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The Museum Support Center
Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 9:00 AM
The Smithsonian has one of the largest collections in the world, from giant whale skulls to tiny insects. See first-hand where these research and exhibition specimens are kept, at the Museum Support Center in Suitland, Maryland. Get a behind-the-scenes look at the vast number of artifacts with staff who work at the facility.
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Denis Dutton: Our Love of Beauty Comes Naturally
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 at 6:45 PM
Philosophy of art professor and founder/editor of Arts & Letters Daily, Denis Dutton argues that human tastes in the arts are shaped by Darwinian selection and evolutionary traits, which explains why our aesthetic tastes are shared across cultures.
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American University Museum at Katzen Arts Center
Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 6:30 PM
Resident Members Only: Visit the Katzen Arts Center at American University featuring an extraordinary 30,000 square foot art museum with a variety of gallery spaces showcasing contemporary art from the nation’s capital region and from around the world.
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The Observant Eye: Understanding Art
Saturday, February 20, 2010 at 10:00 AM
Using outstanding art works from antiquity to the current scene, art historian Judy Pomeranz acquaints you with the formal principles of art and other tools needed to appreciate a work of art of any medium or style from any period.
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An Evening at the Musee D’Orsay
Wednesday, February 24, 2010 at 6:45 PM
Housed in an elegant old train station, the Musee d'Orsay holds a world class collection of art including masterpieces by Manet, Renoir, Degas, Cezanne, and many others. Art historian Linda Skalet highlights the importance of these collected works.
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Chinese Treasures in Washington
Friday, February 26, 2010 at 9:00 AM
Resident Members Only: The ancient terra-cotta warriors of China are making a rare visit to the United States. Not the entire army of statues that was buried almost 2,000 years ago, of course, but we will see 15 of them at the National Geographic museum as part of our tour of Chinese treasures in Washington.
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American University Museum at Katzen Arts Center
Saturday, February 27, 2010 at 11:00 AM
Resident Members Only: Visit the Katzen Arts Center at American University featuring an extraordinary 30,000 square foot art museum with a variety of gallery spaces showcasing contemporary art from the nation’s capital region and from around the world.
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Chinese Treasures in Washington
Friday, March 12, 2010 at 9:00 AM
Resident Members Only: The ancient terra-cotta warriors of China are making a rare visit to the United States. Not the entire army of statues that was buried almost 2,000 years ago, of course, but we will see 15 of them at the National Geographic museum as part of our tour of Chinese treasures in Washington.
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Spectacular Temples of Freemasonry
Saturday, March 13, 2010 at 9:00 AM
Freemasonry, the world’s oldest fraternal organization, is also one of the oldest organizations in the city of Washington, where Masons participated in the laying of cornerstones of the White House and the U.S. Capitol. Gary Scott, Past Master and 33rd Degree Scottish Rite Mason, leads this tour that includes some of the most significant architectural treasures of Washington.
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A Day at the Baltimore Museum of Art
Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 9:30 AM
Take a guided tour of the exhibition Cezanne and American Modernism at the Baltimore Museum of Art as well as BMA’s extraordinary Cone Collection, which features masterpieces by Matisse, Cezanne, Gauguin, and Van Gogh.
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Spectacular Temples of Freemasonry
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 at 9:00 AM
Freemasonry, the world’s oldest fraternal organization, is also one of the oldest organizations in the city of Washington, where Masons participated in the laying of cornerstones of the White House and the U.S. Capitol. Gary Scott, Past Master and 33rd Degree Scottish Rite Mason, leads this tour that includes some of the most significant architectural treasures of Washington.
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A Preamble to the 2010 Smithsonian Craft Show
Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 9:00 AM
Resident Members Only: Refine your knowledge of craft as art by visiting three award-winning artists from previous Smithsonian Craft Shows: Machiko Shishido (porcelain), Nebiur Arellano (silk painting), and Namu Cho (jewelry).
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Portraying the Gilded Age
Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 10:00 AM
Art historian Bonita Billman discusses Gilded Age artists William Merritt Chase, James Whistler, John Singer Sargent, and Cecilia Beaux. From the Civil War to WWI, American nouveaux riches had their portraits painted for posterity. Luncheon included.
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Spain’s Duero Valley: The Austere and Noble Heart of Iberia
All-day Seminar
Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 10:00 AM
Spain's Duero Valley is called the heart of Iberia. Historians James Todesca and James D'Emilio bring the dramatic history of the Duero to life: a frontier between Christianity and Islam and a region of castles, fortresses, and churches.
