This exhibition explores the work of Alexander Gardner, who took the iconic "cracked-plate" portrait of President Abraham Lincoln on February 5, 1865.

The role of business and innovation in the development of the United States is explored.

Paintings, photographs, documents, and objects reveal the personal lives and professional rivalries of Union General Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate General Robert E. Lee. 

To celebrate the history of Nigerian photography, this exhibition focuses on the collection of Chief Solomon Osagie Alonge, one of Nigeria's premiere early photographers.

Photographs reveal Civil War activities around  the Patent Office Building—now home to the National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum—and other locations in and around the District of Columbia.

This new wing is dedicated to the behind-the-scenes care of the Smithsonian's collection of aircraft, spacecraft, related artifacts, and archival materials.

More than 70 works show how Latino artists tackled classic American themes and actively participated in the artistic movements of their day. 

This ground-breaking exhibition explores the theme of destruction in international contemporary visual culture.

This new permanent gallery provides additional space, for the first time at the street level, for new exhibitions, public programs, and a Welcome Center to greet visitors.

Learn about the complex and visually rich relationship between African artists and the land upon which they live, walk, and frame their days.

This exhibition explores the "American Dream" as lived by American Indians. Through photographs, artifacts, videos, and interactive stations, learn about the Indian American experience and their dynamic role in shaping American society.

This exhibition reveals why a good clock is crucial to navigation -- for 18th-century mariners to current-day GPS users -- and how increasingly accurate timekeeping has influenced how we find our way.

See how artists over the last 100 years have used objects -- the fragments and detritus in the world around them -- to challenge traditional art media.

Images from the museum's collection are used to explore the roles individual African Americans played during the Civil War.

This exhibition offers an unprecedented view into artist Nam June Paik's creative method.

Some of the finest artwork produced during the Civil War and its aftermath illustrate the influence of this period in history on the visual arts in America.

Explore the boundaries that once defined drawing and portraiture through the works of artists Mequitta Ahuja, Mary Borgman, Adam Chapman, Ben Durham, Till Freiwald, and Rob Matthews. 

The first U.S. venue of this unprecedented exhibition reveals the unknown past of the Arabian Peninsula with newly discovered artifacts from ancient trade routes stretching from Yemen in the south to Iraq and Syria in the north. 

Learn about the contribution of poetry in American literature through portraits of and quotations by such poets as Walt Whitman, Ezra Pound, Langston Hughes, and Allen Ginsberg.

This major solo exhibition of works by Chinese conceptual artist Ai Weiwei introduces viewers to his broad spectrum of artistic practice.