Indian artist Ranjani Shettar’s “Earth Songs for a Night Sky” is part of The Phillips Collection’s series on the intersection between old and new in art, materials and techniques. Shettar’s hand-carved wood sculptures and installations respond to Sounds, a book of woodcuts by Wassily Kandinsky, and paintings by Paul Klee from the museum’s collection.

Museum founder Charles Lang Freer amassed the world’s largest collection of watercolors by James McNeill Whistler, most of which have never left the confines of the Freer. More than 50 are now on display, including figures, landscapes, nocturnes and interiors.

This is the first exhibit to highlight how animals have been represented in Japanese art over the past 16 centuries. The assemblage of 315 works focuses on a wide variety of media, including sculpture, painting, lacquerwork, ceramics, textiles, woodblocking and metal, by luminaries such as Yayoi Kusama, Issey Miyake and Murakami Takashi.

This exhibition showcases designs for DC landmarks that never made it past the planning stages. Discover unbuilt concepts for Memorial Bridge, the Washington Monument and more through historical prints and paintings from the museum’s Albert H. Small Washingtoniana Collection.

Sculptor and glass artist Ginny Ruffner combines traditional glasswork with augmented-reality technology to create an interactive experience. Viewers download an app that superimposes digital information over colorless glass tree stumps, […]

Through August 30 • This year’s exhibition of recent acquisitions showcases 25 new portraits of individuals who have influenced history and culture in the U.S. Subjects include Morgan Freeman, Audrey […]

The Art Nouveau movement experienced a boom at the end of the 19th century, popularizing works by Scottish artist, architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who was part of an enclave of Glaswegian artists. This collection of 165 furniture pieces, textiles, posters, drawings and ceramics explores the impact of Mackintosh and Glasgow Style.

After the Corcoran Gallery of Art closed its doors in 2014, American University acquired nearly 9,000 works from its collection. Taking cues from the museum’s late, unconventional director Walter Hopps, 18 AU graduate students curated this exhibit of 87 pieces from the Corcoran Legacy Collection, dividing them into five sub-groups and juxtaposing them in provocative […]

Drawing from the gallery’s permanent collection, this exhibit traces the history of pastels from their Renaissance origins to the present day. Seventy works are on display, some for the first time, by luminaries including Claude Monet, Edgar Degas and James McNeill Whistler.

This exhibit celebrates women artists whose work reflects major 20th-century movements, from Cubism to Abstract Modernism. Georgia O’Keeffe, Maria Martinez, Grace Turnbull and Grace Hartigan are among those whose paintings, […]

Collectors Barbara and Aaron Levine recently made a gift to the Hirshhorn encompassing more than 50 historical artworks—including 35 by French-American icon Marcel Duchamp, who pioneered the use of everyday […]

While celebrated Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai is best known for his iconic woodblock print The Great Wave off the Coast of Kanagawa, he created thousands of works during his long […]

Japanese American artist Chiura Obata married East and West by depicting American landmarks like the Grand Canyon and Yosemite using Japanese calligraphic brushstrokes and washes of color. More than 100 […]

Ongoing • This unique exhibit celebrates African heroes through tales of human accomplishment that reflect the continent’s trials and triumphs. Pulled from the museum’s permanent collection, each of the nearly […]

In 19th- and 20th-century sub-Saharan Africa, artistic expression was divided by gender, with men glorifying leaders in wood and metalwork while women employed textiles, beads, jewelry and more for everyday […]

The Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore taps into its archive of costumes, clothing and accessories for an exhibit spanning four centuries. Hermès, Pierre Cardin and “Project Runway” alum Christian Siriano […]

Through February 9 • Six women photographers chronicle Iran’s social and political realities in this timely show. On view are images by Hengameh Golestan, who documented women protestors following the 1979 revolution; work by Newsha Tavakolian, Shadi Ghadirian, Malekeh Nayiny, Gohar Dashti and Mitra Tabrizian explores themes of defiance, memory, home and displacement in modern […]

Known for tonal compositions featuring solitary female figures, turn-of-the-20th-century American painter Thomas Wilmer Dewing was part of a bustling network of collectors and art dealers. This exhibition explores the influence […]

In the 17th and 18th centuries, wealthy families decorated banquet tables with extravagant centerpieces made of sugar and fine porcelain. Displayed in the Hillwood House dining room, an elaborate centerpiece […]

More than 40 dealers from the U.S. and Europe will display their wares during this annual antiques show. Dubbed “Iconic George!,” the event includes an exhibit of George Washington-themed decorative arts from the Winterthur Museum. A preview gala, designer panels and dealer talks will also take place. washingtonwintershow.org

Fashioned out of jade, agate, onyx, amethyst, lapis and other semiprecious stones, about 100 decorative objects from the Marjorie Merriweather Post estate will be on display at Hillwood. The collection […]

