Americans Now

August 20, 2010 - June 19, 2011 (new closing date)
1st Floor
Drawn from the Portrait Gallery's permanent collection, this exhibition features individuals prominent in sports, entertainment, and other fields of endeavor during the last 10 years. It also reflects the variety of media the Portrait Gallery is now collecting and addresses the museum's recently established policy of accepting living subjects into the collection. Individuals represented in this show include: Chuck Close, Michael Eisner, LL Cool J, Toni Morrison, Cormac McCarthy, Willie Nelson, President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Martha Stewart. Also featured is a projected video -- The Late Night Triad by Jason Salavon, which features Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, and David Letterman -- and video portraits of George Clooney and LeBron James that are created through a process pioneered by Lincoln Schatz.

Glimpse of the Past: A Neighborhood Evolves

March 5, 2010 - September 25, 2011
2nd Floor, Riley Gallery
Experience the sights, scenes, and beautiful buildings that make up the ever-changing Penn Quarter neighborhood in downtown Washington, D.C. Featuring photographs, postcards, and posters from the 1850s to the present, the history of the neighborhood comes alive. Works include the evolution of the Hecht's building, construction of the Metro stop, Chinatown bike tours, the arrival of the Verizon Center, and a visual history of the Patent Office Building -- one of the oldest federal buildings in Washington, D.C., now home of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum. Also, an interactive piece in the exhibition features snapshots of the area during the 1960s and 1970s made by Washingtonian Chris Earnshaw.

From FDR to Obama: Presidents on Time

February 12, 2010 - September 26, 2010
2nd Floor
Regardless of how newsworthy a person may be, there is no magic formula for getting one's picture on the cover of Time magazine, with one exception: the president of the United States. Founded in 1923, Time has put on its cover all incumbent presidents from Warren Harding to Barack Obama, with the exception of Herbert Hoover. Beginning with Franklin Roosevelt, this exhibition explores the modern presidency through the covers of America's oldest and most recognized weekly news magazine. The show includes approximately 30 works of presidential cover art, representing a variety of mediums, from traditional oil paintings to a pop-art sculpture bust of Richard Nixon made from strips of newspaper headlines.

The Struggle for Justice

February 12, 2010 - New Permanent
2nd Floor
This new permanent exhibition showcases major cultural and political figures -- from key 19th-century historical figures to contemporary leaders -- who struggled to achieve civil rights for disenfranchised or marginalized groups. On view are more than 40 photographs, paintings, posters, buttons, and sculptures, including portraits of Civil Rights leaders Frederick Douglass, Thurgood Marshall, and Martin Luther King Jr.; women's-rights advocates Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Betty Friedan; Native American activist Leonard Crow Dog; cultural icons Jackie Robinson and singer Marian Anderson; United Farm Workers organizer C‚sar Ch vez; gay and lesbian rights leaders, and Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

A video created exclusively for the exhibition and narrated by Soledad O'Brien is also featured.

See "Around the Mall: What's Up" in the April 2010 Smithsonian magazine: p. 26.

Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2009

October 23, 2009 - September 6, 2010
2nd Floor
The National Portrait Gallery presents 49 of the finalists' works that were selected from the second triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. Dave Woody, winner of the competition, received the grand prize of $25,000 and an opportunity to create a portrait for the Portrait Gallery's permanent collection. The competition invited artists working in the figurative arts to submit portraits of people close to them. Submissions were accepted in all visual arts media, including film, video, and digital animation. Through January 18, 2010, the public can vote online or on-site for the artwork to receive the People's Choice Award.

Related catalogue: $13.95

See "What's Up" in the November 2009 Smithsonian magazine: p. 28

New Arrivals

- Indefinitely
1st Floor, North Side, Corridor
This rotating exhibition highlights newly acquired objects -- paintings, drawings, sculptures, posters, prints, and photographs -- in the National Portrait Gallery collection.

