How Kenturah Davis created AVA, a portrait of Ava DuVernay, acclaimed filmmaker #PortraitOfaNation National Portrait Gallery 2022-11-12 | "My goal was to make a dynamic image and Ava is a dynamic person" - artist Kenturah Davis. Her sitter, Ava DuVernay, is the Academy Award–nominated and Peabody Award–winning filmmaker who's body of work includes "Selma" (2014) and "A Wrinkle In Time" (2018).This piece is a part of the Portrait Gallery's Portrait of a Nation exhibition, which highlights remarkable individuals who have shaped American Culture. On view from November 10, 2022 - October 22, 2023Learn more at npg.si.edu. #PortraitOfaNation
Dr. Anthony Fauci accepts his #PortraitOfaNation Award National Portrait Gallery 2023-07-08 | Dr. Anthony Fauci received the Portrait of a Nation Award from the National Portrait Gallery on November 12, 2022. This award is given to contemporary Americans who have made significant contributions across diverse fields.Dr. Fauci's portrait by Hugo Crosthwaite is on view until October 22, 2023: https://npg.si.edu/exhibition/PON-2022-honorees
Clive Davis receives the #PortraitOfaNation Award National Portrait Gallery 2023-07-07 | Grammy Award-winning music industry executive Clive Davis received the Portrait of a Nation Award from the National Portrait Gallery on November 12, 2022. This award is given to contemporary Americans who have made significant contributions across diverse fields.His portrait by David Hockney is on view until October 22, 2023: https://npg.si.edu/exhibition/PON-2022-honorees
Sexuality and the Harlem Renaissance National Portrait Gallery 2023-07-05 | In recognition of Pride Month, this conversation with Professors Jacoby Carter and Benjamin Kahan will explore sexuality during the Harlem Renaissance. This program will touch upon the radicalized art of the Harlem Renaissance, its fluid expressions of gender and sexuality and the lives and philosophies of figures such as Alice Dunbar Nelson and Alain Locke. Moderated by a Portrait Gallery historian, this program is hosted by PORTAL, the museum’s Scholarly Center, and is part of the Tommie L. Pegues and Donald A. Capoccia Conversation Series in LGBTQ+ Portraiture.
José Andrés receives the #PortraitOfaNation Award National Portrait Gallery 2023-07-02 | Chef José Andrés received the Portrait of a Nation Award from the National Portrait Gallery on November 12, 2022. This award is given to contemporary Americans who have made significant contributions across diverse fields.His portrait by Kadir Nelson is on view until October 22, 2023: https://npg.si.edu/exhibition/PON-2022-honorees
Ava DuVernay receives the #PortraitOfaNation Award National Portrait Gallery 2023-06-30 | Filmmaker Ava DuVernay received the Portrait of a Nation Award from the National Portrait Gallery on November 12, 2022. This award is given to contemporary Americans who have made significant contributions across diverse fields.Ava DuVernay's portrait by Kenturah Davis is on view until October 22, 2023: https://npg.si.edu/exhibition/PON-2022-honoreesGo behind the scenes with Kenturah Davis to see how she created Ava DuVernay's portrait: youtube.com/watch?v=BiyweRcr1D0&t=6s
Terrains of Visuality in the U.S. Imperial Archipelago National Portrait Gallery 2023-06-10 | Lanny Thompson, professor emeritus at the University of Puerto Rico, will deliver a public keynote address highlighting themes from the National Portrait Gallery's landmark exhibition "1898: U.S. Imperial Visions and Revisions." Thompson's work analyzes the visual representations of the U.S. empire, the colonial gaze and their relation to early systems of governance in Puerto Rico and across the “imperial archipelago.” The hour-long program will include a Q&A and be followed by a public reception.
Terrains of Visuality: Photography, Cartography and Disciplinary Architecture... National Portrait Gallery 2023-06-06 | Terrains of Visuality: Photography, Cartography and Disciplinary Architecture in the Formation of the U.S. Imperial Archipelago. Lanny Thompson, professor emeritus at the University of Puerto Rico, will deliver a public keynote address highlighting themes from the major exhibition "1898: U.S. Imperial Visions and Revisions." His work analyzes the visual representations of the U.S. empire, the colonial gaze and their relation to early systems of governance in Puerto Rico and across the “imperial archipelago.” The hour-long program will include a Q&A and be followed by a public reception.
