National Portrait Gallery Premieres More Than 20 Portraits Gifted by Former Corcoran Gallery of Art
The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery will present more than 20 new additions to its permanent collection in the upcoming exhibition “Recent Acquisitions: Gifts From the Corcoran Gallery of Art,” opening Friday, Oct. 9. The featured portraits are among 80 gifted to the museum by the Corcoran Gallery of Art after its closure in 2014. Among the new acquisitions on display will be portraits of cultural figures Louis Armstrong and Frida Kahlo; Presidents Chester Arthur and Zachary Taylor; and the first Smithsonian Secretary, Joseph Henry. Lead curator for the exhibition is Portrait Gallery Chief Curator Emeritus Brandon Brame Fortune.
The Corcoran Gallery of Art was one of the first private museums in the United States established in 1869 by William Wilson Corcoran and expanded in 1880 to include the Corcoran College of Art and Design with the mission “dedicated to art and used solely for the purpose of encouraging the American genius.” In 2014, the Corcoran transferred the college to George Washington University and distributed the works from its collection to museums and institutions in Washington, D.C. A portrait of Corcoran himself will be included in the Portrait Gallery’s exhibition.
At the National Portrait Gallery, the newly acquired works will find company among the
museum’s 23,000 portraits of individuals who have made a significant impact on American history and culture. Located on the museum’s first floor, the exhibition includes other historical icons like Susan B. Anthony, First Lady Rosalynn Carter and Katharine Graham, the Washington Post publisher who presided over the paper during its coverage of the Watergate scandal.
“We are grateful to the trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art for not only this generous gift of art, but for the century and a half of scholarship, collecting, curatorial work and exhibitions, and for the forward thinking the museum provided to the city of Washington and the nation during its time,” Fortune said. “We are delighted to play a role as stewards of these great artworks in order to allow them to remain in the nation’s capital.”
The collection of photographs, paintings, sculpture and works on paper will feature portraiture by some of the nation’s most celebrated artists, from the 19th-century painters George Peter Alexander Healy and Thomas Sully to some of today’s most influential photographers (Annie Leibovitz and Stephen Shore). Several leading modernists, such as Harold E. Edgerton, Robert De Niro Sr. and Prentiss Taylor, are also represented. “Recent Acquisitions: Gifts From the Corcoran Gallery of Art” is curated by Fortune; Ann Shumard, senior curator of photographs; Robyn Asleson, curator of prints and drawings; Leslie Ureña, associate curator of photographs; Taína Caragol, curator of painting and sculpture and Latino art and history; and Dorothy Moss, curator of painting and sculpture and coordinating curator of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative.
Included Artworks
“Susan B. Anthony” by Carl Gutherz, oil on canvas, 1895
“Louis Armstrong” by Philippe Halsman, gelatin silver print, 1966 (printed 1998) “Chester A. Arthur” by George Peter Alexander Healy, oil on canvas, 1884 “Peggy Bacon” by Alexander Brook, oil on canvas, c. 1932
“Jacob Jennings Brown” by John Wesley Jarvis, oil on canvas, c. 1815–16 “Richard Evelyn Byrd” by Margaret French Cresson, bronze, 1927
“Rosalynn Carter on Air Force 2” by Rosalind Fox Solomon, gelatin silver print, 1978
“Catfish Hunter, Fort Lauderdale Yankee Stadium, Fort Lauderdale Florida” by Stephen Shore, chromogenic print, 1978
“W.W. Corcoran” by H.B. Hall and Sons, engraving, c. 1882
“Pete Desjardins Diving” by Harold Edgerton, gelatin silver print, 1940, (printed c. 1980–81 by Gus Kayafas)
“Jacob Epstein, Sculptor” by Walter Ernest Tittle, drypoint, c. 1932 “Katharine Graham” by Mariana Cook, gelatin silver print, 1988 “Joseph Henry” by Daniel Huntington, oil on canvas, 1857
“Homenaje a Frida Kahlo” (Tribute to Frida Kahlo) by Rupert García, screenprint, 1978 “Henry Wadsworth Longfellow” by Alphonse Legros, lithograph, c. 1863–82
“Gertrude ‘Gussie’ Moran” by Harold Edgerton, gelatin silver print, 1949 (printed c. 1980–81 by Gus Kayafas)
“George Santayana” by George Biddle, lithograph, 1952 “David Alfaro Siqueiros” by Rupert García, screenprint, 1974
“Gustave ‘Gus’ Solomons Jr.” by Harold Edgerton, gelatin silver print, 1960 (printed c. 1980–81 by Gus Kayafas)
“Stuart’s Red, White, and Blue” (George Washington) by Sante Graziani, oil on canvas, 1965 “Academy Self-Portrait” by Prentiss Taylor, lithograph, 1949
“Zachary Taylor” by John Vanderlyn, oil on canvas, c. 1850–52
“Lily Tomlin, New York City” by Annie Leibovitz, silver dye bleach print, 1986 “Bessie Potter Vonnoh” by Robert Vonnoh, oil on canvas, 1895
National Portrait Gallery
The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery tells the multifaceted story of the United States through the individuals who have shaped American culture. Spanning the visual arts, performing arts and new media, the Portrait Gallery portrays poets and presidents, visionaries and villains, actors and activists whose lives tell the nation’s story.
The National Portrait Gallery is located at Eighth and G streets N.W., Washington, D.C. Smithsonian Information: (202) 633-1000. Connect with the museum at npg.si.edu and on Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.
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