This exhibition is no longer on view at the National Gallery.

Overview: 737 catalogued objects were on view, dating from prehistoric times to the late 19th century and including pottery, metalwork of bronze, gold, and silver, weapons and jewelry, paintings, carpets, and textiles. The exhibition was made up of some 500 objects from the collection of Mohssen Foroughi, brother of the Iranian ambassador to the United States, and some 200 pieces selected from the archaeological museum in Tehran by Richard Ettinghausen. The Foroughi collection had been shown in 6 European museums in 1961-1963 (Sept Mille Ans d'Art en Iran). 12 objects considered to be of doubtful authenticity were withdrawn. The show was opened by the Shah and the Empress Farah, who were in Washington to discuss increased foreign aid to Iran with President Lyndon Johnson.

Attendance: 68,406

Catalog: 7000 Years of Iranian Art, by Edith Povada and Richard Ettinghausen. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1964.

Other Venues: Denver Art Museum
William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Cleveland Museum of Art
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco
Los Angeles County Museum of Art