Influential Washington, DC, artist Robert Franklin Gates (1906-1982) was a muralist, painter, printmaker, draftsman—and an American University professor of art for more than 40 years. This exhibit, featuring works in […]

A solo show of American artist Ellen Lesperance’s work features gouache paintings based on clothing worn by women activists, warriors and cultural figures. The exhibit reveals seven pieces from the […]

Organized by the Arab World Institute and UNESCO, this virtual exhibition takes viewers to three Middle Eastern cities: Palmyra and Aleppo in Syria and Mosul in Iraq. All three have […]

Painting en plein air was a popular trend during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when intrepid artists journeyed to breathtaking European spots to practice their craft outdoors. This […]

GWU undergraduate students curated this exhibit of letters, prints, maps and other artifacts from the Albert H. Small Washingtoniana Collection. Their selection showcases George Washington’s life through the places that […]

Before becoming an artist, modernist Moira Dryer was a set designer for the avant-garde theater company Mabou Mines. This exhibition of 26 of her paintings and sculptures considers how Dryer’s […]

More than 600 jewelry, clothing, furniture and home-décor artisans from across the country gather at this annual juried marketplace to showcase their contemporary, handcrafted wares.  craftcouncil.org

This landmark exhibition spotlights the artistic achievements of more than 115 Native American women from the U.S. and Canada. The collection of 81 works spans antiquity to the present and features a variety of media including textiles, beadwork, sculpture, paintings and photography. americanart.si.edu

This extensive exhibit brings together thousands of textile fragments, garments, rugs and other works of art assembled over a lifetime by the prolific collector and philanthropist Lloyd Cotsen, who was fascinated by indigenous cultures and vanishing artistic traditions around the world.

For the past 50 years, influential Latin American photographer Graciela Iturbide has employed black-and-white gelatin silver prints to create powerful, visceral images of her native Mexico. This exhibit of 140 photographs documents indigenous Mexican cultures and customs, from exuberant fiestas to processions honoring the dead. nmwa.org

This exhibit showcases works by 20th- and 21st-century African American artists alongside those of early-20th-century European modernists with whom they engaged, exploring the friction and connections among them. Pieces by Romare Bearden, Renee Cox and Carrie Mae Weems, for example, are juxtaposed with works by Kandinsky, Matisse and Picasso, among others. 76.137

The National Gallery pays tribute to the Paris Opéra’s 350th anniversary with an exhibit of around 100 works by Edgar Degas, who was known for his compelling depictions of the group’s dancers, singers and musicians both on stage and behind the scenes. Paintings, pastels, drawings, prints and sculpture are all part of the mix.

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 paintings, sculptures, maps and artifacts by Peale, George Catlin, Frederic […]

This exhibit of modern Japanese painting and calligraphy, from the Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, showcases works by Japanese painter Tomioka Tessai (1836-1924), who studied the art of ancient Japan and that of China’s Ming and Qing dynasties. He developed an idiosyncratic style emphasizing a shared East Asian cultural fabric that feels relevant today.

Following the blockbuster 2017 exhibition “Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors,” the Hirshhorn Museum will showcase new acquisitions by the visionary Japanese artist with installations already in its permanent collection. Among the additions: “Infinity Mirror Room—Phalli’s Field” (now one of three infinity rooms belonging to the Hirshhorn); a more recent room installation, on view for the first […]

Notable Georgetown homes will be open to visitors for the 89th annual Georgetown House Tour. The event will include a parish tea and a panel discussion with Waterworks co-founder Barbara Sallick on her new book, The Perfect Kitchen, and DC architect Christian Zapatka, who designed some of the homes on the tour.

Occupying the whole of The Walters’ annex, 1 West Mount Vernon Place, this exhibit of vibrant majolica ceramics features immersive installations on each floor—including a recreation of a Victorian parlor, reflecting the era in which majolica was first introduced. Three hundred fifty pieces will be displayed around themes of food, fashion, immigration and labor.

The National Gallery pays tribute to the Paris Opéra’s 350th anniversary with an exhibit of around 100 works by Edgar Degas, who was known for his compelling depictions of the company’s dancers, singers and musicians against the backdrop of stage and backstage locales. Paintings, pastels, drawings, prints and sculpture are all part of the mix. […]

More than 25 designers will transform a new, two-story, 9,600-square-foot house in McLean (left) into a show house open for on-site tours (Wednesday through Sunday) as well as virtual visits. […]

The sixth installation of the Women to Watch series demonstratesthe transformation of paper into complex works of art. Pieces by 22 emerging and under-represented artists from around the world will […]

Fresh out of art school in 1906, Edward Hopper spent a year in Paris and subsequently made several trips to France. On loan from the Whitney, 11 works created during this period depict street scenes and landscapes that foretell elements which would characterize the artist’s mature body of work. phillipscollection.org