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After an extensive renovation of the historic Patent Office Building, the Smithsonian's
National Portrait Gallery reopened to the public on July 1, 2006. The National Portrait Gallery, with its
collection of nearly 20,000 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings and photographs, portrays men and
women who have made significant contributions to the history, development and culture of the people
of the United States.
Temporary Exhibitions:
Ballyhoo! Posters as Portraiture
May 9, 2008 through February 8, 2009
Herblock's Presidents: "Puncturing Pomposity"
May 2 through November 30, 2008
"Zaida Ben-Yusuf: New York Portrait Photographer"
April 11, through September 1, 2008
"Edward Steichen: Portraits"
April 11, through September 1, 2008
"New Arrivals"
March 21, 2008 through January 25, 2009
"RECOGNIZE! Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture"
February 8 through October 26, 2008
"One Life: KATE, A Centennial Celebration"
November 2, 2007 through September 28, 2008
Permanent Exhibitions
"America's Presidents"
"American Origins, 1600-1900"
"Jo Davidson: Biographer in Bronze"
"Twentieth-Century Americans"
"Bravo"
"Champions"
Temporary exhibitions
Ballyhoo! Posters as Portraiture
May 9, 2008 through February 8, 2009
 View web exhibition
 Featuring about sixty pieces ranging in date from the late 19th century to the present, this exhibition demonstrates how posters function as portraiture. Subjects as diverse as General Pershing, "Buffalo Bill" Cody, Joe Louis, Judy Garland, aviator Jimmy Doolittle and labor leader Lane Kirkland all enhance the poster's mission to attract attention and persuade. 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 celebrity figures.
Herblock's Presidents: "Puncturing Pomposity"
May 2 through Nov. 30
View web exhibition
 Herbert Lawrence Block—the political cartoonist who drew under the pen-name "Herblock"—appeared in American newspapers for more than seven decades. His particular interest in depicting American presidents is featured in this exhibition that displays Block's presidential cartoons that appeared in the Washington Post for 56 years. The 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 American presidency for most of the 20th century.
Zaida Ben-Yusuf: New York Portrait Photographer
April 11 through Sept. 1
 View web exhibition
 Photographer Zaida Ben-Yusuf (1869-1933) was an important figure in the pictorialist photography movement in late 19th and early 20th century New York. The first woman to embark on building a "gallery of illustrious Americans," Ben-Yusuf attracted to her Fifth Avenue studio many of the most prominent artistic, literary, theatrical and political figures of her day. Hoping to break with the conventions of the past, she was thoroughly modern as both a photographer and a woman. "Zaida Ben-Yusuf: New York Portrait Photographer" is the first exhibition ever to tell the story of her extraordinary life and bring together her portraits. In these images Ben-Yusuf sought not only to portray the key figures in "new New York," but also to revitalize an artistic genre that had grown stale by the end of the nineteenth century. Frank A. Goodyear III, assistant curator of photographs, is the curator of this exhibition.
Edward Steichen: Portraits
April 11 through September 1, 2008
View web exhibition
 During his tenure as chief photographer for Condé Nast's Vanity Fair from 1923 to 1936, Edward Steichen created compelling portraits of many of that era's most celebrated personalities—from Charlie Chaplin to Franklin D. Roosevelt. With their sharpened focus, dramatic lighting and bold compositions, Steichen's sophisticated images captured the public's imagination and set a new standard for photographic portraiture. This exhibition, drawn exclusively from the National Portrait Gallery's collection of Steichen's photographs, will feature images from the years of his association with Vanity Fair as well as examples of Steichen's earlier portrait work. Ann Shumard, curator of photographs, is the curator of this exhibition.
"New Arrivals"
March 21, 2008 through January 25, 2009
The newest installation of "New Arrivals" offers an opportunity to explore some of the most recent additions to the National Portrait Gallery's ever-growing collection. Featuring fascinating people portrayed in paintings, drawings, sculptures, posters, prints and photographs, the exhibition includes Henry Kirke Brown by Louis Lang, Louis and Annette Kaufman by Lawrence Lebduska, Judy Garland by Andy Warhol, Cunne Shote by James McArdell (copied after Francis Parsons), Robert Oppenheimer and Albert Einstein by Alfred Eisenstaedt, and Carolina Herrera by Robert Mapplethorpe.
"RECOGNIZE! Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture"
February 8 through October 26, 2008
View web exhibition
Since its inception in the 1970s, hip hop has been arguably the most influential and popular musical form in America. Its popularity extends beyond the urban centers of its inception and pervades youth culture throughout the world. 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. David Scheinbaum has been photographing hip hop artists since 2000, both in concert and offstage, including such celebrated groups as Public Enemy, Blackalicious, Phar Cyde, De La Soul and Jurassic-5. Kehinde Wiley, best known for his large, colorful paintings of anonymous young black men, has created portraits of hip hop artists such as LL Cool J and Ice T, each based on a famous European or American painting from the 17th through 19th centuries. Nikki Giovanni wrote a poem that will be transcribed onto walls in the exhibition, and also interpreted artistically by artist Shinique Smith. Two Washington, D.C–based graffiti artists created four portrait murals to be installed in a hallway that connects the galleries. Jefferson Pinder created three video self-portraits that will be included in the installation. Curators for the exhibition are Frank H. Goodyear III, assistant curator of photographs and Brandon B. Fortune curator of paintings; Jobyl A. Boone, a Smithsonian predoctoral fellow is the guest curator.
