation by New York conceptual artist Jessica Diamond offers a commentary on American culture and commercialism. Thirteen new wall drawings play off two of Diamond’s preexisting works.

The museum spotlights a 12-panel screen depicting women in an imperial palace during the Han dynasty. Visitors will learn about the 1672 screen’s meaning and manufacture as well as about recent conservation efforts to bring its intricate beauty back to life.

The rise of stylized, mass-produced posters in late-19th-century Europe and America blurred the lines between fine and applied art. Works by top French, Belgian, Viennese and American artists emphasized natural beauty in the flowing lines and flourishing patterns of the Art Nouveau movement. These posters represent early depictions of women as fashionable, independent individuals and […]

By expressing the personal stories and experiences of makers and their communities, quilts often illuminate historical events and cultural trends. Drawn from the collection of New York’s American Folk Art Museum, creations on display range from traditional early-American quilts to contemporary sculptural assemblages.
museum.

Mounted in partnership with Hemphill Artworks, this exhibition shines a light on Washington-based artist Steven Cushner, showcasing 34 small-scale works on paper, woodcut prints and large paintings.

DC artist Franklin White has spent the past two decades in Merida, Venezuela, enamored by its scenery and traditions. The Katzen presents a selection of White’s expansive oil pastels on handmade paper, depicting the mountain village’s natural beauty.

This exhibition focuses on sculptures by Rachel Rotenberg created using cedar planks and other materials. The artist, notes the Katzen, “has managed to build works on a heroic scale without sacrificing intimacy.”

Science and imagination collide in a mind-bending video experience developed in collaboration with NASA. Exploring light as a thread connecting history, science and technology, the show reimagines cutting-edge processes and discoveries, including newly analyzed galactical data captured by the James Webb Space Telescope.

The museum reflects on the career and work of late African American artist Alma Thomas, who was born in the Jim Crow South but spent most of her life in Washington, DC. The show reveals how Thomas’ materials and techniques continued to evolve until her death in 1978.

Pieces by some 50 living Native American artists are a testament to indigenous survival and knowledge of the land. Works on view run the gamut from weaving and sculpture to beading, painting and more.

The museum displays more than 200 objects illustrating the integral role women played in the development of art, culture and commerce over four centuries. This vast display of royal portraits, devotional sculpture, tapestries, printed books, drawings, metalwork, ceramics and furniture made by both acclaimed and amateur women artists dispels the belief of the time that […]

The Modern Architecture + Design Society and listModern host a celebration of residential modern architecture and design. From DC to Arlington and McLean to Chevy Chase, come see the inside and out of some of DMV's most unique modern homes; meet the local architects, designers, and builders that created the homes; and find some inspiration […]

Featuring more than 70 creations by 50 artists, this exhibition explores art networks and exchanges between Africa and the U.S. during the postwar period. Organized into four parts, it reveals the depth of experimentation and diverse artistic practices that emerged in Africa in those years and the connections that challenged academic assumptions and biases.

Inaugurating its new modern and contemporary galleries, the museum spotlights the photographic work of Park Chan-kyong—the Korean artist’s first solo exhibit at a major U.S. institution. Visually powerful still and moving images examine South Korea’s complex history, from the impact of rapid socioeconomic development to effects of the Cold War on politics and society.

This exhibit chronicles an early chapter in photography, when innovators perfected a way to etch a photographic image into a copperplate and print it in ink. Resulting images dazzled viewers with their delicate highlights and rich tonal range—and the process of photogravure was born. More than 45 photogravures will be shown along with bound-volume examples […]

The gallery shines a light on scientists, politicians, activists, writers and artists who played a pivotal role in the conservation movement from the late 19th century until today. Showcasing more than 25 portraits of thought leaders ranging from Henry David Thoreau to Maya Lin, the exhibit also addresses issues of environmental justice, biodiversity and climate.

Fresh from a two-year renovation, the museum marks its reopening with a dramatic exhibit featuring contemporary sculpture and immersive installations created over the past two decades by 13 women artists. More than 30 works of art, many monumental in scale, will dangle from the ceiling, cascade down walls and extend across the gallery floors.

