National Portrait Gallery

Pablo Picasso by Albert Eugene Gallatin, 1934

Why It Takes a Great Rivalry to Produce Great Art

Smithsonian historian David Ward takes a look at a new book by Sebastian Smee on the contentious games artists play

Karl Marx by John Collier, 1977

Karl Marx, My Puppy ‘Max,’ Instagram and Me

A historian tries hard to understand modern society and buys a #cutepuppy

Sarah Vaughan by Herman Leonard, 1949

Jazz Has Never Looked Cooler Than It Does in This New Exhibition

These evocative images by photographer Herman Leonard call to mind a bygone era

Jackie Joyner-Kersee by Gregory Heisler, 1988

Why We Have to Play Catch-up Collecting the Portraits of Female Athletes

The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery is setting its sights on the future

Babe Ruth by Nat Fein, 1948

Babe Ruth Hit a Home Run With Celebrity Product Endorsements

The Great Bambino was one of the first athletes to be famous enough to require a publicity agent to handle his affairs

Images are fast outpacing words as the major means of communication.

How to Avoid the Pitfalls in the Politics of Graphic Messaging

The director of the National Portrait Gallery offers a few pointers on how to acquire visual intelligence

Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

Should We Hate Poetry?

It was precisely because poetry wasn’t hated that Plato feared it, writes the Smithsonian’s senior historian David Ward, who loves poetry

This head protector was worn by Muhammad Ali—then known as Cassius Clay—while he trained to battle Sonny Liston in 1964.

Headgear Fit for a Champion: What Muhammad Ali Left Behind

The boxer may be dead, but physical traces of his audacious life remain

Burgess will build on the unifying motifs of "Confluence" as he and his team craft their latest opus

Reimagining Portraiture Through Dance

Choreographer Dana Tai Soon Burgess joins forces with the National Portrait Gallery

This Powerful Stokely Carmichael Portrait Never Made It to the Cover of Time Magazine

The artwork, by famed artist Jacob Lawrence, captured the turning point in the Civil Rights Movement

Robin Williams by Michael Dressler, 1979

Harken Back to the Glory Days When 'Time' Magazine Was King

A new show honors the once powerful cover shot and the artists who made celebs shine bright

Caja De Memoria Viva II: Constancia Clemente-Colon by Adrian "Viajero" Roman

Every Three Years, Artists Compete to Be On View at the National Portrait Gallery. Here Are the Winners

The 2016 show conveys an intensity, as if the artists and their subjects are demanding a conversation on the complex issues of our times

Actor Kevin Spacey arrived at the National Portrait Gallery in character as President Frank Underwood for a "presidential" portrait unveiling.

Francis J. Underwood's Presidential Portrait Goes On View at the Smithsonian

A portrait of actor Kevin Spacey, in his Netflix role as the world's most devious president, proves that fiction is as good as real life

Home of a Rebel Sharpshooter by Alexander Gardner

Can the Civil War Still Inspire Today's Poets?

As epic verse about the American past falls victim to modernism, a poet who is also a historian calls for a revival

These Actresses Were Never Nominated for an Oscar But Can Still Earn Your Vote

The National Portrait Gallery will hang the winner on its walls this winter

This portrait of Patti Smith, a photograph by Lynn Goldsmith, was taken in 1976, a year after Horses, Smith’s breakout album.

Poet and Musician Patti Smith’s Endless Search in Art and Life

The National Portrait Gallery’s senior historian David Ward takes a look at the rock 'n' roll legend's new memoir

The title of Gardner's photograph (taken with Timothy O'Sullivan) Field Where General Reynolds Fell, Gettysburg, July 1863 was added later to capitalize on the famous general's heroism.

Alexander Gardner Saw Himself as an Artist, Crafting the Image of War in All Its Brutality

The National Portrait Gallery’s new show on the Civil War photographer rediscovers the full significance of Gardner's career

Martha McDonald performs in the 2014 work The Lost Garden at The Woodlands in Philadelphia.

What Artist Martha McDonald Might Teach Us About a Nation Divided

This fall, a one-woman show staged in one of Washington, D.C.’s most historic buildings will recall the sorrow of the Civil War

"Home of a Rebel Sharpshooter." A soldier finds his final resting place, July 1863.

Why Can’t We Turn Our Eyes Away From the Grotesque and Macabre?

Alexander Gardner’s photographs of Civil War corpses were among the first to play to the uncomfortable attraction humans have for shocking images

Which of These Baseball Players Should the Portrait Gallery Put on Display?

Vote for these all-stars in an entirely different kind of competition

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