National Gallery of Art presents “Little Beasts: Art, Wonder, and the Natural World”

From 18 May to 2 November 2025, the National Gallery of Art, Washington, presents the exhibition “Little Beasts: Art, Wonder, and the Natural World”.

Source: National Gallery of Art, Washington · Image: Jan van Kessel the Elder, “Insects and a Sprig of Rosemary”, 1653

Thanks to an unprecedented collaboration with the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), the National Gallery will display nearly 75 prints, drawings, and paintings alongside some 60 objects from NMNH, marking the first time their collections of art and specimens have been displayed together. A new film by contemporary artist Dario Robleto will further examine the intersection of art, science, and the natural world, bringing history into dialogue with contemporary culture. The exhibition will be on view from May 18 to November 2, 2025, in the National Gallery’s West Building.

Little Beasts will explore how European artists spread knowledge about creatures big and small during the 16th and 17th centuries. Scientific technology, trade, and colonial expansion led to the study of previously unknown or overlooked species. In major cities like Antwerp, artists such as Joris and Jacob Hoefnagel and Jan van Kessel created highly detailed drawings, prints, and paintings of these insects, animals, and other beestjes, or “little beasts” in Dutch. Their works inspired generations of artists and naturalists, fueling the burgeoning science of natural history. Rarely displayed art by more than a dozen others, including Albrecht Dürer, Teodoro Filippo di Liagno, and Wenceslaus Hollar, will also be on view alongside examples of the period’s illustrated zoological publications.

The National Gallery will offer several opportunities throughout the exhibition for visitors to deepen their engagement with the material. Digital displays will allow visitors to zoom in on small works and learn more about their stories. Magnifying glasses, reminiscent of the lenses Renaissance artists and naturalists would have used, will be available to examine specimens and their artistic representations. Take-home nature journals will invite visitors to slow down and observe the natural world, both within the exhibition and beyond.