1898: U.S. Imperial Visions and Revisions panel discussion National Portrait Gallery 2023-04-28 | "1898: U.S. Imperial Visions and Revisions" opening night panel discussion with exhibition curators Taína Caragol, Curator of Painting and Sculpture and Latino Art and History, and Dr. Kate Clarke Lemay, Portrait Gallery Historian. The discussion is moderated by Dr. Michael Hussey, National Portrait Gallery Director of History, Restorative History and Research.
In Dialogue: Smithsonian Objects and Social Justice (with NPG and SAAM) National Portrait Gallery 2023-03-03 | How does community sustain well-being in the face of systemic inequity? Together with our co-hosts from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, we will explore this key question in relationship to a 1946 artwork, Can Fire in the Park, by Beauford Delaney and LaToya Ruby Frazier's photographs documenting the water crisis in Flint, Michigan.
Portraiture and Slavery: Reflections and Resistance National Portrait Gallery 2023-02-10 | This conversation with Drs. Adrienne L. Childs, John Stauffer, and Jennifer Van Horn explores the approaches to portraiture made during slavery and in relation to slavery and race. Discover how the use of photography, prints, material culture, and painting in this context varied according to sectional differences in the United States as well as across the Atlantic. Moderated by Portrait Gallery Historian Kate Clarke Lemay, this program is hosted by PORTAL, the museum’s Scholarly Center, and is part of the Greenberg Steinhauser Forum in American Portraiture.
In Dialogue: Smithsonian Objects and Social Justice (with the National Postal Museum) National Portrait Gallery 2023-01-23 | How do ongoing environmental efforts inspire us to engage and take action in our communities and beyond? Together with our co-hosts from the National Postal Museum, we will explore this key question in relationship to a 1934 stamp from the Federal Duck Stamp Program and a 2019 portrait of marine biologist Julie Packard by the artist Hope Gangloff.
Our Struggle for Justice National Portrait Gallery 2023-01-20 | What can you do to make a difference? The Portrait Gallery's Our Struggle for Justice project will introduce us to individuals, past and present, whose thoughts and actions have made our nation better. Though their experiences and causes vary, these people have one thing in common: they fought tirelessly against injustice, using their time, strengths and sheer will to create meaningful change. We will consider how their actions can spark conversation, create agency and inspire change among students today.
In Conversation with Maya Lin National Portrait Gallery 2022-12-19 | Thursday December 8, 2022 View the conversation between artist, architect, and environmentalist Maya Lin and National Portrait Gallery curator Dorothy Moss. On the fortieth anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Lin will reflect on her life and ongoing work, and how her early experiences as a child growing up in rural Ohio shaped her relationship with and commitment to the natural world.
The Portrait of a Nation Gala 2022 #shorts National Portrait Gallery 2022-11-14 | Thank you to our honorees, presenters, co-chairs, host Baratunde Thurston, and performer Wynton Marsalis who made the #PortraitOfaNation Gala so special! ✨The Portrait of a Nation Gala recognized the accomplishments of notable contemporary Americans who have made an impact on our history, development, and culture. Come see the “Portrait of a Nation: 2022 Honorees” exhibition in person now through October 23, 2023! Learn more: https://s.si.edu/3sPVtE4
(Excerpt 2) A Portrait of Dr. Anthony Fauci by Hugo Crosthwaite #PortraitOfaNation National Portrait Gallery 2022-11-01 | An excerpt from Hugo Crosthwaite's portrait of Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, commissioned by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. Experience the complete portrait in person as part of “Portrait of a Nation: 2022 Honorees.” Learn more at npg.si.edu. #PortraitOfaNation
Portrait of a Nation: 2022 Honorees National Portrait Gallery 2022-11-01 | The Portrait of a Nation Award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to our history and added to the values of creativity, individuality, insight, and inquiry. 2022 Honorees and Artists:- José Andrés by Kadir Nelson- Clive Davis by David Hockney- Ava DuVernay by Kenturah Davis- Marian Wright Edelman by Ruven Afanador- Dr. Anthony S. Fauci by Hugo Crosthwaite- Serena Williams by Toyin Ojih Odutola- Venus Williams by Robert PruittOn view from November 10, 2022 - October 22, 2023Learn more at npg.si.edu. #PortraitOfaNation
(Excerpt) A Portrait of Dr. Anthony Fauci by Hugo Crosthwaite #PortraitOfaNation National Portrait Gallery 2022-11-01 | An excerpt from Hugo Crosthwaite's portrait of Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, commissioned by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. Experience the complete portrait in person as part of “Portrait of a Nation: 2022 Honorees.” Learn more at npg.si.edu. #PortraitOfaNationLearn more at npg.si.edu.
