Past Exhibitions

Learn about past exhibitions going back as far as 1941 when the National Gallery of Art first opened to the public.

Filter Results

1222 results found

Results

Edvard Munch
Closed September 30, 1990
The image shows a person with only the upper part of their body visible. The individual is seated or standing upright, facing forward. Their facial features are lightly sketched, including dark eyes, a defined nose, and mouth, framed by dark hair. They wear a dark garment with a faint high collar, and a circular ornament or brooch at the neck. Vertical wood grain lines create a textured effect. To the left, there is a green-toned window with two panes, implying an interior setting. The background features dark tones, vertical striations, and scattered lines and dots in one corner.
Figures and Portraits from the Armand Hammer Collection
Closed November 11, 1990
Five sketches in brown ink are spaced around a vertically oriented sheet of paper. In the top left quadrant, a bearded man faces our right in profile. He has short, curly hair, a deeply lined face, a pronounced underbite, and the tip of his long nose points down. Two independent, wrinkle-lined eyes are sketched in the top right quadrant of the page. Below are two drawings of women with their shoulders angled away from us to the right. Near the bottom left and smaller in scale, a woman looks over her shoulder at us with a slight smile on her lips. In the bottom right quadrant, a woman with her hair pulled back under a snood looks to our right in profile with her chin tipped up. The neckline of both women’s bodices dip across the shoulder blades in the back. The paper is speckled with faint brown stains and spots.
The Drawings of Jasper Johns
Closed July 29, 1990
The image shows a grid pattern with numbers ranging from 0 to 9 in each square.
Masterpieces of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism
Closed August 5, 1990
The Passionate Eye
Closed July 25, 1990
Gardens on Paper
Closed July 2, 1990
The image shows a park filled with people, viewed from slightly above. Trees, a building with a dome, and figures in warm earthy tones with hints of purple and pink are in the scene. Dynamic brushstrokes emphasize flowing lines. Closest to the viewer are people in elegant attire, some talking or walking. In the background, white sailboats are on a water body.
Matisse in Morocco
Closed June 3, 1990
Fields of elephant gray, coral orange, and turquoise surround a fan-like, abstracted palm frond near the center of this vertical, abstract painting. The fronds of the palm radiate like a starburst against unpainted, cream-white canvas. Three black, vertical bands spaced behind the palm suggest tree trunks, with the rightmost trunk dotted with spring green, perhaps representing moss or the leaves of a vine. The fields of gray to either side of the frond, the turquoise areas below the gray, and the coral at the bottom center are painted with visible brushstrokes, creating a mottled effect. Rounded turquoise forms above the gray are silhouetted against a field of pale blue, perhaps representing the sky along the top edge. A few pointed, oval leaves painted spring green with black outlines dip into the scene from the top of the composition. The artist signed the work in dark green paint in the lower right: “Henri-Matisse.”
Rembrandt's Landscapes
Closed May 20, 1990
The image shows a landscape with a thatched-roof building to the right. The horizon is low, emphasizing the sky with soft clouds. Surrounding the building are trees, a fence, and subtle brushstrokes adding texture. The color palette consists of sepia tones. In the distance to the left, faint structures can be seen on the horizon. The land close by has gentle brush marks, with a small body of water reflecting light.
Matisse
Closed June 3, 1990
Selections and Transformations
Closed April 15, 1990
Bold strokes and textured squiggles of light teal, muted peacock blue, chestnut-brown, and gray create the impression of a churning sea beneath an oyster-white sky in this abstracted painting. Near the center of the composition, lime-green triangles against a larger patch of slate gray march toward the high horizon line. More green triangles line the lower edge of the canvas. The upper left is filled by a tall, sloping mound of gray and smoky purple layered with strokes of black. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower right, “Marin 38.”
Reinstallation of Bellini/Titian Feast of the Gods
Closed May 13, 1990

The Feast of the Gods was reinstalled after completion of the painting's 4-year conservation. It was shown with 3 other Venetian Renaissance paintings and with didactic material, including photographs before and after treatment and other analytical conservation photographs. The Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (CASVA) coordinated a symposium in conjunction with the reinstallation.

Six women, eight men, two satyrs, and one child gather in pairs and trios in a loose row that spans the width of this nearly square painting. They are set within a landscape with craggy rocks, cliffs, and trees. Most of the people face us, and the men, women, and child have pale skin. The two satyrs have men’s torsos and furry goat’s legs, and they have darker, olive complexions. Most of the men wear voluminous, knee-length togas wrapped in short robes in shades of white, topaz blue, grass green, coral orange, or rose pink. Most of the women wear long, dress-like garments in tones of shell pink, apricot orange, or lapis blue over white sleeves. For all but one woman, their garments have fallen off one shoulder to reveal a round, firm breast. Several objects are strewn on the rocky, dirt ground in front of the group, including a wide, wooden bucket with a piece of paper affixed to its front to our right, a glass goblet, a pitchfork, a large blue and white ceramic dish filled with grapes and small yellow fruits, and an overturned cup near the center. Cliff-like, craggy rocks rise steeply behind the group to our left, filling much of the sky opposite a tall grove of leafy, dark green trees to our right. A few puffy white clouds float across the vivid blue sky. The slip of paper on the barrel has been inscribed, “joannes bellinus venetus p MDXIIII.”
The 1980s: Prints from the Collection of Joshua P. Smith
Closed April 8, 1990

Loading Results