Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China’s First Emperor
May 18–October 16, 2008

Considered one of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century, the tomb complex of China’s First Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, features thousands of terra cotta warriors that were intended to protect him throughout eternity. Since their discovery, the terra cotta army has been termed the Eighth Wonder of the Ancient World. Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China’s First Emperor is the largest loan of terra cotta figures and significant artifacts to ever travel to the U.S. from the First Emperor’s enormous mausoleum. The exhibition provides a deeper knowledge of this historical site and showcases 100 sets of objects, which includes approximately 20 life-size figures.

Gems: Colors of Light and Stone
June 17, 2007 - August 24- 2008

GEMS! Colors of Light and Stone illustrates the scientific and artistic aspects of gemstones from one of the most important private gem collections in the United States—the Michael Scott Collection. On display are more than 300 rare gems, including the largest faceted gemstone, weighing in at 220 pounds and 500,000 carats; a necklace featuring the two largest known examples of the sapphire-like California state gemstone, benitoite; a 400-carat golden sapphire that is one of the world's largest; and the world's largest tanzanite (242 carats) set in a tiara with 1,000 diamonds. This is the most important exhibition of colored gemstones, diamonds, and gems of art ever shown in a U.S. museum.

Mummies: Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt...Treasures from the British Museum
April 17, 2005 - March 30, 2008

Among the people of the ancient world, the Egyptians occupied a unique position with their approach to death and the possibility of resurrection. Mummies: Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt…Treasures from the British Museum features the largest and most comprehensive collection of ancient Egyptian funerary material from the world-renowned British Museum. This comprehensive exhibition features 140 objects, including 14 mummies and/or coffins, and is the largest exhibition of its kind to be shown by the British Museum outside of Britain.

Treasures from Shanghai: 5000 Years of Art and Culture
February 18, 2007–August 19, 2007

Treasures from Shanghai: 5000 Years of Chinese Art and Culture features 77 sets of objects from the Neolithic period (circa 3000 B.C.) to the Qing dynasty (1644-1911 A.D.). This incredible collection, on loan for the first time from the acclaimed Shanghai Museum, portrays the evolution of Chinese technology, art, and culture utilizing rare examples of bronze vessels, an oracle bone, polychrome potteries, sculptures, porcelains, paintings, jade/bamboo carvings, and lacquer works. It is only the third collection ever brought to the United States from the Shanghai Museum and the first in more than 20 years.

Ansel Adams: Classic Images
February 18–May 13, 2007

Ansel Adams: Classic Images features 75 images chosen by Adams as the finest examples of the quality and range of his photographic achievements. Created during the later years of his life, the prints in the exhibition show, what the artist referred to as, “maximum impact.” They are stronger in contrast, much larger, and more technically perfected to bring about a brilliance that resonates tonally. The exhibition comes to Orange County for the first time on Feb. 18, 2007 as part of the grand opening of the new Dorothy and Donald Kennedy Wing of the Bowers Museum.

Evita: Up Close and Personal
July 16, 2005 - October 16, 2005

Despite Eva Perón's secure place in history as one of the most powerful, influential, and controversial female political figures ever, an exhibition about the spirited former leader of Argentina has never been unveiled in the United States. Now, the Bowers Museum will part the curtain and reveal personal effects from Eva Perón's life in the exhibition, Evita: Up Close and Personal, on loan from Museo Evita in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Queen of Sheba: Legend and Reality
October 17, 2004 - March 13, 2005

Queen of Sheba: Legend and Reality explores the modern legend of the Queen of Sheba as portrayed in cultures around the world. The Queen of Sheba has always been a wonderfully intriguing figure famed for her beauty and wealth, although much of her true identity remains unknown. This exhibition of antiquities, coins, prints, drawings and modern ephemera presents a tremendous opportunity for visitors to the Bowers Museum to discover more about this shadowy Queen, and explore the many sides of her multifaceted story. This exhibition also delves into the reality of the Queen of Sheba by looking into the archaeological evidence from the ancient kingdom of Saba in modern-day Yemen. This is a rare and wonderful exhibition organized by The British Museum, expressly for the Bowers Museum.

