Welcome Back! National Portrait Gallery Reopens Sept 18 with New Exhibitions and More

The museum reopens Sept. 18 with new exhibitions
and acquisitions. Come say hello to the portraits
and people who have missed you!
 

A Message from Our Director

Today we open our doors for the first time after six months of closure due to an unprecedented public health challenge. I’m particularly grateful for the remarkable commitment and service of our security, maintenance team, collections caretakers, and other staff who continued their essential work in the museum during that time. It’s because of them that we can welcome you back today.

We’re excited to see you again! In consultation with public health officials and our colleagues across the broader Smithsonian Institution, we’ve made a number of changes at the museum to maximize safety for visitors and staff. Please make sure to review these new guidelines before your visit and reserve your free, timed-entry passes.

Whether you come visit us in the museum or online, there’s plenty that's new to see and do. Today we premiere two fantastic exhibitions and a newly acquired portrait of the late John Lewis. If you’re longing for some familiar faces, a few of our permanent galleries, including "America's Presidents," will also be open. And if you can’t make it out to the museum just yet, we’ll see you online, where we continue to offer a robust lineup of educational programs, art workshops, and live presentations. From all of us at the National Portrait Gallery, thank you and welcome back!

Kim Sajet
Director
National Portrait Gallery

NEW EXHIBITIONS

We are looking forward to welcoming you back. The portraits miss you! Select galleries on the Portrait Gallery’s first floor will remain closed to the public for renovations until further notice. For the latest on which galleries and exhibitions will be open, please visit our website npg.si.edu. As a health and safety precaution we are not offering printed floorplans at this time, but you can download a visitor map online.

Visionary: The Cumming Family Collection

On view through Jan. 24, 2021

This exhibition celebrates a major acquisition of 22 contemporary portraits recently gifted or promised to the Portrait Gallery by Ian and Annette Cumming. Installed in two parts, the first part of the exhibition will feature hyper-realist paintings by artist Robert McCurdy. It will also include likenesses of Muhammad Ali, Neil Armstrong, Warren Buffett, Toni Morrison, and the premiere of a promised portrait of Jane Goodall. Part two will open on Dec. 4. This exhibition is curated by Chief Curator Emerita Brandon Brame Fortune and will be accompanied by a limited-edition publication.

Her Story: A Century of Women Writers

On view through Jan. 18, 2021

As the nation commemorates the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, this permanent collection exhibition celebrates 24 of the country’s most influential authors, including Margaret Wise Brown, Sandra Cisneros, Lorraine Hansberry, Toni Morrison, Anne Tyler, Alice Walker, and many others. Each of these writers has made a significant contribution to American literature. Several have won Pulitzer Prizes, Nobel Prizes or both, and their personal stories—in addition to those they have written—offer insight and inspiration. This exhibition is curated by Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, senior historian and director of research, publications, and scholarly programs, and is part of the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative, “Because of Her Story.”

Last Chance

Portraits of the World: Denmark

On view through Oct. 12, 2020

Don't miss your last chance to see “Portraits of the World: Denmark,” which features the painting “Kunstdommere” (Art Judges) by Michael Ancher, on loan from the Museum of National History in Hillerød, Denmark. The monumental group portrait pays tribute to a tightly knit artists’ community in northern Denmark, which served as the incubator for the Modern Breakthrough in Danish painting. A complementary display of American portraits highlights the proliferation of artists’ communities in New York City during the first half of the 20th century, which likewise accelerated the development of modern art in the United States. This exhibition is curated by Curator of Prints and Drawings Robyn Asleson.

Permanent Exhibitions

America's Presidents

Ongoing

This exhibition showcases the nation’s only complete collection of presidential portraits outside the White House and lies at the heart of the Portrait Gallery’s mission to tell the American story through the individuals who have shaped it. Discover portraits of past U.S. Presidents in a variety of media, from oil paintings and sculptures to prints and photographs.
A virtual audio tour of this exhibition is available in English and Spanish on the museum’s free and easy-to-download SmARTify app. Visitors can also explore an online adaptation of this exhibition and additional research tools on the museum’s dedicated America's Presidents website.

The Struggle for Justice

Ongoing

Be inspired by contemporary leaders who have fought for civil rights and greater inclusiveness. This exhibition includes portraits of renowned figures, such as Marian Anderson, George Washington Carver, César Chávez, Albert Einstein, Dolores Huerta, Thurgood Marshall, and Rosa Parks. A newly acquired painting of civil rights activist and former Congressman John Lewis will also be on view for the first time. This portrait by Michael Shane Neal celebrates Lewis’s legacy as a co-founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and a maker of “good trouble,” who worked tirelessly throughout his life toward equality and non-violent social change.

Visit at Home

Not ready to come back quite yet? Enjoy several online adaptations of National Portrait Gallery exhibitions and collection highlights, including "Immortalized in Medicine and on Canvas: The Controversial, Lifesaving Legacy of Henrietta Lacks" and "One Life: Dolores Huerta," through our collaboration with Google Arts & Culture. The National Portrait Gallery continues to offer a robust lineup of online workshops and programs that highlight the power of portraiture. For more on the Portrait Gallery's virtual offerings, explore the museum's "Visit at Home" page.

All images belong to the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, unless otherwise noted.