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The garden's central plaza will encircle the present linden-ringed pool, which will serve as a fountain in warm months and will continue as an ice-skating rink in winter. Early sculpture installations are expected to include Isamu Noguchi's "Great Rock of Inner Seeking" (1974); Joan Miro's "Personnage Gothique, Oiseau-Eclair" (1974-77); and Alexander Archipenko's "Woman Combing Her Hair" (1915). The National Air and Space Museum, far and away Washington's most popular, will be handicapped for another full year by dislocations necessary for the ongoing replacement of its windows – and the museum is nearly all windows. The museum will keep its normal hours but will not be opening any major new exhibitions. Civil War buffs will celebrate the opening of yet another major museum in the region dedicated to America's pivotal conflict. The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier will hold its grand opening May 29-31 at Pamplin Historic Park near Petersburg. The state-of-the-art, hands-on, interactive and living history museum will focus on the men in the ranks rather than the men who directed their destinies. For information call 804/861-2408. Some of the dates of the 1999 exhibit openings listed below are tentative; updated information will be available in Weekend's weekly listings. Checking the museums' Web sites in advance is highly recommended. The telephone number for all Smithsonian museums is 202/357-2700 (TDD: 202/357-1729). The Web site for all Smithsonian museums is www.si.edu; other Web sites are individually listed. The Smithsonian
ARTS AND INDUSTRIES BUILDING "Speak to My Heart," an exposition on the history and continuing role of black churches, will continue through the year. "State of the Blues," a photo exhibit, will open April 30 and run through July 30. 900 Jefferson Drive SW (Metro: Smithsonian).
FREER GALLERY OF ART "Selections from the Japanese Collection" (April 4-Nov. 28) includes 35 works, many never before exhibited. "The Tea Ceremony in Japan" (April 4-Nov. 28) features utensils and procedures of this refined and esoteric practice. "A Breath of Spring" (May 17-Jan. 9) pairs a showing of the 14th-century Chinese masterpiece of that title with a new poem by Michael Ondaatje, author of "The English Patient." "Masterpieces of Chinese Painting" (May 29-Jan. 30) will feature selections of 10th- to 18th-century hanging scrolls, murals, screen paintings and albums. "Abbott Handerson Thayer's Winged Figures" (June 5-Feb. 19). Thayer (1849-1921) was one of founder Charles Lang Freer's favorite American painters, and Freer was particularly taken by Thayer's three huge angel-winged portraits of his daughter Gladys, icons of the Aestheticist movement. The gallery will display all three of them in conjunction with a concurrent Thayer show at the National Museum of American Art. "Whistler and the Hadens" (June 20-April 2, 2000) recalls Whistler's early years in London, when he lived and worked with his half-sister Deborah and her husband, Francis Seymour Hayden. Most of the Whistler prints in this selection of 30 etchings, drypoints and drawings are from Hayden's collection. Jefferson Drive at 12th Street SW (Metro: Smithsonian).
HIRSHHORN MUSEUM AND SCULPTURE GARDEN "Directions – Juliao Sarmento" (Jan. 28-June 20): figurative works by a Portuguese painter who wowed 'em at the 1997 Venice Biennial. "The Hirshhorn Collection at 25" (opens Feb. 25) marks the reopening of the 20th century galleries after refurbishing for the anniversary celebration. "Brice Marden: Works of the 1990s" (May 27-Sept. 6) presents "Cold Mountain" and other abstractions in a traveling show organized by the Dallas Museum of Art. "Directions: Sam Taylor-Wood" (July 15-Oct. 17), a panoramic projection by the British artist. "Regarding Beauty: Perspectives on Art Since 1950" (Oct. 7-Jan. 17) is the museum's 25th anniversary showcase. The show will feature 70 works by 30 late-20th century artists, including Picasso, Mark Rothko, Felix Gonzales-Torres, Marlene Dumas and James Turrell. Seventh and Independence SW (Metro: L'Enfant Plaza).
INTERNATIONAL GALLERY, S. DILLON RIPLEY CENTER "Microbes: Invisible Invaders . . . Amazing Allies" (May 22-Sept. 6). A hands-on, interactive exposition of the microscopic organisms that saturate the planet's land, sea and air (not to mention our guts, skin and hair). Some are killers, most are benign fellow travelers, and some we couldn't live without. The show is produced by the Smithsonian and the National Institutes of Health. 1100 Jefferson Drive SW (Metro: Smithsonian).