Painting Nostalgia: Jewish American Portraits National Portrait Gallery 2022-09-21 | Both collections of the National Portrait Gallery and the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston include compelling portraits of Jewish sitters. Although painted by different artists and in different contexts, these works share an often-neglected common trait: they either present a Jewish sitter or were made by Jewish artists who found success in wider, secular society through other subjects and genres. In some cases, cosmopolitan, secular artists were drawn to traditional Jewish sitters and scenes. How did depictions of Jewish life fit into their broader production? What do these works tell us about the journey of Jewish artists working in the 19th and early 20th centuries? And, what about portraits of Jewish sitters who are more secular? Discover the answers to these questions and more with our guest, Simona Di Nepi, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Curator of Judaica, MFA Boston, as she traces the stories of these portraits and the artists who created them. Moderated by Kate Clarke Lemay, Acting Senior Historian at the National Portrait Gallery, this program is part of the Greenberg Steinhauser Forum in American Portraiture.
Understanding Sylvia Rivera National Portrait Gallery 2022-09-16 | Join historians Julio Capó Jr., author of “Welcome to Fairyland: Queer Miami before 1940” (2017), and Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, author of “Translocas: The Politics of Puerto Rican Drag and Trans Performance” (2021), as they discuss Latinx transgender activist Sylvia Rivera. Although a veteran of the Stonewall Riot, a turning point in the modern LGBTQ+ struggle for equal rights, Rivera fought to be included in the Pride marches that followed. This conversation will celebrate her accomplishments while documenting the exclusion she faced and challenging the myths surrounding her life and work. Moderated by Portrait Gallery Historian Mindy Farmer, this program is part of the Tommie L. Pegues and Donald A. Capoccia Conversation Series in LGBTQ+ Portraiture.
2022 National Portrait Gallery Directors Essay Prize National Portrait Gallery 2022-09-16 | Join us in person at the museum for the Director’s Essay Prize Lecture and Ceremony. Tiffany E. Barber, Assistant Professor of African American Art History at the University of California, Los Angeles, is the winner of the 2022 Director’s Essay Prize. Her essay “Narcissister, a Truly Kinky Artist,” published in the spring 2020 issue of "Art Journal," was chosen for its interdisciplinary contributions to the fields of American art, biography, history, and cultural identity. At the event, Professor Barber will present the related paper "Black Women’s Visual Alterity."
Queering Womens Suffrage in the United States National Portrait Gallery 2022-08-31 | Join us for a conversation with scholars Anya Jabour, Regents Professor of History at the University of Montana, and Wendy L. Rouse, Associate Professor of History at San José State University. Jabor is the author of “Sophonisba Breckinridge: Championing Women's Activism in Modern America” (2019), and Rouse recently published “Public Faces, Secret Lives: A Queer History of the Women’s Suffrage Movement” (2022). Moderated by Kate Clarke Lemay, acting senior historian at the National Portrait Gallery, this conversation will explore how queer history intersects with that of the women’s suffrage movement in the United States. This program is part of the Tommie L. Pegues and Donald A. Capoccia Conversation Series in LGBTQ+ Portraiture.A statement from Tommie L. Pegues and Donald A. Capoccia:"Don and I are honored to sponsor this program as we especially want to continue to create a safe space to discuss critical issues around LGBTQ+ identity and art. We have enjoyed this series so much, as it has provided our viewers with robust conversation around the issues of LGBTQ+ identity and promises to continue to do so. We are looking forward to tonight’s presentation celebrating the work historians Anya Jabour and Wendy Rouse have done to bring queer suffragists out of closet and into mainstream scholarship. Their smart, innovative research helps us better understand the rich biographies of the women who helped secure one of America’s most sacred rights – the power to vote. So, thank you all for being here, for your curiosity, and for joining us in the belief that portraiture is powerful."
