This exhibit commemorates Mexican and Central American independence from Spain while exploring cultural exchanges between indigenous and European peoples. Perusing 19 works of art including books, gold adornments and ceramic […]
This exhibit focuses on 15 large-scale landscapes by contemporary painter Lisa Yuskavage. Noted for their exuberant, ethereal flair, the works encourage viewers to immerse themselves in the mysterious worlds Yuskavage […]
Edward Hopper often conveyed a sense of loneliness and isolation by painting subjects in hotels, motels and boarding houses. This Richmond exhibit highlights 65 paintings and works on paper by the artist depicting such settings, plus 35 pieces by John Singer Sargent, David Hockney and others who explored similar themes. vmfa.museum
Though he earned a degree in architecture, DC-based Alan Karchmer has devoted his career to photographing buildings rather than designing them. This show presents images of structures Karchmer has captured […]
Over a decade, American artist Sharon Lockhart documented the lives of children in Lodz, Poland. Over time, she produced a film, photographs and sculpture based on workshops she conducted in a center for young women. Now on exhibit, the series creates a profound sense of place and a commentary on children’s resourcefulness.
Harlem-born artist Tschabalala Self explores the significance of the Black female form in contemporary culture through her work. Two sculptures and 13 paintings that incorporate stencils, tracings, prints, casts and mechanically stitched lines of thread are on view.
Modern Australian artist Marley Dawson has created ghosts, a two-part kinetic sculpture installation that riffs on The Phillips Collection’s art and architecture. One installation consists of five chairs in brass, suspended from the gallery’s domed stairway (above), while the other is a wall-mounted work made of hundreds of brass rods, hung to spark a dialog […]
Museum director Jack Rasmussen curated this exhibit that assembles works by 32 Washington-area artists, including Sam Gilliam, Lisa Montag Brotman and Gene Davis. In an illustrated catalog available online and in print, Rasmussen reflects on the period, when, he writes, Black and women artists were “systematically underrepresented” and examines how memories of this formative period […]
In 1804, Prussian naturalist and author Alexander von Humboldt spent six weeks in the U.S., exchanging ideas about art, science, politics and nature with luminaries such as Thomas Jefferson and Charles Willson Peale. This exhibit examines von Humboldt’s impact on American cultural development through 100 sculptures, maps, artifacts and paintings—including Albert Bierstadt’s 1864 Valley of […]
From 1954 to 1956, Jacob Lawrence painted a 30-panel series entitled “Struggle…From the History of the American People.” It depicts early decades of the republic through the words and actions of founding fathers as well as enslaved people, women and Native Americans. Assembled for the first time in 50-plus years, the panels—including We crossed the […]
The Phillips Collection asked DC-area artists to submit work created between March 2020 and February 2021 that expresses the struggle and resiliency of the human spirit in the context of the pandemic and recent social upheaval. Many of these submissions are now on view in a juried exhibit that carries on museum founder Duncan Phillips’ […]
In her depictions of immigrants seeking a better life abroad, contemporary Chinese-American artist Hung Liu speaks volumes about exile, identity and the Asian Pacific American experience. Her multi-layered portraits, many […]
Rebecca Kamen’s paintings and sculpture explore the confluence of art and science. Working with scientists and researchers, she creates abstractions that shed light on the world around us.
In 2006, artist Diane Burko switched her focus from landscape painting to work that captures the effects of global warming. Informed by science and technology, pieces on view include Sphere 4 (right) and a 56-foot-long “World Map” series documenting changes in glaciers and reefs.
In celebration of The Phillips’ centennial, Spanish-born artist Daniel Canogar created a digital work that seamlessly “melts” together pieces from the museum’s permanent collection in an ever-changing abstract animation. Following its September 8 YouTube debut, “Amalgama” opens in the gallery on September 14.