Renovating a Landmark: From Patent Office to Reynolds Center

- Permanent
Historic Fabric Room, 1st Floor, S. of F St. Lobby, near lockers
This small exhibition commemorates the opening of the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard, the final phase of a major renovation of the National Historic Landmark building that houses the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. It highlights aspects of the renovation with photographs, architectural artifacts from the building, and objects discovered during the excavation of the courtyard. Also included are historic images of the building, a 7-foot segment of one of the 19th-century cast iron fountains from the courtyard, and an architect's model of the building.

Related publication: Temple of Invention: History of a National Landmark by Charles Robertson, who is also the guest curator of the exhibition: $19.95 (paper)

Jo Davidson: Biographer in Bronze

- Permanent
2nd Floor, North and Northwest
On view are 14 bronze and terra-cotta portraits made by renowned American sculptor Jo Davidson between 1908 and 1946, including depictions of Gertrude Stein, Franklin D. Roosevelt, artist John Marin, and Lincoln Steffens.

American Origins, 1600-1900

- Permanent
1st Floor
In 17 galleries and alcoves, this exhibition chronologically arranged starts from the days of contact between Native Americans and European explorers through the struggles of independence to the Gilded Age. Major figures from Pocahontas to Chief Joseph, Sam Adams to Henry Clay, and Nathaniel Hawthorne to Harriet Beecher Stowe are included. Three of the galleries are devoted to the Civil War, examining this conflict in depth. Complementing this section is a group of modern photographic prints produced from Mathew Brady's original negatives. Highlights from its daguerreotype collection -- the earliest practical form of photography -- also are on view.

Lunder Conservation Center

- Permanent
3rd Floor Mezzanine & 4th Floor, West
The Lunder Conservation Center -- shared with the Smithsonian American Art Museum -- is the first facility that provides a unique opportunity for the public to view through glass walls conservators at work in several labs examining, treating, and preserving art.

Twentieth-Century Americans

- Permanent
3rd Floor, South Side and Mezzanines
Six galleries focus on 20th-century Americans:

3rd Floor, south side: Four galleries showcase the major cultural, and political hallmarks of the 20th century. Paintings, sculpture, photographs, and prints portray those who were at the center of these moments. People from a range of backgrounds -- Gertrude Stein, Jane Addams, Douglas MacArthur, Robert F. Kennedy, Sandra Day O'Connor, and Michael Jackson among others -- tell the story of America's 20th century.

3rd Floor, mezzanines: Two additional exhibitions relating to the 20th century are featured:
• BRAVO! showcases individuals who have brought the performing arts to life, beginning with P.T. Barnum, who raised the curtain on modern entertainment in the late 19th century and continuing to the present.
• Champions showcases American sports figures whose impact has extended beyond the ring, the court, and the field to become a part of the larger story of the life and culture of our nation.
Note: A lively combination of portraits, artifacts, memorabilia, and videos enhances both exhibitions.

America's Presidents

- Permanent
2nd Floor, South Wing
This exhibition displays multiple images of the 43 presidents of the United States, including the greatest historical painting in our nation's history, Gilbert Stuart's "Lansdowne" portrait of George Washington. Also included are whimsical sculptures of Presidents Johnson, Carter, and Nixon by caricaturist Pat Oliphant. Five presidents are given expanded attention because of their significant impact on the office: Washington, Andrew Jackson, Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Audio and video interpretive materials augment the exhibition.

Recent Addition:
• President George W. Bush's portrait, painted by artist Robert Anderson, was installed on December 19, 2008.

Remembrance Gallery

This small rotating gallery next to the New Arrivals exhibition honors a recently passed individual who has shaped our national culture.

Portrait of J.D. Salinger by Robert Vickery:
Salinger had one of the great successes of all time with his novel The Catcher in the Rye (1951). This image of Salinger by Vickery is on view Feb. 1-March 29, 2010, in the "Remembrance Gallery" on the 1st floor; it had appeared on the cover of Time magazine in 1961.