Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Warranted to Give Satisfaction: Daguerreotypes by Jeremiah Gurney

In 1840, Jeremiah Gurney abandoned his career as a jeweler to establish one of New York City’s first daguerreotype studios.

June 25, 2021 – February 6, 2022

Portrait Gallery

Her Story: A Century of Women Writers

This exhibition drawn from the NPG collection highlights twenty-four noted women writers from the past one hundred years.

September 18, 2020 – January 23, 2022

Portrait Gallery

Visionary: The Cumming Family Collection (Part 2)

This exhibition reveals the results of more than 25 years of inspired collecting by Ian and Annette Cumming and installed in two parts. Part two, featured here, includes portraits by American artists Jack Beal, Chuck Close and Nelson Shanks. This exhibition is curated by Chief Curator Emerita Brandon Brame Fortune and will be accompanied by a limited-edition publication.

May 14, 2021 – October 31, 2021

Portrait Gallery

Women of Progress: Early Camera Portraits

This exhibition of daguerreotypes and ambrotypes from the 1840s and 1850s features portraits of early feminist icons.

June 14, 2019 – June 13, 2021

Portrait Gallery

Every Eye Is Upon Me: First Ladies of the United States

Every Eye Is Upon Me is the first major exhibition to explore the historical significance of this prominent position through the mode of portraiture.

November 13, 2020 – May 23, 2021

Portrait Gallery

Visionary: The Cumming Family Collection

The exhibition features commissioned portraits of internationally recognized subjects by prominent American artists such as Chuck Close, Robert McCurdy, and Nelson Shanks.

September 18, 2020 – November 22, 2020

Portrait Gallery

John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Charcoal

A once-in-a-lifetime assemblage of forty-five master drawings, many of them rarely exhibited and in private collections.

February 28, 2020 – March 13, 2020

Portrait Gallery

One Life: Marian Anderson

This exhibition examines the ways in which artists, concert promoters, and others wielded Marian Anderson's iconic likeness as a powerful symbol in the pursuit of civil rights.

June 28, 2019 – March 13, 2020

Portrait Gallery

In Memoriam: Freeman Dyson

Mathematician and physicist Freeman Dyson contributed impressive theories to the scientific world.

March 3, 2020 – March 13, 2020

Portrait Gallery

The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today

Jurors select for exhibition the finest works that showcase mastery and innovation in the form.

October 26, 2019 – March 13, 2020

Portrait Gallery

Portraits of the World: Denmark

Portraits of the World: Denmark is the third in a series of exhibitions that will highlight the global context of American portraiture.

December 13, 2019 – March 13, 2020

Portrait Gallery

Recent Acquisitions

The annual exhibition Recent Acquisitions showcases 25 portraits to recently enter the Portrait Gallery’s renowned collection.

November 15, 2019 – March 13, 2020

Portrait Gallery

In Mid-Sentence

This exhibition presents a selection of photographs from the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery’s collection that depict moments of communication, and place them within their socio-historical contexts.

May 3, 2019 – March 8, 2020

Portrait Gallery

In Memoriam: Kobe Bryant

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery presents a portrait of the late Kobe Bryant (1978 – 2020), marking the death of the famed American athlete.

January 27, 2020 – March 1, 2020

Portrait Gallery

Portrait of Julie Packard by Hope Gangloff

On display is a newly commissioned painting of Julie Packard, a leading figure in science and ocean conservation and the executive director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

April 23, 2019 – February 24, 2020

Portrait Gallery

In Memoriam: Don Larsen, 1929–2020

In the 1956 championship series pitting the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers, Yankee hurler Don Larsen entered the record books by pitching the first and only perfect game in World Series history.

January 6, 2020 – January 27, 2020

Portrait Gallery

Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence

To commemorate the centennial anniversary of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, NPG presents the story of the historic crusade for American women’s rights.

March 29, 2019 – January 5, 2020

Portrait Gallery

In Memoriam: Walter Mercado, 1932-2019

Known for his glimmering beaded-capes, Walter Mercado is a Puerto Rican television personality whose programs have been widely popular in both Latin America and the United States since the 1970s.

November 7, 2019 – January 2, 2020

Portrait Gallery

Portraits of the World: Korea

Pioneering feminist artist Yun Suk Nam (born 1939) uses portraiture to gain insights into the lives of women, past and present.

December 14, 2018 – November 17, 2019

Portrait Gallery

In Memoriam: Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison, the first black woman to become a Nobel laureate, wrote about the experiences of African Americans.

August 6, 2019 – November 7, 2019

Portrait Gallery

Recent Acquisitions

As the Portrait Gallery turns the corner on a new decade of its legacy, the museum presents an exhibition of historic and contemporary works newly acquired for its growing collection.

November 16, 2018 – November 3, 2019

Portrait Gallery

In Memoriam: Jessye Norman, 1945-2019

The National Portrait Gallery commemorates the life of Jessye Norman, one of the twentieth century's greatest sopranos.

October 3, 2019 – November 3, 2019

Portrait Gallery

Eye to I: Self Portraits from the National Portrait Gallery

As we are confronted each day with “selfies” via social media, and as we continue to explore the fluidity of contemporary identity, this is an opportune time to reassess the significance of self-portraiture in relation to our country’s history

November 2, 2018 – August 18, 2019

Portrait Gallery

In Memoriam: Lee Iacocca, 1924-2019

Automobile executive Lee Iacocca introduced the iconic Mustang to Ford Motor Company’s lineup in 1964. An experienced salesman, Iacocca became the president of Ford in 1970.

July 3, 2019 – July 29, 2019

Portrait Gallery

In Memoriam: Leah Chase

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery recognizes the life and legacy of Leah Chase with a painting by Gustave Blache III.

June 4, 2019 – June 30, 2019

Portrait Gallery