Now in its 30th year, this festival will showcase the work of more than 200 artists in the fields of fine art and craft. Visitors will have an opportunity to engage with artists from around the country and will also enjoy dance performances, a family-friendly art park and more. The event is hosted by Tephra […]
This event puts a modern spin on the ancient Jewish festival of Sukkot, which celebrates the fall harvest. During the holiday, families build temporary structures with partially open roofs called sukkahs, where they share meals, rejoice and even sleep. Notable DC architects have taken on the challenge of designing sukkahs of their own that explore […]
The work of seven contemporary artists reveals the profound ways in which humans impact the planet. A photograph by Edward Burtynsky (above) documents the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in […]
Northern Virginia’s largest self-guided home tour encompasses properties in Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William Counties. Visitors are welcome to view houses from 11 am to 5 pm both days.
During a 43-year friendship with Henri Matisse, Baltimore collector Etta Cone acquired more than 700 works by the French master—the majority of which she bequeathed to the museum upon her death in 1949. This exhibit chronicles their relationship and the evolution of the renowned Cone collection.
This exhibit documents the Venetian glass revival on the island of Murano between 1860 and 1915, which coincided with Grand Tours of Europe made by American luminaries. The period produced […]
This exhibit features more than 50 paintings, collages, prints and drawings by artist, educator and art historian David Driskell, who died last year at the age of 88. A 1955 […]
Anil Revri’s complex geometric abstractions embody spiritual ideas from the East and West. Born and raised in India and a U.S. resident for nearly 40 years, the artist employs tantric visualization techniques in his paintings and drawings that tap into unexplored realms of the unconscious.
Pieces in this show depict a cross-section of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish life. Among the 27 paintings on view: landscapes by Jacob van Ruisdael and Salomon van Ruysdael and winter […]
This global survey on glass-making features objects, installations, videos and performances by more than 50 artists, designers and architects from 23 countries. Works on view include Promise (right), made of […]
This survey of work by Canadian artist Jeff Wall showcases nearly 30 photographs made between 1978 and 2018. Ranging from everyday moments to urban scenes and landscapes, Wall’s enigmatic, carefully crafted images convey the depth and gravitas of paintings seen through a camera’s lens.
This retrospective spotlights Baltimore artist Betty Cooke’s jewelry creations, dating from the 1940s to the present. Cooke’s iconic work—collected by museums around the world—is inspired by nature and kinetic forms. About 160 objects drawn from public and private lenders are on view.
Tracing the career and life of the beloved American landscape photographer, this retrospective displays more than 70 photographs taken by Ansel Adams over five decades. Visitors will not only peruse Adams’s most famous and lesser-known works but will also learn about his passions for conservation and classical music.
Marking the 100th anniversary of Man Ray’s 1921 arrival in Paris, this exhibition assembles portraits taken by the photographer of the city’s avant-garde residents between the two world wars. Among […]
A GW art history professor invited artists and cooperatives in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh to create new textiles inspired by works in The Textile Museum Collection. This show displays […]
Some 100 works in aquatint—a printmaking technique that became popular in 18th-century Europe—are included in this exhibit that explores the medium’s influence on art publishing, travel and the rise […]
Glenstone spotlights American artist Vija Celmins, known for her powerful depictions of the natural world, from ocean currents to the night sky, as well as her portrayals of everyday objects. […]
Amber Robles-Gordon, a mixed-media visual artist of Puerto Rican and West Indian descent, examines past and present policies of the U.S. in its territories and in Washington. Her abstract paintings, collages and quilts spark a dialog about marginalized communities and their access to resources and citizenship—especially during crises.
This show chronicles the life and work of Alma Thomas (1891-1978). Raised in rural Georgia, Thomas was Howard University’s first art department graduate and the first Black artist to […]
A mammoth work by Swiss artist Nicolas Party, 829 feet in circumference, hides ongoing construction outside the recently reopened Hirshhorn. Digitally printed on scrim, the work encircles the museum with […]
Visitors experience what it would be like to travel through the human brain during this immersive, technology-driven event. A collaborative project between artists and scientists, it simulates neuron activity throughout the life cycle.
After this exhibit was cut short by the pandemic in 2019, the Freer has reopened it with more works by Katsushika Hokusai. Among the folding screens, scrolls and drawings on display, visitors will have an opportunity to view the Japanese artists’ rarely seen masterpiece, Breaking Waves.