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN ART "Baule: African Art/Western Eyes" (Feb. 7-May 9) explores how West Africa's Baule peoples have created and used their extraordinarily artful everyday objects and how Western scholars and collectors have coveted them. "Sokari Douglas-Camp: 'Church Ede' – A Tribute to Her Father" (March 21-June 20) is the latest of the African artist's captivating kinetic sculptures. "Heavy Metals or the Alloyed Truth: A Tribute to the African Smith" (March 21-June 20) examines the many materials and methods employed by traditional metalworkers. "Modern Art From South Africa" (June 20-Sept. 26) includes contemporary animated film shorts, prints and paintings. "Hats Off: A Salute to African Headgear" (July 18-Oct. 17). There's more to hats than meets the eye; this show tells what people wear and why. "Wrapped in Pride: Asante Kente and African American Identity" (Sept. 12-Jan. 2). The significance of strip-woven kente cloth throughout Africa and the United States. "The Art of African Money" (Dec. 19-March 19). Examining some of the objects and tokens that have served as mediums of exchange and emblems of wealth, political and magical power, and status. 950 Independence Avenue SW. (Metro: Smithsonian).
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART "Picturing Old New England" (April 2-Aug. 22). The Yankee domain as depicted between the end of the Civil War and the end of World War II by such artists as Winslow Homer, Childe Hassam, Maurice Prendergast, George Bellows, Marsden Hartley, Edward Hopper, Maxfield Parrish and Normal Rockwell. "Abbott Thayer: The Nature of Art" (April 23-Sept. 6). Allied with a concurrent exhibition at the Freer Gallery, this show focuses on a trio of paintings that aren't there. Thayer's "Angel" paintings, icons of the American Aestheticism movement, cannot leave the Freer because founder Charles Lang Freer's deed of gift specified that the museum could neither a borrower nor a lender be. The show at American Art will include more than 60 of Thayer's ideal figures, landscapes, self-portraits and studies of protective coloration among animals. "Woodcuts by Hiratsuka" (May 14-Sept. 12). Un'ichi Hiratsuka (1895-1997) is credited with helping revive the moribund art of woodblock printing in Japan. These 25 black-and-white prints from private Washington collections honor a master who lived, worked, taught and lectured here for many years. "Edward Hopper: The Watercolors" (Oct. 22-Jan. 3) features more than five dozen of the early works that marked Hopper as a comer in the 1920s and '30s. The range is from the searing sun of the Southwest to the architecture and landscapes of New England. Eighth and G Streets NW. (Metro: Gallery Place/Chinatown).
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY "Communities in a Changing Nation," a permanent exhibition opening Feb. 12, will offer vignettes of life in three communities during the 1800s: industrial workers and managers in Bridgeport, Conn.; Jewish immigrants in Cincinnati; and slaves and free blacks in Charleston, S.C. "Feather Trade" (Feb. 27-July 31). How the slaughter of birds for feathers to decorate fashionable ladies' hats helped energize the early American conservation movement and led to international agreements protecting migratory birds. "Preserving the Star-Spangled Banner," beginning in March, will allow visitors to watch the conservation work being done on the flag that's still there. "Americanos: Portrait of the Latino Community in the United States" (March 27-June 6) presents 120 photographs by 30 prize-winning photographers, focusing on such themes as family, culture and education. "On Time," the museum's newest permanent gallery, will be late; the opening has been moved back from spring to fall. "The Nixon White House" (July through November) marks the 25th anniversary of the resignation of the President Nixon under the prospect of impeachment. 14th and Constitution NW (Metro: Federal Triangle).
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY The massive multi-year remodeling of the museum continues this year with the opening of the new Discovery Center and a huge Hall of African History and Cultures. The center, which will include a cafeteria and a 3-D Imax theater, is scheduled to open in early spring, the hall in fall. Around midyear regular visitors will be surprised to find the great elephant moved from the center to the rim of the Rotunda and his sex restored. This is part of a renovation scheme that should make it easier for visitors to figure out how to get to their areas of interest. A temporary exhibition, "Ainu: Spirit of a Northern People" (April 30-Jan. 2), will present some 250 photographs, archaeological artifacts and fine-arts items from American and Japanese collections that describe the lives of "Japan's Indians," a people indigenous to Japan's northern islands for thousands of years. "Margaret Mee" (May 27-Aug. 15). Fifty watercolors by an artist who devoted her life to recording the beauty and diversity of the Amazon. 10th and Constitution NW (Metro: Federal Triangle).
NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY "Paul Robeson: Artist and Citizen" (Jan. 29-April 18). Son of an escaped slave, possessor of a magnificent voice, a sports-champion body, a Phi Beta Kappa brain and a fierce hatred of racism and oppression, Robeson (1898-1976) was one of the most colorful, controversial and consequential Americans of his time. His career is examined with the aid of more than 150 artifacts, including paintings, photos and movie stills, sculptures, Robeson's writings and his personal memorabilia. "Portraits of George and Martha Washington in the Presidential Years, 1789-1797" (Feb. 19-Aug. 8). Twenty-five likenesses – sculptures, paintings and drawings assembled to mark the 200th anniversary of the death of the first president, including works by Gilbert Stuart, Charles Willson Peale, Edward Savage and John Trumbull. "Franklin and His Friends: Portraying the Man of Science in 18th Century America" (April 16-Sept. 6). Science was a principal preoccupation of 18th century Americans and Europeans, for whom Franklin represented the ideal. The exhibition includes 35 portraits painted by Stuart, Peale, John Singleton Copley and others, along with drawings, microscopes, telescopes, electrical machines and other early scientific devices. "Hans Namuth: Portraits" (April 30-Sept. 6) presents 75 of the German-born photographer's portraits of leading American artists, architects, performers and musicians. "In His Time: a Portrait of Ernest Hemingway" (June 18-Nov. 7) marks the centennial of his birth, and traces his career from his boyhood in Oak Park, Ill., his adventures in the Spanish Civil War and both world wars, the years of fame and the fears of fading powers that led to his lonely suicide in Idaho in 1961. "Unauthorized Portraits: The Drawings of Edward Sorel" (July 2-Nov. 7). Thirty posters, drawings and illustrations by the master caricaturists. "Augustus Washington: African American Daguerreotypist" (Sept. 24-Jan. 2) includes some 30 daguerreotypes and the personal history of one of the few free men of color who took up photography in its earliest stage. Included is his portrait of abolitionist John Brown. "Tete a Tete: Portraits by Henri Cartier-Bresson (Oct. 29-Jan. 8). Cartier-Bresson's own selections from five decades of his work, including portraits of Truman Capote, William Faulkner, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Che Guevara and Picasso. Eighth and F Streets NW (Metro: Gallery Place/Chinatown).
NATIONAL POSTAL MUSEUM "Posted Aboard the Titanic," opening Sept. 17, will feature objects found on the bodies of American sea postal clerks Oscar Scott Woody and John Starr March, who died in the sinking of the RMS Titanic. Woody and his colleagues on the Royal Mail vessel were on the stern deck celebrating his 41st birthday when Titanic struck the iceberg. Recovered items include mailbag keys and routing slips, Woody's travel orders and March's gold pocket watch.
RENWICK GALLERY "Shaker: the Art of Craftsmanship" (March 19-July 25) displays the furniture, decorative arts and tools made and used by members of a Shaker community established in New York in 1787. "Dominic Di Mare" (March 19-July 25) surveys the 30-year career of a leading California fabric artist. "Glass! Glorious Glass!" (Sept. 24-Jan. 30), first in a series celebrating major media, will include examples of blown, cast, slumped, lampworked and flat glass by such artists as Karla Trinkley, Eric Hilton and Hank Murta Adams. 17th and Pennsylvania NW (Metro: Farragut West or North).
