Past Exhibitions

  • Colorful costume hanging in a gallery

    IDENTIFY: Performance Art as Portraiture

    May 22, 2019

    Jeffrey Gibson: To Name an Other 
    May 22, 5:00 p.m. | Kogod Courtyard

  • Woman in a long dress standing by a Camero

    One Year: 1968, An American Odyssey

    June 29, 2018 - May 19, 2019

    As part of a series of installations celebrating its golden anniversary, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery will present “One Year: 1968, An American Odyssey,” a one-room exhibition that looks back at an extraordinarily important and memorable time in American history.

  • Formal photographic portrait of Phineas Barnum

    Lincoln's Contemporaries

    May 13, 2016 - May 12, 2019
    First floor, Meserve Corridor

    Who were Abraham Lincoln’s contemporaries? They included many fascinating people beyond the politicians and military leaders of the Civil War.

  • Cluster of pink orchids

    Orchids: Amazing Adaptations

    February 16, 2019 - April 28, 2019

    Escape the winter cold and step into a floral oasis in the Kogod Courtyard with Orchids: Amazing Adaptations.

  • Woman in a red dress standing against a patterned background

    New Co-Acquisition: Henrietta Lacks

    May 15, 2018 - March 31, 2019

    The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery recognizes the life of Henrietta Lacks with the installation of a 2017 portrait by Kadir Nelson.

  • Oragami paper silhouettes on a white background

    Black Out: Silhouettes Then and Now

    May 11, 2018 - March 17, 2019

    With both historical and contemporary explorations into the silhouette, Black Out reveals new pathways between our past and present.

    Tour Schedule:
    Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS / April 27 to August 25, 2019
    Birmingham Museum of Art, AL / September 28, 2019 to January 12, 2020

  • Model of the POB see from above

    Celebrating Fifty Years

    August 11, 2017 - January 6, 2019
    Second floor

    In 1968, following major renovations, the Old Patent Office Building opened as the permanent home for two Smithsonian museums, the National Collection of Fine Arts (since renamed the Smithsonian American Art Museum) and the National Portrait Gallery. This exhibition marks the fiftieth anniversary of that grand event.

Pages