Since the 16th century, Raku ceramics have been central to Japanese tea culture. Built by hand as opposed to on a potter’s wheel, these vessels continue to inspire artistic creativity. The Freer Gallery displays pieces dating back to the 18th century that exemplify glazes and forms unique to Raku ware.
An exhibit conceived for young museum-goers celebrates the concept of home and the built environment through the lens of children’s literature. Installations featuring classics such as Winnie-the-Pooh, The Hobbit and Harold and the Purple Crayon are designed to spark curiosity and encourage visitors to create stories of their own.
Could pollution have played a role in the emergence of European modernism in art? This exhibit poses that question using paintings and works on paper by Henri Matisse, Claude Monet and James McNeill Whistler to demonstrate how their artistic styles emerged partially in response to industrial-era smog in London and Paris.
In honor of its 50th anniversary, the Hirshhorn Museum is hosting a landmark exhibition by conceptual artist Adam Pendleton. New and recent paintings and a video work pay homage to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The show is the Richmond native’s first solo exhibit in DC.
Viewers are challenged to make connections between modern and Renaissance art in this exhibit that contrasts paintings by Rozeal and Cezanne with Titian masterpieces. Historic references and other similarities relate these disparate works over centuries.
Latin American works ranging from ancient urns and textiles to contemporary ceramics will be displayed in the Baltimore museum’s newly renovated North Court galleries. Representing 40 different cultures and 4,000 years of history, the show is organized by theme and geographic provenance, and will include bilingual materials for a more immersive experience.
A selection of photographs offers an intimate look at the everyday lives of Indigenous peoples across the Western Hemisphere. Drawn from the museum’s vast archive of more than a half-million images, this show reveals moments of quiet reflection as well as family gatherings and ceremonies, captured from 1852 to the present.
A Romanov by birth, Natalie Paley escaped the tragic fate of her family to live a culturally rich life in France, and later, America as the darling of fashion designers, writers, editors and photographers. Through 335 newly acquired items—assembled alongside pieces from Hillwood’s permanent collection—a fascinating portrait of the woman as both muse and tastemaker […]
Recent works by the American-born artist include Rubber Pencil Devil (Hell House), a neon sculpture commissioned by Glenstone to showcase Da Corte‘s videos exploring humor, satire, violence and tenderness. Also on view, The Decorated Shed, which reimagines the miniature neighborhood featured on the TV show ”Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” set in a room swathed in colorful […]
Drawing on the National Portrait Gallery’s extensive early photography collection, this show traces the evolution of large-scale portraiture using the three popular mediums of the day: the upmarket daguerreotype, the mid-range ambrotype, and the far more common and affordable tintype.
Thirty watercolors created over the course of two centuries trace the medium’s evolution from a mode of documentation to an art form. Largely drawn from the Corcoran collection, the paintings depict iconic American scenes, from New England seascapes to the Grand Canyon.
Trained in classical Indo-Persian miniature painting, Shahzia Sikander adds a contemporary spin to the genre. This 10-minute film is a commentary on the legacy of British colonialism in Asia. Combining visuals from Chinese paper cut-outs to watercolor maps of the region, the film blends inked and digitally animated scenes, all set to an electronic beat […]
This Baltimore gallery celebrates feline subjects with a show dedicated to the portrayal of cats in medieval manuscripts. Not only endearing pets, 15th-century cats also played deeply symbolic roles in literature and served as protectors that warded off pests.
This show chronicles how 19th-century European and American artists not only documented but also influenced the transformation of pristine environments into resources of industry. More than 50 works on paper—organized by themes of desert, forest, field, city and studio—were pulled from the collection of Baltimore native George A. Lucas (1824-1909).
This landmark show chronicles the pivotal role women artists played in what is presently the Netherlands and Flanders, Belgium, during the 17th and 18th centuries. The nearly 150 works on view—from paintings and prints to sculpture, embroidery and lace—are a testament to women’s participation in nearly all aspects of artistic culture of the era. However, […]
October 18 to March 1, 2026 –This exhibit offers visitors a rare opportunity to discover modern and contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, dating from the late 19th century to the present. More than 200 works by 130 artists illustrate the diverse and distinct visual iconographies of Indigenous Australia, which is made up of […]
The museum reexamines the work and life of Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma” Moses (1860–1961), the self-taught artist who was propelled to fame after starting to paint in her late 70s. The 88 works on view illuminate lesser-known aspects of Moses’ experience and reconcile the roles she played—from mother of five and dairy farmer in post-Reconstructionist […]
A permanent exhibit showcases some 3,000 of the museum’s 500,000 historical artifacts. Find architectural models by I.M. Pei and Frank Gehry, an antique blueprint machine, 1960s dollhouses, building fragments from the Carnegie Mansion and more. Items on display will be regularly rotated.
