Enter key words, avoiding the use of terms like American, portrait, artist and sitter.
Use quotation marks to ensure all words are included, in exact order, for example “voting rights” or “edwin forrest as macbeth”.
Use a "+" or "-" in front of each word to ensure the search term MUST or MUST NOT be included, for example +baseball -photograph or “civil war” -Brady.
Use filters to narrow search results. For NAMES, search on last name only, and then use the Name filter to find the sitter, artist or owner you are looking for.
Go to Advanced Search redirects you to the Smithsonian Collections Search Center, which provides additional search options. Results are pre-filtered on Catalog of American Portraits records.
Only return results with images limits results to records with images. Please note that CAP images, if available, are for study purposes only and may not be reproduced without permission of the portrait owner.
Only return results on view at the National Portrait Gallery limits results to objects on view at the National Portrait Gallery, including long-term loans to the museum.
