Housed in a National Historic Landmark building which it shares with the American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery displays the connection between American history, biography and art, covering more than 225 years of history. The collection is presented in a series of thematic galleries, including "America's Presidents," “America Origins, 1600-1900,” and “20th Century Americans” "The Struggle For Justice".
"Champions" and "Bravo!" showcase sports figures, and composers and performers from the beginning of the 20th century to the present. And ”Jo Davidson: Biographer in Bronze” is a collection of 14 portraits in bronze and terra-cotta made by American sculptor Jo Davidson between 1908 and 1946.
The Gallery guide, Portrait of a Nation: Highlights From the National Portrait Gallery, tells the history of America through individuals who have shaped its culture. Through the visual arts, performing arts and new media, the Portrait Gallery portrays poets and presidents, visionaries and villains, actors and activists whose lives tell the American story.
If you're interested in portraiture, you are bound to enjoy The Portrait Timeline website.
Exhibitions & Dates
Lincoln's Contemporaries
May 13 2016 - May 12 2019
Twenty celebrities reflecting the diversity of American life during Lincoln’s presidency
Celebrating Fifty Years
Aug 11 2017 - Jan 6 2019
Looking back at the history of the National Portrait Gallery
Black Out: Silhouettes Then and Now
May 11 2018 - Mar 10 2019
Explores the rich historical roots and powerful contemporary presence of a relatively unstudied art form
Recent Acquisitions
Nov 17 2017 - Nov 4 2018
27 objects that tell the story of America through portraiture
Portraits of the World: Switzerland
Dec 15 2017 - Nov 12 2018
Hodler's and others' work embodying the "Eurythmy" theory of expressing emotion through movement
UnSeen: Our Past in a New Light, Ken Gonzales-Day and Titus Kaphar
Mar 23 2018 - Jan 6 2019
2 artists grapple with minorities' under- and misrepresentation in portraiture and American history
Daguerreotypes: Five Decades of Collecting
Jun 15 2018 - Jun 2 2019
Highlighting 50 years of collecting daguerreotypes
One Year: 1968, An American Odyssey
Jun 29 2018 - May 19 2019
30 portraits tell the story of a memorable time in American history
Eye to I: Self-Portraits from 1900 to Today
Nov 4 2018 - Aug 18 2019
Explores how American artists portray themselves
Recent Acquisitions
Nov 16 2018 - Nov 3 2019
Presents newly aquired historic and contemporary works
Portraits of the World: Korea
Dec 14 2018 - Nov 17 2019
Gaining insights into the lives of women, past and present
Votes for Women: An American Awakening, 1840–1920
Mar 1 2019 - Jan 5 2020
Examines the complex narrative of women’s suffrage in the United States
Storied Women of the Civil War Era
May 24 2019 - May 15 2022
Portrays numerous women of national prominence
Women of Progress: Early Camera Portraits
Jun 14 2019 - May 31 2020
Images of early feminist icons
In Mid-Sentence
May 3 2019 - Mar 29 2020
Photographs capture intimate moments of communication
One Life: Marian Anderson
Jun 28 2019 - May 17 2020
Paintings, photographs, and archival materials reveal one woman's impact on segregational policies
Director’s Essay Prize For Emerging Scholars in the Field of Portraiture
Sep 14 2018 - Dec 14 2018
Contact museum for more information
New Co-Acquisition: Henrietta Lacks
May 15 2018 - Mar 31 2019
A 2017 portrait by Kadir Nelson