Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Inventing Marcel Duchamp: The Dynamics of Portraiture

This exhibition examines the artistry of Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) who harnessed the power of portraiture and self-portraiture to secure his reputation as an iconoclast and establish himself as a major figure in the art world.

March 27, 2009 – August 2, 2009

Portrait Gallery

One Life: The Mask of Lincoln

To commemorate the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth, this exhibition provides many faces of Lincoln from the museum's collection, a collection that charts Lincoln's passage from a fresh-faced Illinois congressman to his grizzled isolation as president.

November 7, 2008 – July 5, 2009

Portrait Gallery

Tokens of Affection and Regard: Photographic Jewelry and Its Makers

This poignant exhibition features rare and exquisite jewelry containing portraits in the 19th century's four main photographic processes.

October 24, 2008 – June 21, 2009

Portrait Gallery

Ballyhoo! Posters as Portraiture

Featuring 61 pieces from the late 19th century to the present, this exhibition demonstrates how posters function as portraiture.

May 9, 2008 – February 8, 2009

Portrait Gallery

Women of Our Time: Twentieth-Century Photographs

Women of Our Time is a photographic celebration of 91 women who have challenged and changed America.

October 10, 2008 – February 1, 2009

Portrait Gallery

New Arrivals

This rotating exhibition highlights newly acquired objects in the National Portrait Gallery collection.

March 21, 2008 – January 25, 2009

Portrait Gallery

Four Indian Kings

The year 2008 marked the 225th anniversary of the Treaty of Paris which ended the American Revolution. To commemorate this event, the National Portrait Gallery exhibited the earliest surviving full-length oil portraits of North American aboriginal people painted from life.

September 12, 2008 – January 25, 2009

Portrait Gallery

Herblock's Presidents: "Puncturing Pomposity"

This exhibition reveals how one of America's greatest political cartoonists—Herbert Lawrence Block—viewed the American presidency for most of the 20th century.

May 2, 2008 – November 30, 2008

Portrait Gallery

RECOGNIZE! Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture

Images of hip hop stars are as pervasive as the music itself, and the National Portrait Gallery is featuring the work of artists who have explored this phenomenon.

February 8, 2008 – October 26, 2008

Portrait Gallery

One Life: KATE: A Centennial Celebration

This exhibition is dedicated to Hepburn, who carefully constructed and maintained her own myth through more than 50 years on stage, screen, and television.

November 2, 2007 – September 28, 2008

Portrait Gallery

Zaida Ben-Yusuf: New York Portrait Photographer

Photographer Zaida Ben-Yusuf (1869-1933) was an important figure in the pictorialist photography movement in late 19th and early 20th century New York.

April 11, 2008 – September 1, 2008

Portrait Gallery

Edward Steichen: Portraits

During his tenure as chief photographer for Condé Nast’s Vanity Fair from 1923 to1936, Edward Steichen created compelling portraits of many of that era’s most celebrated personalities.

April 11, 2008 – September 1, 2008

Portrait Gallery

2008 Presidential Scholars in the Arts: Works in the Literary and Visual Arts

As one of the co-sponsors, the Portrait Gallery presents the works of the 2008 Presidential Scholars in the fields of cinematic arts, photography, visual arts, and writing.

June 22, 2008 – July 13, 2008

Portrait Gallery

Portrait of Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert (b. 1964, Washington, D.C.), the mock pundit from the Comedy Central show The Colbert Report recently contacted the National Portrait Gallery hoping to donate his portrait. While the portrait is not one that would typically be accessioned into the gallery's permanent collection, the Portrait Gallery agreed to go along with the joke and hang his portrait for a limited time.

January 17, 2008 – April 1, 2008

Portrait Gallery

New Arrivals

New Arrivals displays paintings, drawings, sculptures, posters, prints, and photographs featuring such subjects as Louis Armstrong, Jefferson Airplane, Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, James Brown, Susan Sontag, and Lenny Bruce.

June 8, 2007 – March 16, 2008

Portrait Gallery

Let Your Motto Be Resistance: African American Portraits

Photographs illuminate the variety of ways that African Americans resisted and redefined an America that needed but rarely accepted its black citizens.

October 19, 2007 – March 2, 2008

Portrait Gallery

The Presidency and the Cold War

During the second half of the 20th century, the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in a global struggle. Beginning with Yalta and ending with the collapse of the Berlin Wall, this exhibition explores how U.S. presidents reacted to the events of the age.

July 1, 2006 – February 24, 2008

Portrait Gallery

Legacy: Spain and the United States in the Age of Independence, 1763-1848

Through approximately 70 portraits and compelling authentic documents, this exhibition explores Spain's key role in the Revolutionary War and the founding of the new nation.

September 27, 2007 – February 10, 2008

Portrait Gallery

Temple of Invention: History of a National Landmark

To celebrate the historic Patent Office Building's anniversary, this exhibition tells its story from its construction to the 2000-2006 restoration.

July 1, 2006 – January 21, 2008

Portrait Gallery

Americans Now

Based on works drawn from the National Portrait Gallery's permanent collection -- this rotating exhibition features individuals prominent in sports, entertainment, and other fields of endeavor in the last 25 years.

July 1, 2006 – January 6, 2008

Portrait Gallery

Portraiture Now: Framing Memory

This exhibition highlights contemporary art that incorporates portraits of iconic figures as a means to explore history and culture.

May 25, 2007 – January 6, 2008

Portrait Gallery

Portraits of Sandra Day O'Connor

The exhibition examines how a group of artists, The Painting Group, interprets the same subject—Justice Sandra Day O’Connor—at the same time.

March 30, 2007 – October 8, 2007

Portrait Gallery

Harry Benson: Being There

This exhibition features approximately 100 photographs -- beginning with the era of the Beatles to 9/11 -- by New York-based, Scotland-born photographer Harry Benson.

April 27, 2007 – September 3, 2007

Portrait Gallery

Royal Portraits of Celebration by Alexander Talbot Rice

This exhibition features two portraits -- Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, painted to celebrate the Golden Jubilee in 2005, and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh -- by Alexander Talbot Rice, one of the youngest artists to be commmissioned for a modern royal portrait.

May 8, 2007 – September 3, 2007

Portrait Gallery

Great Britons: Treasures from the National Portrait Gallery, London

In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the National Portrait Gallery, London, this exhibition includes 60 works representing five centuries of British history.

April 27, 2007 – September 3, 2007

Portrait Gallery