Exhibitions
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A Dark, A Light, A Bright: The Designs of Dorothy Liebes
July 7, 2023 – February 4, 2024Cooper HewittThis exhibition explores the full scope of Dorothy Liebes' contributions as a designer, collaborator, mentor, public figure, and tireless promoter of American modernism.
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I Dream a World: Selections from Brian Lanker's Portraits of Remarkable Black Women: Part II
February 10, 2023 – September 10, 2023Portrait GalleryThe Portrait Gallery recently acquired all 75 portraits from the Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer’s series and is celebrating the acquisition with a two-part exhibition.
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One Life: Maya Lin
September 30, 2022 – April 16, 2023Portrait GalleryOne Life: Maya Lin is the first biographical exhibition of the architect, sculptor, and environmentalist.
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I Dream a World: Selections from Brian Lanker’s Portraits of Remarkable Black Women: Part I
July 8, 2022 – January 29, 2023Portrait GalleryThis exhibition features more than 25 photographs by Brian Lanker, the Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer.
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Sarah and Eleanor Hewitt: Designing a Modern Museum
February 4, 2022 – October 23, 2022Cooper HewittThis exhibition—through archival photography and documents, personal drawings and correspondence, news clippings and ephemera—chronicles the colorful lives and contributions of the dynamic sisters.
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Hung Liu: Portraits of Promised Lands, 1968-2020
August 27, 2021 – May 30, 2022Portrait GalleryThe National Portrait Gallery presents the first major large-scale retrospective of work by Hung Liu, the internationally acclaimed Chinese-born American artist.
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Suzie Zuzek for Lilly Pulitzer: The Prints that Made the Fashion Brand
June 10, 2021 – January 2, 2022Cooper HewittThe exhibition features more than 35 original watercolor and gouache design drawings by Zuzek to reveal Zuzek’s artistic contribution to the iconic Pulitzer style.
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Every Eye Is Upon Me: First Ladies of the United States
November 13, 2020 – May 23, 2021Portrait GalleryEvery Eye Is Upon Me is the first major exhibition to explore the historical significance of this prominent position through the mode of portraiture.
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Her Story: A Century of Women Writers
September 18, 2020 – January 23, 2022Portrait GalleryThis exhibition drawn from the NPG collection highlights twenty-four noted women writers from the past one hundred years.
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Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists
February 21, 2020 – March 13, 2020Renwick GalleryHearts of Our People: Native Women Artists, organized by the Minneapolis Institute of Art, is the first major thematic exhibition to explore the artistic achievements of Native women.
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What Is Feminist Art?
November 26, 2019 – December 31, 2021Archives of American ArtOn view are more than 75 vibrant and varied personal statements from artists from 1976 and now that elucidate the contours of feminist art.
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One Life: Marian Anderson
June 28, 2019 – March 13, 2020Portrait GalleryThis exhibition examines the ways in which artists, concert promoters, and others wielded Marian Anderson's iconic likeness as a powerful symbol in the pursuit of civil rights.
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In Memoriam: Leah Chase
June 4, 2019 – June 30, 2019Portrait GalleryThe Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery recognizes the life and legacy of Leah Chase with a painting by Gustave Blache III.
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Portrait of Julie Packard by Hope Gangloff
April 23, 2019 – February 24, 2020Portrait GalleryOn display is a newly commissioned painting of Julie Packard, a leading figure in science and ocean conservation and the executive director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
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Portraits of the World: Korea
December 14, 2018 – November 17, 2019Portrait GalleryPioneering feminist artist Yun Suk Nam (born 1939) uses portraiture to gain insights into the lives of women, past and present.
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In Memoriam: Aretha Franklin
August 17, 2018 – August 22, 2018Portrait GalleryThe Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery recognizes the life of acclaimed singer and musician Aretha Franklin.
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Henrietta Lacks
May 15, 2018 – March 31, 2019Portrait GalleryThe Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery recognizes the life of Henrietta Lacks with the installation of a 2017 portrait by Kadir Nelson.
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Murder Is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death
October 20, 2017 – January 28, 2018Renwick GalleryMurder is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death explores the unexpected intersection between craft and forensic science.
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One Life: Sylvia Plath
June 30, 2017 – May 20, 2018Portrait GalleryThe exhibition reveals how Plath shaped her identity visually as she came of age as a writer in the 1950s. Visitors will get a look into Plath’s personal life and her dualistic nature.
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Marlene Dietrich: Dressed for the Image
June 16, 2017 – April 15, 2018Portrait GalleryThe biggest Hollywood star at a time when “talkies” were still new, Dietrich captured men’s hearts and women’s admiration on screen and off.
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