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Arts of the Indian Subcontinent
Thursday, April 1, 2010 at 10:00 AM
A docent-led tour provides history and commentary on treasures at the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art. Join collections staff behind the scenes to see pieces of art that are currently not on view.
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The Origins of Art 35,000 Years Ago: What Were They Thinking?
Monday, April 5, 2010 at 6:45 PM
Why did early modern humans begin creating art over 35,000 years ago? Archaeologist Nicholas Conard addresses this question and discusses delicate figurines he excavated in southwestern Germany. In collaboration with the Natural History Museum.
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Renaissance and Baroque Art: From Sacred to Secular
Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 6:45 PM
Explore the major artists and monuments of European art and architecture from 1400-1700. Major artists discussed include Brunelleschi, Donatello, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, and Rubens.
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From Palaces to Plein Air: 18th- and 19th-Century Art
Wednesday, April 7, 2010 at 12:00 PM
Discover the richness and contrasts of 18th and 19th century art from the flowering of the Rococo, to the stoic sobriety of neoclassicism to the drama of Romanticism, the fervor of a new and bold realism, and the ever popular Impressionists.
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American Art Since 1950: Pushing Boundaries
Wednesday, April 7, 2010 at 6:45 PM
Since 1950, American artists have worked at break-neck speed creating and redefining art. From Pollock's drip painting to Mark Tansey's painting with hidden images, their work is worth exploring to see where art is headed in the 21st century and why.
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Arts of the Indian Subcontinent
Friday, April 9, 2010 at 10:00 AM
A docent-led tour provides history and commentary on treasures at the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art. Join collections staff behind the scenes to see pieces of art that are currently not on view.
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Caravaggio at 400: Still Larger Than Life
Saturday, April 10, 2010 at 9:30 AM
Art historian Aneta Georgievska-Shine examines the outsized life and revolutionary paintings of Caravaggio, 400 years after his untimely death. Notorious for inciting the passions of his peers and patrons, his work still provokes controversy.
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Elizabeth Kostova: Art and Obsession
Thursday, April 15, 2010 at 6:45 PM
Elizabeth Kostova delves into the world of art and psychiatry in her latest novel, The Swan Thieves. In a discussion with NPR's Lynn Neary, she shares the intricate story lines that reach back and forth into history that shaped her story.
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Wheaton Arts: More than 200 Years of Glassmaking in America
Saturday, April 17, 2010 at 7:00 AM
Led by museum education consultant Sheila Pinsker, this trip includes a guided tour of Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center and its behind-the-scenes area, glassmaking demonstrations, and ample free time to explore.
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The Broken Mirror: Modern Painting in Late 19th-Century France
Monday, April 19, 2010 at 6:45 PM
In the closing decades of the 19th century, conventional ways of looking at a painting as a “mirror of reality” began to break down. Learn how artists, from Monet and Degas, to Gauguin and Cézanne elevated art to a new level.
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Arts of the Indian Subcontinent
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at 10:00 AM
A docent-led tour provides history and commentary on treasures at the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art. Join collections staff behind the scenes to see pieces of art that are currently not on view.
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Living the Crafted Life: Beyond Stuff
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at 7:00 PM
Everyone sits on a chair, eats off a plate, and drinks out of a glass. Join Smithsonian curator Jane Milosch and 2010 Craft Show artists for a discussion on extraordinary beauty of ordinary objects and the qualities to look for in selecting crafts.
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Iznik Ceramics in the Ottoman Empire and the World
Monday, April 26, 2010 at 6:45 PM
Scholar Walter Denny discusses the town of Iznik (ancient Nicea) in modern-day Turkey. During the Ottoman Empire, Iznik produced some of the most famous and costly types of ceramics ever produced, for global trade and imperial palaces.
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Authentic Havana: Architecture and Culture, 1517 to 1959
Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 6:45 PM
The extraordinary city of Havana comes alive, with castles, colonnades, plazas, and vibrant layers of eclectic modernism. Award-winning architect and professor, Nicolas Quintana, introduces us to Havana's architecture and culture, from 1517 to 1959.
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The Sacred Art of India: The Buddhist and Hindu Traditions
Saturday, May 8, 2010 at 10:00 AM
Join us for an exploration of India’s Buddhist and Hindu artistic traditions. Often lavish, the temples, sculptures, and images were originally tools for ritual and practice for devotees. Distinctive styles are highlighted in this armchair tour.
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