Permanent exhibition
Second floor
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 43 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 are 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.
Image
George Washington (Landsdowne Portrait) / Gilbert Stuart / 1796 / Oil on canvas / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; acquired as a gift to the nation through the generosity of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation
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