Portraiture

The legendary fight lives in the 1944 painting  Dempsey-Willard Fight (above in detail) by James Montgomery Flagg, capturing the sense of a mass of humanity watching a hard-fought contest.

Revisit the Brutal Fight When Jack Dempsey Hammered the Super-Sized Champ to Claim Title

The crowded scene on a sweltering July day in Toledo is the subject of the Portrait Gallery’s latest podcast episode

Health care workers at Stanford and the University of Massachusetts who have placed smiling portraits of themselves on the outside of their protective gear

Portrait Project Reveals the Faces Behind Health Care Workers' Protective Gear

Doctors and nurses are attaching smiling photos of themselves to the outside of their protective gear to maintain connections with patients

1796 portrait miniature of Mary Pearson by William Wood

Newly Discovered Portrait Depicts Woman Who May Have Inspired Jane Austen Character

Mary Pearson, who was briefly engaged to the writer's brother, may be the real-life counterpart of Lydia Bennet from "Pride and Prejudice"

Double Self-Portrait by John Singer Sargent, 1902

John Singer Sargent 'Abhorred' Making His Lavish Portraits, So He Took Up Charcoal to Get the Job Done

Sargent made his portraits in charcoal—a medium that allowed completion in less than three hours rather than the weeks it took for his full-length oils

Rembrandt's Portrait of a Woman before (left) and after (right) conservation

Pennsylvania Museum Discovers Unidentified Rembrandt Portrait in Its Collection

Conservation work revealed evidence of the artist's hand in a painting previously attributed to a member of his studio

A place of mourning was probably not what Congress had in mind when they established the National Portrait Gallery in 1962, but perhaps they would not be surprised that this is partly what they got.

How One Museum Helps the Nation Mourn

When prominent Americans like Kobe Bryant die, mourners flock to the National Portrait Gallery in search of solace

Following the news of the death of basketball legend Kobe Bryant, this 2007 portrait by Rick Chapman is now on view at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.

Smithsonian Historians Reflect on Kobe Bryant's Legacy as His Portrait Goes on View

A 2007 photograph of the N.B.A. All-Star offers visitors a chance to pay their respects

Portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama painted by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, respectively

The National Portrait Gallery's Obama Portraits Will Embark on a Five-City Tour

Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald's paintings of Barack and Michelle Obama are set to visit Chicago, Brooklyn, L.A., Atlanta and Houston

Marcus Gheeraerts II, Portrait of a Woman in Red, 1620

The Evolution of Pregnancy Portraits, From Tudor England to Beyoncé

A new show at the Foundling Museum in London highlights artists' depictions of pregnant women over the past 500 years

The contested 1889 self-portrait of Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh Self-Portrait, Painted During Bout of Psychosis, Confirmed as Authentic

A five-year research effort validates an 1889 painting completed during the artist's stay at an asylum

The work vanished in February 1997, shortly after it was authenticated as a genuine Gustav Klimt portrait.

Painting Found Inside Walls of Italian Gallery Authenticated as Stolen Klimt

"Portrait of a Lady" went missing from the Ricci Oddi Modern Art Gallery in February 1997

Some soldiers (although not necessarily the ones pictured here) dyed their lighter locks to avoid appearing washed out in photographs.

Archaeologists Find Hair Dye Bottles Used by Self-Conscious Civil War Soldiers Posing for Portraits

Hair-do it for the gram

Bass player Verdine White of Earth, Wind & Fire performed the group's iconic song "September."

Here’s What NPG Gala Honorees Have to Say About Their Portraits

Likenesses of six American icons including Jeff Bezos, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Frances Arnold join the collections

Artist Amy Sherald, photographed at the Hauser & Wirth gallery in New York City.

How Amy Sherald's Revelatory Portraits Challenge Expectations

The artist who garnered fame at the Smithsonian and then painted the official portrait of Michelle Obama brings her unique style to ordinary people

One of the three Armada portraits of Queen Elizabeth I

Three Portraits of Victorious Elizabeth I to Be Displayed Together for the First Time

The paintings were created in the wake of England’s defeat of the Spanish Armada

The Charles Dickens Museum Acquires ‘Lost’ Portrait of the Author as a Young Man

The 1843 painting by Margaret Gillies surfaced at an auction in South Africa in 2017

Julie Packard (detail) by Hope Gangloff

Fishes Were Julie Packard’s Wishes for Her New Smithsonian Portrait

National Portrait Gallery unveils a painting honoring the renowned ocean conservationist and director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium

In 1917 when it was highly unusual for women to protest, a suffrage procession walked the streets of Washington, D.C. towards the White House carrying purple, white and gold banners.

How Women Got the Vote Is a Far More Complex Story Than the History Textbooks Reveal

An immersive story about the bold and diverse women who helped secure the right to vote is on view at the National Portrait Gallery

Museum of the Dog Takes Manhattan

After 30 years in St. Louis, the American Kennel Club museum is back in the Big Apple, with artifacts, portraits and a kiosk that matches people to dogs

Mother III (detail) by Yun Suknam, (2013 version), 1993

Breakthrough Korean Feminist Artist Yun Suknam in Her First U.S. Museum Exhibition

With an assemblage portrait of her mother as the focal piece, the artist’s work is surrounded by the works of those who inspired her

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