National Portrait Gallery | Events and Programs

May Programs

Calendar editors please note:
All events are held at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, located at Eighth and F streets N.W., Washington, D.C., and are free unless otherwise noted. For public information, call (202) 633-1000. The National Portrait Gallery is open every day from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Print May program schedule

Highlights:

Opening May 2: Herblock’s Presidents: “Puncturing Pomposity”
Opening May 9: Ballyhoo! Posters as Portraiture

National Portrait Gallery Walk-in Tours
Walk-in tours of the National Portrait Gallery begin in the F Street lobby; reservations are not required.

Highlights of the National Portrait Gallery tours
Weekdays, 11:45 a.m. and 2:15 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 11:45 a.m. and 3:15 p.m.
Docent's Choice tours
Weekdays, 1 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 1:30 p.m.

"Behind the Scenes"
An Introduction to the Lunder Conservation Center
Wednesdays, 3 p.m.

At the Lunder Conservation Center, learn how museum conservators use science, art history and skilled hands to preserve objects in the National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum collections. Group size is limited; please register at the Luce Foundation Center information desk before 3 p.m. on the day of the program.

Face-to-Face Portrait Talks
Thursdays, 6 to 6:30 p.m. | F Street Lobby

Each week a curator or historian from the National Portrait Gallery or special guest speaker brings visitors face-to-face with a portrait by offering an insight into one person. Visitors meet the presenter in the F Street lobby and then walk to the appropriate gallery.

May 1 Historian David Ward speaks about the portrait of Francis S. Chanfrau, a 19th century American actor and theater manager, by an unidentified artist in the “New Arrivals” exhibition.
May 8 Senior historian Sid Hart speaks about President Richard Nixon by Herblock in the exhibition “Herblock’s Presidents: ‘Puncturing Pomposity.’”
May 15 Executive assistant to the acting director Lauren Johnson speaks about the portrait of Douglas Fairbanks, a leading actor of early Hollywood and co-founder of United Artists, by the Ullman Manufacturing Company in the exhibition “Ballyhoo! Posters as Portraiture.”
May 22 The Navy Historical Center’s Robert Cressman speaks about the portrait of Admiral William F. “Bull” Halsey, a United States naval officer and the commander of the United States Third Fleet during World War II, by an unidentified artist in the exhibition “Ballyhoo! Posters as Portraiture.”
May 29 Historian Jim Barber speaks about the portrait of Dorie Miller, an African American cook in the United States Navy known for his heroism during the Pearl Harbor attack, by David Stone Martin in the exhibition “Ballyhoo! Posters as Portraiture.”

Facing History: Be the Artist
Youth Program
Saturday, May 3, 12:30–2:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 31, noon–2 p.m.
National Portrait Gallery Education Center, first floor, room E151
Recommended for youth ages 10 to 14, accompanied by an adult

Local school-age youth are invited to participate in a two-hour art class to better understand the paintings of Kehinde Wiley, one of the artists featured in “RECOGNIZE! Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture.” Registered participants will take a guided tour of Wiley’s artwork and then create self-portraits based on the main ideas from his work. Please note the class will be offered twice in May. Space is limited; please call (202) 633-8501 to register.

Exhibition Opening:
Herblock’s Presidents: “Puncturing Pomposity”
May 2 through Nov. 30

The work of Herbert Lawrence Block—the political cartoonist who drew under the pen name Herblock—appeared in American newspapers for more than seven decades. Block’s presidential cartoons appeared in the Washington Post for 56 years, and this exhibition includes his depictions of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The show offers a rare opportunity for visitors to see how one of America’s greatest political cartoonists viewed the presidency for most of the 20th century. An interactive kiosk will allow visitors to view approximately 130 additional cartoons not in the exhibition. Sidney Hart, senior historian, is the curator of this exhibition. Herblock’s Presidents has been made possible by a generous grant from The Herb Block Foundation.