ARTHUR M. SACKLER GALLERY "Behind the Himalayas: Paintings of Mustang by Robert Powell" (Jan. 31-Aug. 1). Watercolors of a wind-blasted region whose altitude averages 15,000 feet, painted in the same vivid – and sacred – colors used by the people of Mustang. "Devi: the Great Goddess" (March 28-Sept. 6). Some 120 depictions, including several as many as 2,000 years old, of the great mother goddess – and mother nature – of India. "Paintings by Nainsukh" (April 25-July 18). A look at the life of a Rajput court painter and his family workshop. "Yoshida Hiroshi: Japanese Prints of India and Southeast Asia" (Aug. 1-Oct. 17). The famous series of 32 prints the master executed after an extended tour. "The Ambassador Journey" (Aug. 22-December). Color photographs by Raghubir Singh that illustrate India's cultural and geographical diversity, using the subcontinent's ubiquitous Ambassador automobile as his visual theme. "Treasures From the Royal Tombs of Ur" (Oct. 17-Jan. 17). More than 150 artifacts from 1920s excavations of the Mesopotamian city at the high point of Sumerian culture, about 2600 B.C. "Traditional and Contemporary Art of the Islamic World" will be a three-part exhibition: "Imagining the Word: New Selections of Calligraphy From the Islamic World" (Nov. 17-May 7); "Constructing Identities: Recent Works by Jananne al-Anj" (Nov. 21-Feb. 28); and "Antoin Sevruguin and the Persian Image" (Nov. 21-May 28). Pictures of life in what's now Iran from the 1850s to the 1930s. 1050 Independence Avenue SW (Metro: Smithsonian).
Other Area Museums
CORCORAN GALLERY OF ART "New Worlds From Old: 19th-Century Australian & American Landscapes" (Jan. 27-April 19). One hundred landscapes by leading artists of the century, in an exhibition organized by Hartford's Wadsworth Athenaum and the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. "Reuben Nakian: Centennial Retrospective, 1897-1986" (Feb. 6-April 4), will include about 80 sculptures, plus prints and drawings. "‚'Sketch Everything and Keep Your Curiosity Fresh': Sargent Drawings From the Corcoran" (Feb. 14-May 9). Coincides with the Sargent retrospective at the National Gallery of Art. "Propaganda and Dreams: Photographing the 1930s in the USSR and US" (May 15-Aug. 23). More than 200 photographs, many never before exhibited. "Collection in Focus: New Acquisitions – Major Works by Dennis Oppenheim" (May 25-July). 13 works by the conceptual, land, body, video and sculpture artist. "Roy Lichtenstein: The Sculpture Retrospective" (June 5-Sept. 27) will include 100 sculptures and about 50 works on paper and sketchbooks. "1999 Scholastic Art Awards National Exhibition" (June 19-July 19). Hundreds of works by junior and senior high school students in an annual show. "To Conserve a Legacy: American Art From Historically Black Colleges and Universities" (November-January). An exhibition developed by a consortium of 10 institutions that features more than 100 works from the collections of six black schools. "Annie Leibovitz" (Nov. 15-Feb. 28): more than 100 portraits commissioned for Vogue's centennial issue, "Women of the 20th Century." 17th and New York Avenue NW. 202/639-1700. Open 10 to 5 daily except Tuesdays, and till 9 on Thursdays. Suggested donation $3 adults, $1 students and seniors, $5 families. Wheelchair accessible. Metro: Farragut West or North. Web site: www.corcoran.org.
NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART The gallery's new Cascade Cafe seems designed to upgrade the museum from user-friendly to user frenzy. Along with state-of-the-art Italian espresso machines there is an array of made-on-the-spot gelatos and sorbetos in 18 flavors, breakfast pastries, luncheon sandwiches and salads and beer and wine. It's open 10 to 4:30 Monday through Saturday, 11 to 5:30 Sundays. Major 1999 openings at the National Gallery will include "American Impressionism and Realism: The Margaret and Raymond Horowitz Collection" (Jan. 24-May 9). Forty-nine paintings and works on paper from one of the finest private collections of American impressionists and realists. "From Botany to Bouquets: Flowers in Northern Art" (Jan. 31-May 31). Two dozen paintings, plus books and manuscripts, focusing on the gallery's flower still lifes by such artists as Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder, Jan Brueghel the Elder, Jan Davidsz; de Heem and Jan van Huysum. "John Singer Sargent" (Feb. 21-May 31). More than 100 of Sargent's finest works form the biggest retrospective since his death in 1925. "Photographs from the Collection" (April 14-July 5). About 70 19th and 20th century works in an exhibit designed to show that the National Gallery is becoming a major player in the field of photography. "Portraits by Ingres: Image of An Epoch" (May 23-Aug. 22). Selections from six decades of the brilliant career of Jean-Auguste- Dominique Ingres (1780-1867), including 40 paintings and 120 drawings. "Mary Cassatt" (June 6-Sept. 6). Some 45 paintings and 10 color prints in a celebration of the fruits of recent research on Cassatt (1844-1926) in the most comprehensive exhibition since the 1970 National Gallery retrospective. "Brassai: The Eye of Paris" (Oct. 17-Jan. 16). About 150 photographs by a spooky Transylvanian surrealist who haunted Paris streets at night in the late 1920s to early 1930s. Fourth and Constitution NW. 202/737-4215 (TDD: 202/842-6176). Wheelchair accessible. Metro: Archives/Navy Memorial. Web site: www.nga.gov.