Bridges to Understanding
April 24, 2004–January 09, 2005

Bridges to Understanding explores and celebrates the exquisitely meticulous work of award-winning and world-renowned photographer, Phil Borges. For more than 25 years, Borges has been taking breathtaking and stunning black and white photos of people and their cultures in remote and ancient villages that today are still concealed from the world's view. While Borges was taking photos of the indigenous people of the world, his dream was to connect young people of diverse cultures in a manner that goes beyond photographs and books. He realized his dream with his creation of Bridges, a project that is intended to electronically link children from around the world through computers and imagery.

Tibet: Treasures from the Roof of the World
October 12, 2003–September 12, 2004

For most Americans, Tibet represents the mysterious isolated land of an ancient culture struggling to maintain its traditional ways; a sort of mythical Shangri-La lost to time in the shadows of the towering Himalayas at the crossroads of Central Asia. Tibet: Treasures from the Roof of the World offers a rare glimpse into a great and mysterious world culture. Travelers trekked thousands of miles to see these treasured and priceless artifacts. Emperors presented them as gifts. Now, for the first time in the Western World, Americans will be able to see nearly 200 of these exquisitely created sacred objects.

Gems! The Art and Nature of Precious Stones
February 16, 2002–February 29, 2004

Curated by Bowers Museum President Peter Keller, Ph.D., this exhibition features some of the world's finest known gems. On display are more than 300 rare gems, including the largest faceted gemstone, weighing 220 pounds or 500,000 carats; a necklace featuring the two largest known examples of the sapphire-like California state gemstone, benitoite; a 400-carat golden sapphire that is one of the world's largest; and the world's largest tanzanite (242 carats) set in a tiara with 1,000 diamonds. Gems! The Art and Nature of Precious Stones answers the basic questions of gemology, presents delicate and rare gems, and portrays gemstones as art.

Symbols of Power: Masterpieces from the Nanjing Museum
June 9, 2002–May 4, 2003

Symbols of Power: Masterpieces from the Nanjing Museum features national treasures from one of China's premier museums, the Nanjing Museum, travelling outside of the country for the first time. On view are about 260 objects dating back 5,000 years, from the Neolithic Age to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 A.D.) to World War II. Objects include bronze, ancient currency, fine porcelain, religious objects, paintings and calligraphy, formal and informal attire, court objects, accessories and jewelry. More than half of the objects shown were part of one of the great sagas of the 20th century—the 16-year journey undertaken by thousands of Chinese to save their imperial heritage from invading Japanese troops.

The World of the Etruscans
October 20, 2001–April 21, 2002

Two thousand years ago in an area now known as Tuscany, the Etruscans gave us the concept of the banquet, Roman numerals, the keystone arch, aqueducts, and even the toga. They developed the first cities in Europe and were the first to cultivate olives. The Etruscans, believed to be indigenous peoples, flourished from the 7th century B.C. to the 1st century B.C. before being defeated by the Romans. Yet all we know of this once great civilization is from meager writings of ancient Greek and Roman scholars and from the artifacts they left behind. The World of the Etruscans shows approximately 335 of these treasures, including elaborate aristocratic tombs called sarcophagi, terra cotta statues, bronze helmets, and gold and silver jewelry. This exhibition is curated by Giuseppina Carlotta Cianferoni, Archaelogical Museum of Florence, and Daniel E. Virtuoso, Centro Affari e Convegni di Arezzo. It has been realized in collaboration with the Istituto Italiano di Cultura, the Cultural Office of the Italian Government in Los Angeles, and is touring worldwide. It was recently shown at El Museo de Bellas Artes in Santiago, Chile.

