Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art National Museum of Asian Art
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The Collections and Archives

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Atmospheric shots of the National Museum of Asian Art.

Curiosity Welcomed.

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    Open daily, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.

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    1050 Independence Ave. SW
    Washington, DC

Art from the Ancient World to Today

A detail of a painting of a red-robed king, sitting atop a white horse, who is conversing with a small face emerging from a tree; the king's companions, also riding horses, look on behind him at the edge of the image.
Iskandar and the talking tree (detail), folio from the Great Mongol Shahnama (Book of kings), Iran, probably Tabriz, Ilkhanid dynasty, ca. 1330, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1935.23
Exhibition An Epic of Kings: The Great Mongol Shahnama 
A row of sculpted figures, green with patina, all side by side in the grass and posed in active stances as they stretch their arms up to support a large white stone slab.
<em>Public Figures</em> (detail), Do Ho Suh (b. 1962, South Korea), 1998–2023, Jesmonite, aluminum, polyester resin, © Do Ho Suh, 2024. Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Seoul, and London
Exhibition Do Ho Suh: Public Figures
A close-up view of a golden metal vessel, hammered into a textured surface with a pattern of interconnected ridges and smooth roundels.
Exhibition Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork
A painted landscape with a creek winding through the lush, grassy hillside. A figure holding a fishing rod and a small dog are on the bank, and across the creek, trees blooming in soft pastels cast shadows on the grass.
Exhibition Shifting Boundaries: Perspectives on American Landscapes
Bronze statue, with a green patina, of a child balancing astride a prancing, maned lion.
Exhibition Ancient Yemen: Incense, Art, and Trade
Five multi-armed goddesses sitting cross-legged in a mountainous painted landscape.
Exhibition The Art of Knowing in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayas
Printed image of a bridge over a river, against a dusky blue sky.
Kiyosu Bridge, Kawase Hasui (1883–1957), Japan, 1931, woodblock print, ink and color on paper, Robert O. Muller Collection, S2003.8.762

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Dig Deeper

From Chinese art to the arts of the Islamic world, from Biblical manuscripts to Southeast Asian art, from the ancient Near East to the United States—our collections speak to the many meanings of Asia and its relationship to the rest of the world.

Experience Our Collections

How does place inform art? What role does place play in what is made, how it’s made, and who makes it? How does the art of one country or continent influence others?

Investigate the intersections of artworks from around the world through their unique stories and contexts.

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What materials were available during different eras? How have artistic techniques changed over time? Why do aesthetic styles evolve?

Transport yourself to the past to better understand the world today.

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What kinds of objects can you find in an art museum? How does the definition of art change across cultures, places, and time periods?

Appreciate the beauty of art and the everyday.

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What's On

Close-up detail of a stone relief sculpture with a series of figures standing side by side.
Scenes from the life of the Buddha, Pakistan or Afghanistan, Kushan dynasty, late 2nd–early 3rd century, stone, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1949.9a-d

Here’s what you can experience now. Be curious, be challenged, be inspired.
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Look out for these exciting exhibitions coming soon.
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Woman with scarf dancing
An educator gestures to an audience of children, standing before a projected image of a colorful painted image of a woman.

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A child coloring a stylized image of a animal.
A group of children all point at a work of art on the wall.

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painting detail
students looking at computer

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Presentation, Preservation, and Perspectives

We’re committed to placing masterworks of Asian art in dialogue with each other, with history, and with our American collection. We are committed to looking at the past critically, engaging with the present honestly, and envisioning the future inclusively.

Our Vision & Values

Our vision is to transform the National Museum of Asian Art into a space where a wide range of visitors can come together to celebrate, learn about, and interact with Asian art and cultures, including their intersection with America. In our second century, we’re becoming a space to convene, learn, reflect, and forge connections through art.

Chase F. Robinson
Director of the National Museum of Asian Art

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Visit The Museum

The Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery: two buildings, one museum. Come see us at our home on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

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Support Our Mission

Curiosity needs to be nurtured. The support of people like you helps us keep our programming vital and accessible to everyone—from enthusiastic K–12 students to leading scholars, from our local community to our international audiences.

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