Asian Art Museum

Dragons in Chinese art represent the emperor.

What Do Dragons Symbolize and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

Simmon: A Private Landscape (#1), by Hosoe Eikoh, 1971

How Japanese Artists Responded to the Transformation of Their Nation

Two new exhibitions at the Freer|Sackler vividly illustrate Japan's arrival to the modern age

The beauty and grace of the third century funerary bust, known as Haliphat, helped convey an important chapter of history as well as the significance of preserving her and what remains of Palmyra.

Two Sculptures of Ancient Women Give Voice to the Protection of Antiquities in War Zones

The Smithsonian's elegant Haliphat of Palmyra and the blue-eyed Miriam from Yemen raise awareness of the illegal trade in and destruction of antiquities

“And I persevered,” says curator Debra Diamond of her find that lead to new scholarship, at the the TV Critics Association winter press tour.

A Curator's College Find Is Revisited in the New PBS Showcase ‘Civilizations'

Debra Diamond's story, says the show's producer, exemplifies the 'joy of discovery' in a whole new way

This silk velvet ikat robe was made specifically for a woman, as evidenced by the pinched waist. Velvet ikats were considered top-of-the-line, the Freer|Sackler's Massumeh Farhad explains, because two rows of weft were needed instead of the usual one.

How the Technicolor Ikat Designs of Central Asia Thread Into Textile History

A new Smithsonian exhibition sheds light on the rich backstory of an oft-imitated tradition

Ahmad Shah (r. 1909–25) and his cabinet by Assadullah al-Husayni naqqash-bashi, 1910

In Persia’s Dynastic Portraiture, Bejeweled Thrones and Lavish Decor Message Authority

Paintings and 19th century photographs offer a rare window into the lives of the royal family

January Happenings At the Smithsonian

Blow away winter blues with our recommended list of film, lectures, concerts and more

The Freer Buddha undergoes a CT scan at the National Museum of Natural History. "He wouldn't relax his legs," Donna Strahan recalls with a laugh.

How Science is Peeling Back the Layers of Ancient Lacquer Sculptures

These rare Buddhist artworks were found to contain traces of bone and blood

This year's crop of Smithsonian winter shows is as disparate as it is delightful.

This Holiday Season, Make Merry in a Museum

From heavenly light shows to diabolical dollhouses, the Smithsonian’s winter exhibitions offer something for everyone

The infrastructure and technological systems were upgraded, the carpeting removed, and the original terrazzo floors restored

A Fresh Look for Smithsonian's Oldest Art Museum

The Freer's renovation comes with a new thematic presentation of Asian Art—and the Peacock Room is reopened, as well

Highlighting the breadth of the collection, the exterior of the museum was draped with images of the artworks in the Freer and Sackler Galleries, including Whistler’s famed Peacock Room

Here’s What It Takes to Turn a Museum into a Movie Screen

To mark the reopening of the Freer Gallery, the façade of the newly renovated museum made its cinematic debut

The responsive-design website fits your phone, tablet and computer and can be used to make an itinerary for easy printout and planning.

Take a Tour of the Smithsonian's Asian Pacific Collections this Autumn

Diverse artifacts all across the Smithsonian Institution captivate and confound in equal measure

Cat's Head, 30 BCE to third century CE

Why the Ancient Egyptians Loved Their Kitties

A show opening at the Sackler dramatizes the various meanings that the people of Egypt once associated with cats

The installation Terminal allows visitors to walk through the work, between the spires and beneath the canopy that connects them.

Get Lost Inside These Golden Spires Transforming the Sackler Pavilion

<em>Terminal,</em>the work of acclaimed artist Subodh Gupta, recalls an urban cityscape

In the late Bronze Age, ca. 500-450 BCE, bells were made in sets that rang different notes according to size.

A Rare Collection of Bronze Age Chinese Bells Tells a Story of Ancient Innovation

These rarely played ancient bells are newly analyzed with their acoustics remastered and digitized for a new exhibition at the Sackler Gallery

A succulent spread from Petworth-based Japanese restaurant Himitsu, one of the many D.C. vendors that will be represented at IlluminAsia.

You've Never Tasted "Street Food" Like This Before

For its grand reopening, a hub of Asian-American culture serves up a culinary wonderland

Two celestial beings, China, Kucha, Kizil, Cave 224 or 205, 6th century CE

New Sackler Buddhist Exhibition Doubles the Immersive Experiences

Film of Sri Lankan site joins popular shrine room as part of three-year exhibition and we finally learn why one Buddha’s hair is blue

This resplendent Tibetan shrine room will greet visitors to the Sackler Gallery's upcoming "Encountering the Buddha" exhibition.

From Egyptian Cats to Crime Scenes, Here's a Preview of the Smithsonian's Upcoming Shows

Gallery-goers in D.C. and NYC are in for a mental workout with shows that deliver on everything from the experimental to the traditional

This summer, Smithsonian reporters took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Freer Gallery and shot exclusive photographs of the building in its preparatory state.

Take an Exclusive Sneak Peek Inside the Renovated Freer Gallery, Reopening in October

Charles Lang Freer gifted this meditative haven for art lovers to the nation and was James McNeill Whistler's friend and patron

Highly social, narwhals travel in pods, often broken off by sex, and communicate via complex vocalizations that seem to be specific to their herds.

Does the Narwhal's Majestic Tusk Have a Point?

A Connecticut dentist, turned curator of a new exhibition, has long worked to solve the secrets of the whale's characteristic horn

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