A booklet that accompanies the exhibition will be available in the museums' bookstore.
"One Life: KATE, A Centennial Celebration"
November 2, 2007 through September 28, 2008
View web exhibition
The National Portrait Gallery's One Life gallery will be dedicated to Katharine Hepburn. Born May
12, 1907, Hepburn was a 20th-century icon who carefully constructed and maintained her own myth
from her earliest days in the studio system through more than 50 years on stage, screen and television.
The exhibition includes her four Oscar statues–the most won by anyone for best actress; images from
her life and career; a video kiosk that will play clips from a selection of her films, interviews and
television.
Permanent Exhibitions
"America's Presidents"
Permanent exhibition opened July 1, 2006
Browse the Online Collection
 
The nation's only complete collection of presidential portraits outside the White House, this exhibition
lies at the heart of the Portrait Gallery's mission to tell the American story through the individuals who
have shaped it. Visitors will see an enhanced and extended display of multiple images of 42 presidents
of the United States, including Gilbert Stuart's "Lansdowne" portrait of George Washington, the
famous "cracked plate" photograph of Abraham Lincoln and whimsical sculptures of Presidents
Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon and George H. W. Bush by noted caricaturist Pat
Oliphant. Presidents Washington, Andrew Jackson, Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D.
Roosevelt will be given expanded attention because of their significant impact on the office. Presidents from FDR to Bill Clinton are featured in a video component of the exhibit.
"American Origins, 1600-1900"
Permanent exhibition opened July 1, 2006
View web exhibition
 A "conversation about America" is on view in a series of 17 galleries and alcoves chronologically
arranged to take the visitor 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, Alexander Hamilton to Henry Clay, and Nathaniel Hawthorne to Harriet Beecher Stowe
are be among those included.
Three of the galleries are devoted exclusively to the Civil War, examining this conflict in depth. A
group of modern photographic prints produced from Mathew Brady's original negatives
complement the exhibition. Highlights from the Gallery's remarkable collection of daguerreotypes, the
earliest practical form of photography, are on view in "American Origins," making the National
Portrait Gallery the first major museum to create a permanent exhibition space for daguerreotype
portraits of historically significant Americans.
"Jo Davidson: Biographer in Bronze"
Permanent exhibition opened July 1, 2006
Fourteen portraits in bronze and terra-cotta made by renowned American sculptor Jo Davidson
between 1908 and 1946 are on view. These include depictions of Gertrude Stein, Franklin D. Roosevelt, artist John Marin,
and Lincoln Steffens.
"Twentieth-Century Americans"
Permanent exhibition opened July 1, 2006
Four newly created galleries opening onto the museum's magnificent third-floor Great Hall
showcase the major cultural, scientific and political figures of the 20th century. From the reform
movements of the first two decades to the movements for social justice and civil rights of the 1950s,
1960s and 1970s and from the Great Depression to the Vietnam era and beyond, visitors can explore
the never-ending struggle to attain the American goal of justice for all.
Bravo!
Permanent exhibition opened July 1, 2006
"Bravo!" showcases the composers and performers who brought the performing arts to life from the beginning of the 20th century to the present. Collaborative performances such as John Wayne and Katherine Hepburn in "Rooster Cogburn" and Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copeland in a People's Concert are featured in a video component of the show.
Champions
Permanent exhibition opened July 1, 2006
A salute to the dynamic American sports figures whose impact has extended beyond their sports and made them a part of the larger story of our nation. A lively combination of portraits, artifacts and memorabilia and video will enhance the exhibition. Video clips of the famous athletes in the exhibit are narrated by Michael Wilbon of ESPN and The Washington Post
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CONTACT US
Dept. of Exhibitions and Collections Management
 Phone: (202) 633-8280
 Email: NPGExhibitions@si.edu
For exhibition press information, please contact Bethany Bentley, Public Affairs Specialist at:
Email: bentleyb@si.edu
Phone: (202) 633-8280
Mailing Address:
National Portrait Gallery
Smithsonian Institution
PO Box 37012
Victor Building–Suite 4100 MRC 973
Washington, DC, 20013-7012
 Staff Offices:
750 Ninth Street NW
Suite 4100
Washington, DC 20001
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PURCHASE GALLERY BOOKS AND CATALOGS
 View the Gallery's extensive collection of books and exhibition catalogs. Publications are available through the National Portrait Gallery or the respective publishers.
View publications list
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