Soichi Sakamoto and the Three-Year Swim Club National Portrait Gallery 2022-08-17 | Presented by Julie Checkoway, author of the New York Times bestseller “The Three-Year Swim Club,” which is in development as a major motion picture; and Kelli Y. Nakamura, associate professor at Kapi’olani Community College and author of the article “Soichi Sakamoto and the Three-Year Swim Club: ‘The World’s Greatest Swimming Coach.’” Kate Clarke Lemay, the Portrait Gallery's acting senior historian, moderated the Q&A.This conversation centered on the biography and portraits and of the pioneering Japanese American swim coach Soichi Sakamoto. During the Great Depression, Sakamoto established the Three-Year Swim Club for children on Maui’s sugar plantations, with the goal of transforming a multiethnic youth group into Olympic-level swimmers in an unprecedented amount of time. Sakamoto’s training club succeeded, and his achievement defied the racial prejudice against Japanese Americans at that time. This program was part of the Greenberg Steinhauser Forum in American Portraiture.
Legends of Drag: Queens of a Certain Age: A Conversation with Harry James Hanson and Devin Antheus National Portrait Gallery 2022-07-27 | Join PORTAL, the National Portrait Gallery’s Scholarly Center, for a conversation with artist Harry James Hanson and writer Devin Antheus, the authors of the genre-bending photography book "Legends of Drag: Queens of a Certain Age." This event will chart the history of drag from the margins of society to the mainstream, celebrate the lives behind the images, and explore the techniques and unique floral designs behind the portraits. Led by moderator Mindy Farmer, a historian at the National Portrait Gallery, this conversation is part of the Tommie L. Pegues and Donald A. Capoccia Conversation Series in LGBTQ+ Portraiture.
In Celebration of Pride: A Conversation with Riva Lehrer and Achy Obejas National Portrait Gallery 2022-07-15 | Join PORTAL, the National Portrait Gallery’s Scholarly Center, for a dialogue between artist and educator Riva Lehrer and the subject of her piece in the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, Havana-born writer Achy Obejas. As a part of the Tommie L. Pegues and Donald A. Capoccia Conversation Series in LGBTQ+ Portraiture, this event will explore themes related to queer identity and disability. Moderated by the National Portrait Gallery's curator of painting, sculpture & Latinx art Taína Caragol and historian Mindy Farmer, the conversation will also examine Lehrer’s method for creating Obejas’ portrait and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
El Muro/The Wall National Portrait Gallery 2022-07-14 | El Muro/The Wall is a modern dance by the National Portrait Gallery's choreographer in residence, Dana Tai Soon Burgess. It is inspired by the painting Refugees Crossing the Border Wall into South Texas by Rigoberto A. Gonzalez A. Gonzalez which is part of The Outwin 2022: American Portraiture Today exhibition. Portraying a journey to secure a new home in America, El Muro/The Wall investigates the challenges of asylum seekers and immigration at the US Southern border. Thirty minutes in length, the work features eleven professional modern dancers from the critically acclaimed Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company with live music from five musicians led by Peruvian American percussionist, Martin Zarzar formerly of Pink Martini.
Perspectives: The Atlantics Writers at the National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery 2022-07-12 | The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and The Atlantic announce a new, multi-phased, multi-platform collaboration entitled “Perspectives: The Atlantic’s Writers at the National Portrait Gallery.” As part of the reinstallation of the museum’s permanent collection galleries, the Portrait Gallery and The Atlantic will highlight some of America’s founding voices in literature, politics, philosophy and culture with interpretive wall text descriptions written by The Atlantic’s most notable contemporary writers.
