Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Gifts to the Nation

This display highlights gifts to the National Portrait Gallery's collection since 2000.

July 1, 2006 – June 3, 2007

Portraiture Now

This is the first in a series of changing exhibitions focusing on the works of contemporary artists who have made portraiture the subject of their recent art.

July 1, 2006 – April 29, 2007

Portrait Gallery

Josephine Baker: Image and Icon

The exhibition celebrates Baker’s life during the 100th anniversary year of her birth.

November 24, 2006 – March 18, 2007

Portrait Gallery

One Life: Walt Whitman, a kosmos

Whitman's images, personal memorabilia, and words create a visual portrait.

July 1, 2006 – March 11, 2007

Portrait Gallery

Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2006

This exhibition features the work of the 51 artists selected as finalists in the country's first national portrait competition.

July 1, 2006 – February 19, 2007

Portrait Gallery

Eye Contact: Modern American Portrait Drawing

Showcasing masterpieces of 20th century portraiture from the Gallery's drawing collections, this exhibition emphasizes the bold, contemporary engagement between one person and another that the term “eye contact” implies.

July 1, 2006 – October 9, 2006

Portrait Gallery

American Women: A Selection from the National Portrait Gallery

See 65 images of women who have made significant contributions to the history, development, and culture of the United States.

June 1, 2002 – July 14, 2005

Portrait Gallery

Women of Our Time: Photographs from the National Portrait Gallery

This wide-ranging survey featured 75 of the most important American women of the 20th century, as seen by many of the finest photographers of our time.

August 22, 2003 – January 2, 2005

Portrait Gallery

George Washington: A National Treasure

In celebration of its acquisition by and for the American people, the famous and iconic portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart will leave the nation's capital for a cross-country tour.

February 12, 2002 – August 22, 2004

Portrait Gallery

Wall of Expression

Staff and artists from the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum painted a mural on a construction wall to commemorate the tragedies of Sept. 11, 2001.

September 20, 2001 – November 11, 2003

Portrait Gallery

Edward Sorel: Unauthorized Portraits

This exhibition features approximately 30 works of award-winning caricaturist Edward Sorel.

July 2, 1999 – January 9, 2000

Portrait Gallery

Picturing Hemingway: A Writer in His Time

Explore the life of writer Ernest Hemingway through photographs, paintings, 1st editions, letters, and personal memorabilia.

June 18, 1999 – January 9, 2000

Portrait Gallery

1999 Recent Acquisitions: Part I

This 2-part exhibition features selected paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, and sculpture acquired for the permanent collection.

January 29, 1999 – January 9, 2000

Portrait Gallery

Tete a Tete: Portraits by Henri Cartier-Bresson

Best known as the photographer who first captured the "decisive moment" on film in the 1930s, Henri Cartier-Bresson has been making portraits throughout his career as an artist and photojournalist. In 1997, on the eve of his 90th birthday, he created an exhibition (and a book with the same name), on his work covering five decades.

October 29, 1999 – January 9, 2000

Portrait Gallery

A Durable Memento: Portraits by Augustus Washington, African American Daguerreotypist

On view are some 30 daguerreotypes by Augustus Washington, including the earliest known image of abolitionist John Brown.

September 24, 1999 – January 2, 2000

Portrait Gallery

Recent Acquisition: Rosa Parks Bronze Bust

The Rosa Parks portrait is by the well-known sculptor Artis Lane and is a gift to the National Portrait Gallery from Anheuser-Busch Companies.

March 1, 1991 – December 31, 1999

Portrait Gallery

Franklin and His Friends: Portraying the Man of Science in Eighteenth-Century America

See portraits of Benjamin Franklin and his friend, men who shared a passion for science.

April 16, 1999 – September 6, 1999

Portrait Gallery

Hans Namuth: Portraits

View over 75 b&w and color portraits of major American figures by this German-born photographer (1915-1990).

April 30, 1999 – September 6, 1999

Portrait Gallery

The Seneca Falls Convention

Held on July 19th and 20th in the year 1848, the Seneca Falls Convention was the first organized demand for women's rights and suffrage.

April 1, 1998 – August 31, 1999

Portrait Gallery

George and Martha Washington: Portraits from the Presidential Years

Take a look at George and Martha Washington from the perspective of their contemporaries.

February 19, 1999 – August 8, 1999

Portrait Gallery

Paul Robeson: Artist and Citizen

Celebrate the life of this remarkable man -- artist, singer, actor, athlete, and human rights activist -- with more than 150 objects that tell his story.

January 29, 1999 – April 18, 1999

Portrait Gallery

Philippe Halsman: A Retrospective

See some 80 new and vintage photographs that represent the full range of Halsman's (1906-1979) portraiture.

November 6, 1998 – February 7, 1999

Portrait Gallery

Theodore Roosevelt: Icon of the American Century

Visit a retrospective about the man whose progressive ideas significantly shaped our national character.

October 27, 1998 – February 7, 1999

Portrait Gallery

Marilyn Monroe in Korea: Newly Discovered Photographs by David Geary

David Geary, a navy medic, created several memorable portraits of the Hollywood star when she entertained the troops in Korea in 1954.

April 1, 1998 – January 30, 1999

Portrait Gallery

Recent Acquisitions 2

On view are over 75 paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, and sculpture acquired for the permanent collection.

August 7, 1998 – January 22, 1999

Portrait Gallery