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Current Exhibitions

Close-up detail of an abstract painting with very thick and gestural brushstrokes of mostly orange paint.

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Featured Current Exhibition

Feb 28 to Aug 23, 2020
NMWA presents a landmark exhibition of evocative and groundbreaking photographs by celebrated artist Graciela Iturbide (b. 1942, Mexico City) from her prolific five-decade-long career. Iturbide’s signature high-contrast black-and-white images tell a visual story of Mexico since the late 1960s.
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A black-and-white photograph shows the back of a woman as she crests a rocky path above a vast desert landscape beneath an expansive sky. Her traditional, ethnic full skirt, long-sleeved blouse, and long, straight, dark hair contrasts with the modern portable stereo she carries.
Graciela Iturbide, Mujer Ángel, Desierto de Sonora (Angel Woman, Sonoran Desert), 1979 (printed 2014); NMWA, Gift of Cindy Jones; © Graciela Iturbide, Image courtesy of Throckmorton Fine Art, NYC
Feb 28 to Aug 23, 2020

All Current Exhibitions

  • Return to Nature

    Aug 01 to Oct 11, 2020

    The historical and contemporary photographs in this special pop-up installation delve into humankind’s yearning to experience the outside world, particularly after a period of confinement. They showcase the richly varied approaches women photographers apply to natural subjects.

    Color photograph of a dense forest with a light skin-toned girl with bare feet climing a tree at center. Below her to the right is another light skinned girl sitting against the trunk of a tree. Other figures are scattered throughout the forest in the background.
    Aug 01 to Oct 11, 2020

    Justine Kurland, Jungle Gym, 2001; Chromogenic color print, 30 x 40 in.; NMWA, Gift of Heather and Tony Podesta Collection; © Justine Kurland, Courtesy of the artist and Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York

  • Selections from the Collection

    Aug 01, 2020 to Jun 30, 2021

    NMWA’s collection of more than 5,000 works of art spans from the late sixteenth century through today. Explore the exceptional range of techniques and mediums by global women artists as embodied in paintings, prints, photo-based works, and sculptures.

    Partial gallery view of a young woman in a ponytail and glasses bending down to look at a tiny contemporary sculpture in a glass vitrine. The sculpture is a wooden cage with an object stored inside. On the back wall hangs a photograph of a light-skinned woman in a white dress.
    Aug 01, 2020 to Jun 30, 2021

    Photo credit: Kevin Allen

  • Linda Nochlin: The Maverick She

    Mar 08 to Oct 08, 2020

    Linda Nochlin (1931–2017), award-winning scholar, art historian and critic, devoted her career to forging a new appreciation for the contributions of women in the arts. This collaboration between NMWA’s Library and Research Center and the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art showcases a selection of Nochlin’s papers and ephemera that illuminate her remarkable contributions to art and culture.

    Open by appointment only.

    A black and white photographic portrait of seated art scholar Linda Nochlin. Dressed in a dark sweater and a print scarf, she gazes with a smile up to her left. An oversized art book is opened on the surface in front of her.
    Mar 08 to Oct 08, 2020

    Linda Nochlin in Paris, 1978; Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center, National Museum of Women in the Arts; Courtesy of Marion Kalter; Photo by Marion Kalter

  • New York Ave Sculpture Project: Betsabeé Romero

    Sep 28, 2018 to Sep 20, 2020

    The dynamic works of Mexico City-based Betsabeé Romero form the next chapter in the New York Avenue Sculpture Project. To create her four sculptures developed expressly for this installation, Romero assembled carved and painted tires into totemic structures that speak to themes of human migration and the natural environment.

    Close-up photograph of a sculpture made of a truck tire carved with circular designs and painted gold and silver
    Sep 28, 2018 to Sep 20, 2020

    New York Avenue Sculpture Project: Betsabeé Romero Installation; Photo credit: Mara Kurlandsky, NMWA