The Outwin 2022, Commended Artists National Portrait Gallery 2022-06-17 | The National Portrait Gallery asked the Commended Artists to share their work and processes.Here is what they had to say.
2022 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition: Ebony Patterson National Portrait Gallery 2022-05-05 | ...
2022 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition: Kathleen Ash Milby National Portrait Gallery 2022-05-05 | ...
The Outwin 2022: American Portraiture Today National Portrait Gallery 2022-05-03 | The National Portrait Gallery’s triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition celebrates excellence in the art of portraiture. It is the realization of Virginia Outwin Boochever’s gift to the Smithsonian and the nation, a testament to the transformative power of one individual to make an impact. Every three years, artists living and working in the United States are invited by the museum to submit one of their recent portraits to a panel of experts. The selected artworks reflect the compelling and diverse approaches contemporary artists are using to tell the American story through portraiture.The Outwin 2022 National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution All artwork © the artists
New Approaches to Representing Women in Science National Portrait Gallery 2022-04-21 | A dialogue between historians of science Leila McNeill and Anna Reser, co-founders of the independent magazine “Lady Science” and co-authors of “Forces of Nature: The Women Who Changed Science,” and Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, a multidisciplinary artist known for portraiture projects, including “Beyond Curie.” Lacey Baradel, science historian at the National Portrait Gallery, will moderate the conversation.This conversation will examine recent approaches to representing women in the history of science through portraiture and biography. Specifically, it will explore the challenge of subverting established historical narratives and defining women’s participation in the history of science. Additional topics include the role of collaboration in producing and consuming these histories; the use of new technologies and media platforms; and efforts to identify and engage specific audiences.The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the recent passing of Daniel B. Greenberg, whose generosity and that of his wife, Susan, makes the Greenberg Steinhauser Forum in American Portraiture possible. The program is hosted by PORTAL, the Portrait Gallery’s Scholarly Center.
Teacher Workshop | Traces of a Life in Bondage: Flora’s Silhouette National Portrait Gallery 2022-04-04 | This workshop focuses on a life-size, hand-cut silhouette representing Flora (1777–1815), a woman who was enslaved in Connecticut, and the bill of sale that transferred her ownership on December 13, 1796, when she was nineteen years old. Her life story invites us to consider the period from the American Revolution to the close of the War of 1812 from a rarely considered perspective—that of an enslaved woman.Flora is emblematic of vast numbers of enslaved women whose likenesses and histories have gone unrecorded. Her silhouette was traced at life-size directly from her cast shadow, lending a tangible sense of human presence to her portrait. But who made it? And for what purpose? We explore these questions through consideration of the few facts known about Flora's life; the regional differences that distinguished the experiences of enslaved women in the North and in the South; the social conventions of silhouette-making; and the history of representing African American women in late eighteenth and nineteenth-century American portraiture.
Expanding Roles of Women Curriculum Guide Teacher Workshop: Suffragists Theme National Portrait Gallery 2022-04-04 | Join us as we unveil our new curriculum guide, Expanding Roles of Women! This expansive guide provides an entry point for teaching about the history of women in the United States from the colonial period to the dawn of the twentieth century, with a focus on drawing connections to the present. Participants will be introduced to the guide’s themes—Suffragists, Professionals, and Radicals—as well as the featured portrait subjects, including Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Mary Cassatt, Anne Catherine Hoof Green, Zitkála-Šá, and many more! We’ll also discuss the variety of historical women’s voices presented in this guide and consider our own perspectives on teaching women’s history.
In Dialogue: Smithsonian Objects and Social Justice with the Hirshhorn National Portrait Gallery 2022-03-01 | Heighten your civic awareness through conversations about art, history and material culture. Each month, educators from the National Portrait Gallery will partner with colleagues from across the Smithsonian to discuss how historical objects from their respective collections speak to today’s social justice issues. How does artwork build empathy and open the possibilities for connecting people near and far? Together with our co-hosts from the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, we will explore this key question in relationship to a 1992 print called Untitled (for Jeff) by Felix Gonzalez-Torres and a 2013 painting called The Botanist by Hung Liu.