Hung Liu (1948–2021) lived through Mao Zedong’s totalitarian regime before immigrating to the U.S. The museum reveals “weeping” paintings and prints by the artist featuring signature paint drips and layers of color. Inspired by vintage photographs discovered on a trip to China in the 1990s, the works convey the dignity and resilience of her subjects—predominantly […]

French artist Antoinette Bouzonnet-Stella (1641–1676) is best known for a work entitled The Entrance of the Emperor Sigismond into Mantua. This series of 25 prints is on display as part of an exhibit focusing on her life and career in Paris, where she lived and studied in the Louvre with her uncle, artist Jacques Stella. […]

Sculptures and special installations dot the Kreeger’s grounds in a display that demonstrates how art encourages viewers to consider subjects from other perspectives. The eight works in this show were created by DC-area artists. Pictured: "Furies," a wood, steel and ceramic sculpture by DC-based Adam Bradley.

The museum highlights work by 25 influential contemporary artists from the U.S. and around the world. More than 120 selections in an array of media include paintings by DC-based Rozeal and a self-portrait by Baltimore’s John Waters.

An exhibit spotlights Franco-Senegalese artist Alexandre Diop, whose mixed-media creations explore legacies of colonialism and the diaspora.

Chicago native Simone Leigh explores themes of race, beauty and community in visual and material culture with references to vernacular and handmade processes from across the African diaspora. The Hirshhorn presents sculptures by the artist that were shown at the 2022 Venice Biennale, along with three new bronzes, video, ceramics and other earlier creations.

This show centers on paintingsa by 20th-century icons such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Grant Wood and Hale Woodruff depicting rural scenes and city life in the U.S. In addition, select works by artists affiliated with Washington’s Corcoran Gallery of Art shine a light on that institution’s lasting impact.

More than 100 portraits on view of everyday Americans, taken from the Great Depression through the 1960s, are a testament to the prolific American photographer’s ability to capture the character and strength of her subjects. Throughout her 50-year career, Lange (1895–1965) focused her lens on scenes of economic disparity, migration, poverty and racism.

Focusing on the intersections of poetry and nature in visual art, The Phillips pairs the large-scale forest landscape paintings of contemporary Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone with more than 50 paintings by American artist and poet Louis Michel Eilshemius (1864–1941). The museum also displays poems on paper and diary paintings by Rondinone, who is a longtime […]

Sponsored by the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art Washington Mid-Atlantic Chapter, this event celebrates Stan Dixon’s eponymous book, The Residential Architecture of D. Stanley Dixon: Home.  HOME is the debut book from award-winning Southern architect Stan Dixon, one of a highly influential group of Atlanta-based architects and designers who are revolutionizing the design world with […]

Fascinated by cities undergoing drastic change in the late 19th century, James McNeill Whistler depicted many historic London and Paris structures shortly before they were demolished to make way for modernity. This show unveils more than 100 works by the artist—oil paintings, watercolors, pastels and prints—that capture these bygone scenes.

The gallery traces the evolution of Rothko’s oeuvre through some 100 finished paintings on paper that are unfamiliar to critics and the public. Ranging from early watercolors to monumental oils and acrylics, the works are only a fraction of the museum’s vast Rothko repository—all of which is viewable online and about to be published in […]

A newly commissioned work by Mexican-American multimedia artist and musician Raúl de Nieves animates the museum’s two-story lobby. Comprised of a 27-pane, faux stained-glass window and a multi-tiered chandelier adorned with 999 colorful resin butterflies, the installation examines notions of beauty and transformation.

Spearheading the first major U.S. exhibit that examines Ethiopian art in a global context, the Baltimore gallery traces the country’s artistic traditions from their origins to the present day. More than 225 objects—from coins, painted icons, wood carvings and metalwork to paintings by contemporary artists—reveal Ethiopia’s significance in cross-cultural exchange and the movement of art […]

More than 40 dealers from the U.S. and Europe will exhibit their wares, from furniture and art to jewelry and collectibles. A panel on the 12th will feature designers India Hicks, Celerie Kemble and Alex Papachristidis, moderated by New York designer Joy Moyler. Pictured: A display exhibited by Bell + Preston Antiques.