THE PHILLIPS COLLECTION "An American Century of Photography: From Dry-Plate to Digital" (Jan. 23-March 28): 140 images from the Hallmark photographic collection. "Georgia O'Keeffe: The Poetry of Things" (April 17-July 18). An examination of O'Keeffe's aesthetics through an exhibition of about 60 of her paintings and works on paper. "Works by Judith Rothschild" (May 15-Aug. 15). Thirty-one works from the 46-year career of an artist who worked her way from abstract to figurative to abstract-alliterative. "Modern Art at the Millennium: The Eye of Duncan Phillips" (Sept. 25-Jan. 23). For its millennial show the Phillips will refurbish the original family mansion-cum-public gallery and reopen the old main entrance for the duration of the exhibition, which will feature 250 works from the museum's permanent collection. Proclaiming its prescience as Washington's first and for many years only modern art museum, the Phillips will hang works by, among others, Georges Braque, Pierre Bonnard, Paul Klee, Paul Cezanne, Milton Avery, John Marin, Maurice Prendergast, Arthur Dove, Mark Rothko and Jacob Lawrence. 1600 21st St. NW. 202/387-2151. Open 10 to 5 Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 7 Sundays and till 8:30 on Thursdays. Weekend admission is $6.50 adults, $3.50 students and seniors (63 and up); weekday admission by voluntary contribution. Wheelchair accessible. (Metro: Dupont Circle, Q Street exit.)
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WOMEN IN THE ARTS "The Narrative Thread: Women's Embroidery From Rural India" (Feb. 4-May 9). Eastern India village women used to record community history through embroidery, and recently the practice has been revived in Bihar. Thirty recent quilts record everything from scenes of daily village life to Hindu epics, female infanticide and election violence. "The Visual Poetry of Mirella Bentivoglio" (March 1-June 12) offers 50 examples of the visual and concrete poetry of this Italian avant-garde artist. "The Art of Nellie Mae Rowe: 'Ninety-Nine and a Half Won't Do'‚" (June 3-Aug. 15). First major exhibition of the work of an exuberant Georgia folk artist. "Grace Albee: An American Printmaker" (July 26-Nov. 21). Five dozen wood engravings and woodblocks executed between 1929 and 1980. 13th and New York Avenue NW. 202/783-5000. Open 10 to 5 Monday through Saturday, noon to 5 Sundays. Suggested donation $3 adults, $2 students and seniors. Wheelchair accessible. (Metro: Metro Center.) Web site: www.nmwa.org.
Baltimore BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART "Elizabeth Catlett Sculpture: A 50-Year Retrospective" (Jan. 27-April 11). More than 50 of Catlett's carvings and moldings in wood, marble, stone, terra cotta and bronze. "Dancing at the Louvre: Faith Ringgold's French Collection and Other Story Quilts" (Jan. 27-April 11). The first exhibition of narrative quilts depicting the life and times of Ringgold's fictional expatriate alter ego. "Nouveau to Deco: Textiles of the Early 20th Century" (March 17-Aug. 1). "Photographs, Drawings and Collages by Frederick Sommer/Surrealist Art from the BMA's Collection" (March 31-Aug. 1). Forty works by one of the 20th century's most inventive photographers. "Chockwe! Art and Initiation Among Chokwe and Related Peoples" (June 13-Sept. 5). Objects from two centuries of the art and culture of this little-known Central African ethnic group. "Impressionist Portraits from American Collections" (Oct. 10-Jan. 30). Sixty portraits by such artists as Mary Cassatt, Paul Cezanne, Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. 10 Art Museum Dr., Baltimore. 410/396-6300. Open 11 to 5 Wednesday through Friday, 11 to 6 Saturday and Sunday. Admission $6 adults, $4 students and seniors (65 and up), under 19 free. Wheelchair accessible. Web site: www.artbma.org
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