The National Gallery of Art is exhibiting Judith Leyster (1609–1660) in celebration of the artist’s 400th birthday, through November 29.  Judith Leyster painted a broad range of subjects, including genre scenes, portraits, and still lifes, which reflect the contemporary artistic styles and themes of her day.  It is believed that she may have studied with Frans Hals (c. 1582/1583–1666), and works by Hals and Leyster’s husband, Jan Miense Molenaer (1610-1668) are included in the exhibition. 

    The National Gallery of Art is exhibiting The Art of Power: Royal Armor and Portraits from Imperial Spain, through November 1.  Some 75 works showcase the evolution of armor as a luxury item and how it was used to cultivate the image of royal power in Imperial Spain.  The armor and portraits in which it is depicted are installed together for the first time. 
    The exhibition includes 12 full suits of armor representing battle, parade, and equestrian equipage armor that dates from the reign of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I of Austria (1493–1519) to Emperor Charles V and his successors, Philip II, Philip III and Philip IV.   
    Emperors and kings wearing the same armor can be observed in full-length portraits by Titian, Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Velázquez and others.  Several large tapestries from the Spanish Royal Palace also illustrate the armor, its wearers, and its symbolic representation.
    The armor exhibited is drawn from the incomparable collection of the Spanish Royal Armory in Madrid.   The armory dates back to a time when the Spanish Crown was at the height of its international power and is the oldest, finest and largest armory in the world. 
    The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, the State Corporation for Spanish Cultural Action Abroad (SEACEX), and the Patrimonio Nacional of Spain.  The exhibition was organized in association with the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and the Ministry of Culture, with the assistance of the Embassy of Spain in Washington.

    The National Gallery of Art is exhibiting Stanley William Hayter: From Surrealism to Abstraction through August 30.  Hayter (1901–1988) is celebrated for his influence on creative printmaking in Europe and North America. The exhibition features some 55 of his most important prints, plus a group of prints by some of the best-known artists who worked at Hayter’s print workshop, "Atelier 17," including Max Ernst, Joan Miró, and Jackson Pollock.

    Heaven on Earth: Manuscript Illuminations from the National Gallery of Art is on display in the Gallery’s East Building through August 2.  The exhibition features fifty-two single leaves and four bound volumes created between the 12th and 16th centuries.   Most of the miniatures displayed in the exhibition were removed many years ago from manuscripts which they had illustrated. 
Visit http://www.nga.gov/

     The NMWA is exhibiting Mary McFadden: Goddesses through August 30.  The celebrated American fashion designer is inspired by the art and culture of ancient civilizations and is known for “romantic and inventive haute couture designs for women.”   More than 40 major works from Ms. McFadden’s haute couture collections and many examples from her personal jewelry collection are on view, along with traditional ethnographic textiles and clothing.  

    The SAAM is exhibiting 1934: A New Deal for Artists, now through January 3, 2010.  During the Great Depression in 1934, the U.S. government created the Public Works of Art Program to support the arts nationally. 
    The exhibition features 56 paintings as it celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Public Works for Arts Program by drawing on the Museum’s incomparable collection of paintings created for the program. 

Visit http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/ 

    The Smithsonian Resident Associate Program will present Art Nouveau: New Style for a New Century, a 4-session daytime course in art history, on Fridays, July 10—31.  Bonita Billman, who is an instructor in art history at the Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies, will examine the origins, influences, characteristics and chief protagonists of the enduring style which originated in France at the turn of the last century.  
The course will take place in the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s McEvoy Auditorium.
Visit http://residentassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=217672

    The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Art will exhibit Moving Perspectives: Shahzia Sikander/ Xun, July 18-November 18.  Contemporary artist Shahzia Sikander, who is from Pakistan, was trained there and in the U.S.  She “reinterprets miniature painting by isolating and abstracting formal compositional elements often found in this densely layered and intricate art form.”   She also creates video works, where abstract forms become “a buzzing hive, calligraphy whirls in and out of view, and imaginary curves morph into vivid landscapes.”
    Contemporary artist Sun Xun, who is from China, creates paintings and drawings from sheets of old newspapers or entire blank walls. He films the hand-drawn images, transforming “clocks, magicians, words, and insects into animated symbols flickering across the screen in dark allegories on the nature of historical consciousness and the passage of time.” 

    The Sackler Gallery is exhibiting The Tsars and the East: Gifts from Turkey and Iran in The Moscow Kremlin, now through September 13.  The exhibition is the first exhibition of the rare Russian treasures in the U.S. and includes textiles, bejeweled arms and armor, gold equestrian trappings and other unique objects.  The Freer and Sackler Galleries partnered with The Moscow Kremlin Museums, with the patronage of President Dimitry Medyedev, to allow 65 of the Kremlin's finest works of art to be exhibited.   

    The American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center opened several exhibitions in June, and they will be on display through August 16:  

     Garry Knox Bennett: Call Me Chairmaker  - featuring 52 one-of-a-kind sculptural chairs created by one of the foremost contemporary studio-furniture makers.  Bennett uses “bold new forms and constantly expanding traditional boundaries…. to make furniture a form of art.”  To read more about Mr. Bennett, visit www.gkb-furniture.com/

      Love, Let Me Count the Ways: Washington Print Club Biennial  - some 100 prints, drawings, and pastels from member collections.  The images of love include maternal, sexual, mythological, patriotic, political, and psychological love.  The prints date from the sixteenth-century to the present.  To read more about the Washington Print Club, visit www.washingtonprintclub.org/

      Robert Hudson and Richard Shaw: Collaborations  - over 60 collaborative and individual sculptural works highlighting the partnership of the two Bay Area artists.  They are particularly well-known for their works in porcelain and glaze.  

      Spiriz: The Haitian Sailing Project  - An exhibition featuring a 21-foot wooden boat that was sailed from Haiti to the US earlier this year, retracing a route of the Haitian “boat people.” The exhibition will celebrate Haitian boat-building traditions, seafaring skills and art.  Text and images depicting this 800 mile voyage will also be on display.

       Margaret Boozer: Dirt Drawings  - installations of unfired local clays “that cross genres between painting and sculpture, abstraction and representation.”  Ms. Boozer’s compositions celebrate clay’s colors, patterns and textures.  To read more about Ms. Boozer, who is based in Mt. Rainier, MD, visit http://margaretboozer.com/contact.html

       My Fellow Americans: 40 years of political cartoons by Jules Feiffer  - Cartoons by the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York cartoonist, author, playwright, and artist.  To read more about Mr. Feiffer, visit www.julesfeiffer.com/