Facing History: Be the Artist
Family Program
Saturday, May 3, 3–5 p.m.
Saturday, May 31, 2:30–4:30 p.m.
National Portrait Gallery Education Center, first floor, room E151
Recommended for families with children from ages 5 to 10. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Children and their families are invited to participate in a two-hour art class to better understand the paintings of Kehinde Wiley, one of the artists featured in “RECOGNIZE! Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture.” Registered families will take a guided tour of Wiley’s artwork and then create self-portraits based on the main ideas from his work. Please note the class will be offered twice in May. Space is limited; please call (202) 633-8501 to register.

Exhibition Opening:
Ballyhoo! Posters as Portraiture
May 9 through Feb. 8, 2009

Featuring sixty-one pieces ranging in date from the late 19th century to the present, this exhibition presents subjects as diverse as General John J. Pershing, “Buffalo Bill” Cody, Joe Louis, Judy Garland, aviator Jimmy Doolittle and labor leader Lane Kirkland. Dramatic, colorful and often enormous, these likenesses hardly seem subtle. But what a poster communicates about an individual is usually secondary to its principal message—selling war bonds, announcing the arrival of the circus, advertising a product or publicizing a concert or film. Posters invariably project the public image, enhancing, promoting, exploiting or upgrading the information we subconsciously absorb about celebrities. Wendy Wick Reaves, curator of prints and drawings, is the curator of this exhibition. “Ballyhoo!” is accompanied by a 160-page, full-color catalog of the same title, which is available in the museum bookstore.

American Pictures Distinguished Lecture Series
Saturday, May 10, 4:30 p.m
Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium

The American Pictures Distinguished Lecture Series offers a highly original approach to art and portraiture. This new series pairs great works of art with leading figures of contemporary American culture. The series director is Adam Goodheart, director of the C. V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience at Washington College. On May 10, Anna Deavere Smith lectures on Ruth Orkin’s photograph entitled Member of the Wedding, Opening Night, Ethel Waters, Carson McCullers, and Julie Harris, New York City, 1950. American Pictures is made possible through a pioneering partnership among Washington College, the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. No reservations needed.

Free tickets available in the G Street lobby one hour prior to beginning of the lecture.

Cultures in Motion
Hepburn Herself
Monday, May 12, 7 p.m.
Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium

The National Portrait Gallery’s Cultures in Motion series brings Katharine Hepburn to life in a piece entitled “Hepburn Herself.” Featuring actress Helen Hedman as Hepburn and the Portrait Gallery’s Jewell Robinson as her interviewer, the piece is a compilation of Hepburn’s quotations and creates an intimate portrayal of the iconic star in her own words. Behind her carefully constructed image, the notoriously secretive actress shares her thoughts on life, death, family, regret, grief and love, revealing, above all, a woman ahead of her time. The program is free, but seating is limited. For reservations, please call (202) 633-8520 or e-mail NPGPublicPrograms@si.edu.

The Art of the Lost and Found
Thursday, May 22, 6:30 p.m.
Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium

Have you ever wondered what happens to stolen art? Bonnie Magness-Gardiner, manager of the Art Theft Program for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, shares her experience with the FBI Art Crime Team and gives examples of cases that illustrate how art theft and fraud is uncovered, how it is investigated, and the role of experts in the process. Program sponsored by the Lunder Conservation Center.

No reservations required; first come, first served.

Reel Portraits
The Fighting Lady
Friday, May 30, 7 p.m.
Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium

Edward Steichen was director of the Naval Photographic Institute during World War II, when he created the Oscar-winning documentary The Fighting Lady (1945; United States Navy). Set sail with Admiral William “Bull” Halsey aboard the USS Yorktown (CV-10) through the Panama Canal and experience assaults on Marcus, Kawjalein, Truk and Tinnian to the Battle of the Philippine Sea. The film is narrated by Robert Taylor. A conversation with Jack Green of the Naval Historical Center will follow the screening.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; first come, first served.