From historical newspaper illustrations to oil paintings, depictions of DC residents out and about with the city’s iconic architecture as a backdrop capture 19th-century life in the nation’s capital.

A special installation and guided tour sheds light on the lives of enslaved and free individuals of African descent who lived and worked at Tudor Place over almost two centuries. Created in collaboration with descendants, the exhibit features photographs, artifacts and audio recordings.

A collection of densely hued paintings and woodblock prints by Barbara Kerne reveals the Bethesda artist’s strong connection to nature.

This site-specific installation conceived and created by artists Ellyn Weiss and Sondra N. Arkin centers on the climate-related causes and consequences of mass migration. Works depicting wildfires, rising sea levels and extreme heat convey the urgent need to confront challenges facing humanity and the planet.

Dynamic paintings and works on paper by the late American artist Jennifer Bartlett celebrate the beauty of gardens. This installation complements an upcoming spring exhibit that will focus on the work of another garden enthusiast, Pierre Bonnard.

Rejecting norms of idealized beauty, German Expressionist art embraced bold distortions, angular forms and the use of non-naturalistic colors. More than 100 prints as well as drawings, illustrated books and sculptures created over the past century document the movement and the ways in which it has reflected and contributed to revolutionary change.

From an early visit during the 1900 World’s Fair to her later years as a patron of Paris’ opulent hotels, opera houses, galleries and fashion ateliers, Marjorie Merriweather Post was enamored with the City of Light. Nearly 60 pieces of furniture, porcelain creations, tapestries and other precious items the heiress acquired in Paris will be […]

Attendees can discover resources for myriad home-improvement projects at this show, where exhibitors run the gamut from landscaping, kitchen design and home electronics experts to vendors offering appliances, windows, flooring and more. Emmy award-winning Kevin O’Connor (pictured), host of “This Old House,” will speak on the 23rd.

The ancient resist-dyeing technique of ikat developed independently in communities across Asia, Africa and the Americas. This exhibit presents more than 70 vivid ikat textiles from a diverse group of countries including Indonesia, India, Uzbekistan, Côte d’Ivoire and Guatemala.

Architect Mark McInturff, FAIA, will discuss the common roots of Classical and Modern Architecture at this event hosted by The Institute of Classical Architecture & Art Washington Mid Atlantic Chapter. Beginning with the training and early work of the iconic Modernists including Mies, Le Corbusier, Wright and Kahn, the talk will illustrate common denominators of […]

Channeling the glamour and intrigue of 007 lore, this exhibit unveils 17 iconic vehicles that appeared in James Bond movies over the past six decades. Props, motorcycles and film clips will also be shown.

Since 1965, the historic Woodlawn estate has hosted the largest judged show of needle arts in the nation with hundreds of embroidery pieces on display from artists all over the world. The month-long fundraiser is put together by Nelly’s Needler’s Needlework Group, established in 1975 to help in the preservation of Woodlawn through the pursuit […]

The museum examines 160 works to unravel connections that unite abstract art, fashion, design and craft. Varied media—from oil painting to weaving, basketry, netting, knotting and knitting—explore social and political issues that have influenced textile production over the past century.

The Traditional Building Conference Series delivers focused, relevant education and training for architects, contractors, craftspeople and designers. Faculty includes industry experts and practitioners who present a mix of hands-on construction techniques, methods and materials, classical design, urban planning, and sustainable building practice as it relates to updating and preserving traditional and historic buildings of all […]

In the latest—and largest—installation of a series mounted every three years, NMWA presents the work of 28 artists from 13 countries. Creations ponder issues of our time, including the effects of a global pandemic, advocacy for social change and fallout from the political divide.  Pictured: A digital print by Meryl McMaster.