The Holy Land: David Roberts, Dead Sea Scrolls, House of David Inscription
October 6, 2001 - January 9, 2002

The Holy Land: David Roberts, Dead Sea Scrolls, House of David Inscription features about 50 lithographs from the 19th century by Scottish artist David Roberts, who was the first major Western artist to travel and record many important historical sites in the Middle East. Complementing the lithographs are a number of precious objects from the Holy Land, including two significant fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls—the oldest copies of the Old Testament—and the House of David Inscription, the earliest mention of the House of David outside of Biblical text. This exhibition marks the first public display of the House of David Inscription in the U.S. and the first time in more than 30 years that the Dead Sea Scrolls have been shown in California.

Remington, Russell and the Language of Western Art
July 7, 2001–September 16, 2001

This exhibition provides an in-depth look at the paintings and sculptures of Frederic Remington and Charles Russell, who are considered the two quintessential creators of western American art. Although they were jointly responsible for creating the image of a mythical American West, theirs was not a unified vision. Here, their work, which eulogized the West as the central theme in their art, will depict that region from entirely different points of view. This exhibition is organized by The Trust for Museum Exhibitions. The guest curator for the exhibition is Peter Hassrick, the Charles Marion Russell Professor of American Western Art and the Director of the Charles M. Russell center for the Study of Art of the American West, at the University of Oklahoma in Norman.

Trilogy of Glasswork: Ancient Rome – Chihuly - Yang
February 24 - June 4, 2001

This exhibition offers a rare opportunity to understand the art and technology of glassmaking from three broad geographical regions, comparing the function and forms of glass of the ancient world with the role of glass as high art in the world today. Focusing on glass as art and artifact, then and now, Trilogy of Glasswork brings together three exhibitions: Roman Glass: Reflections on Cultural Change; Dale Chihuly's Seaforms; and Formless, but not Without Form, featuring the work of Loretta Hui-shan Yang. Roman Glass: Reflections on Cultural Change illustrates how the craft of glassmaking was influenced by historical events and changing social values in the ancient Roman world, and offers a new perspective, breaking with the tradition of treating this ancient glassware as an exceptional art form. America's first “national living treasure,” Dale Chihuly gives fluid expression to the aesthetic and formal qualities of glass in Seaforms. A pioneer in the Chinese glass art movement, Loretta Hui-shan Yang gives the physical properties and unique characteristics of glass a deeper layer of spiritual meaning in Formless, but not Without Form.

Egyptian Treasures from the British Museum
October 7, 2000–January 24, 2001

The British Museum houses one of the greatest collections of Egyptian antiquities in the world, and this exhibition presents more than 100 individual items which have been selected to illustrate the achievements of Egyptian art and culture. Many of its finest pieces are presented here, and however stunning, can still only provide an introduction to one of the ancient world's most brilliant civilizations. Covering a time span of over 3,000 years, from just before the beginnings of dynastic history, right through to its end, Egyptian Treasures contains a wide range of material, large and small, from temple and tomb, of outstanding aesthetic quality. Among the objects displayed are a decorated coffin with its wrapped mummy still inside, stone sculptures of pharaohs and dignitaries, bronze statuettes of the gods, jewelry in gold and other precious materials, and papyri bearing Books of the Dead with their painted vignettes. Many of these objects have never-before-been loaned by the British Museum. This exhibition is organized by The British Museum, London. John Taylor, Assistant Keeper of The British Museum, is curator of the exhibition.

Secret World of the Forbidden City: Splendors from China’s Imperial Palace
February 6–September 3, 2000

This exhibition will bring together a selection of precious objects, including formal and informal robes, arms and armor, accessories and jewelry, scepters and seals, portraits and paintings, and a complete throne room, from the Palace Museum in Beijing. Through this sumptuous visual material, the viewer will enter a world of ceremony and ritual, births and deaths, banquets and processions, all revolving around the Emperor, who served as Supreme Authority in an unquestionable family hierarchy and sanctified power structure. The works on view represent the pinnacle of technical virtuosity and creative genius on the part of thousands of anonymous artisans who toiled solely to serve the Imperial Court. The exhibition is curated by Yang Xin, Director of the Palace Museum Beijing.