Expanding Roles of Women Curriculum Guide - Professionals Teacher Workshop National Portrait Gallery 2022-02-28 | Join us as we unveil our new curriculum guide, Expanding Roles of Women! This expansive guide provides an entry point for teaching about the history of women in the United States from the colonial period to the dawn of the twentieth century, with a focus on drawing connections to the present. Participants will be introduced to the guide’s themes—Suffragists, Professionals, and Radicals—as well as the featured portrait subjects, including Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Mary Cassatt, Anne Catherine Hoof Green, Zitkála-Šá, and many more! We’ll also discuss the variety of historical women’s voices presented in this guide and consider our own perspectives on teaching women’s history.
Edmonia Lewis and Wendell Phillips: In Conversation with Kirsten Pai Buick and Hélène Quanquin National Portrait Gallery 2022-02-09 | Kate Clarke Lemay, interim director of PORTAL and acting senior historian at the National Portrait Gallery, will moderate a conversation between Hélène Quanquin, professor of American Studies, University of Lille (France) and Kirsten Pai Buick, professor of art history; associate dean of equity and excellence for the College of Fine Arts; and inaugural chair of Africana studies, University of New Mexico.Join us for a conversation about the anti-slavery movement centered on the biographies and portraits of Wendell Phillips and Edmonia Lewis. Known for her medallion busts, sculptor Edmonia Lewis often portrayed abolitionists, African Americans and Native Americans, in addition to biblical and mythological figures. Early in her career, Lewis created a medallion bust of Wendell Phillips, an abolitionist who also advocated for temperance, women’s rights, Native Americans’ rights and labor rights. Through his conversational speaking style, Phillips became a key orator for the abolitionist movement.The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the recent passing of Daniel B. Greenberg, whose generosity and that of his wife, Susan, makes the Greenberg Steinhauser Forum in American Portraiture possible. The program is hosted by PORTAL, the Portrait Gallery’s Scholarly Center.
Expanding Roles of Women Teacher Workshop: Radicals Theme National Portrait Gallery 2022-02-04 | Join us as we unveil our new curriculum guide, Expanding Roles of Women! This expansive guide provides an entry point for teaching about the history of women in the United States from the colonial period to the dawn of the twentieth century, with a focus on drawing connections to the present. Participants will be introduced to the guide’s themes—Suffragists, Professionals, and Radicals—as well as the featured portrait subjects, including Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Mary Cassatt, Anne Catherine Hoof Green, Zitkála-Šá, and many more! We’ll also discuss the variety of historical women’s voices presented in this guide and consider our own perspectives on teaching women’s history.
José María Mora, Napoleon Sarony, and the Migrant Surround in American Portrait Photography National Portrait Gallery 2022-01-26 | Presented by Erin Pauwels, assistant professor of art history at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University. Leslie Ureña, curator of photographs at the National Portrait Gallery, moderated the Q & A. This presentation considers how the spaces of photographic portrait studios were constructed to facilitate the performance of diverse American identities during the late nineteenth century. José María Mora, a Cuban-born U.S. photographer, and his mentor Napoleon Sarony, a native French speaker born in Quebec, rose to prominence during the Gilded Age for staging lush portrait tableaus that deployed hand-painted backdrops and richly theatrical studio effects. Conventionally, the vivid artifice of their work has been connected to the commercial excesses of the period. Deeper consideration of both photographers’ immigrant status, however, helps illuminate how publicly circulated portraiture participated in the renegotiation of national types at an historical moment when more than 12 million new arrivals to the United States were reinventing and revitalizing what it meant to be American.The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the recent passing of Daniel B. Greenberg, whose generosity and that of his wife, Susan, makes the Greenberg Steinhauser Forum in American Portraiture possible. The program is hosted by PORTAL, the Portrait Gallery’s Scholarly Center.
2022 Portrait of a Nation Gala National Portrait Gallery 2022-01-26 | Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery hosts the Portrait of a Nation Prize, a biennial celebration of living sitters who have significantly impacted the nation's history and culture.
