National Portrait Gallery

D.C.'s Best Free Film Screenings

The Huffington Post | Brandon Wetherbee | Posted 06.01.2012

Read More: Bill Morrison, Best of DC, Video, Free in DC, Smithsonian Films, Screen on the Green, Free Movies in DC, Free Films in DC, Michael Cacoyannis, American Art Museum, Japanese Divas, McEvoy Auditorium, DC Outdoor Movies, Ernie Gehr, National Gallery of Art, National Portrait Gallery, Jan ?Vankmajer, DC News

WASHINGTON -- Residents and tourists in the nation's capital know how to take advantage of a museum. The surplus of ways to spend a free afternoon mak...

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Celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee at the National Portrait Gallery in London

Heidi Kim | Posted 05.24.2012

Read More: Diamond Jubilee, Andy Warhol, Cecil Beaton, National Portrait Gallery, Annigoni, Lucien Freud, Queen Elizabeth II, Arts News
Heidi Kim

From candid photographs of the young queen laughing, holding her own umbrella and having a cup of tea, to more radical silkscreens by Warhol, we notice the departure from a traditional, elevated image to that of one more ordinary and down-to-earth.

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Portrait Gallery Opens Civil War Portraits

AP | Posted 03.30.2012

Read More: Matthew Brady Portraits, Video, Smithsonian Institution, Civil War Portraits, Matthew Brady, National Portrait Gallery Civil War Portraits, Smithsonian, National Portrait Gallery, DC News

WASHINGTON -- The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery is opening two new exhibits that retrace the history of the Civil War, including a display o...

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WATCH: Oil Giant BP In Sticky Situation With Art World

Posted 12.19.2011

Read More: Museum Funding, BP Oil Disaster, Bp, Ed Maizey, British Museum, Video, Nicholas Serota, BP Oil Spill 2010, Royal Opera House, Museum Funding Controversy, Tate Britain, British Petroleum, BP Oil Spill, National Portrait Gallery, Arts News

BP, the oil mega power infamously known for the disastrous spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, is continuing their controversial funding of several B...

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Smithsonian Hosts 'The Black List' Portraits At National Portrait Gallery

AP | By BRETT ZONGKER | Posted 12.27.2011

Read More: John Legend, Sean Combs, Smithsonian Institution, Dc Around Town, Smithsonian, National Portrait Gallery, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Black List, Whoopi Goldberg, DC News

WASHINGTON -- Whoopi Goldberg, John Legend, Sean Combs and Serena Williams now have a place in the National Portrait Gallery in a new show featuring l...

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Lucien Freud's Unfinished Last Work To Go On Display

Posted 11.20.2011

Read More: Lucian Freud Portraits, Portrait of the Hound 2011, Freud Portraits, Art Exhibit, London National Portrait Gallery, London Art, Freud, Portrait of the Hound, National Portrait Gallery, Lucian Freud, UK Arts, Freud's Final Work, Arts News

LONDON (AP) — The last work by Lucien Freud will be shown for the first time as part of an exhibition in London showcasing the late realist painter'...

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Cy Twombly, Stop-Motion And Sir Mick: Highlights This Week

Posted 09.07.2011

Read More: Pablo Picaso, Mick Jagger, Sculpture, Art Theft, Film, Painting, Picasso, National Portrait Gallery, Cy Twombly Dead, Zero, Stop Motion Animation, Follow the Sun, Cy Twombly, Mk12, Sir Mick Jagger, Portraits, Arts News

We've had a week full of ups and downs here at Huffington Post Arts. We were sad to see Artist Cy Twombly go, and a man stole a Picasso in San Francis...

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PHOTOS: Mick Jagger Pouts His Way To The National Portrait Gallery

Posted 09.04.2011

Read More: Photography, Super Heavy, Mick Jagger, The 60s, Dave Stewart, Music, National Portrait Gallery, Hippies, UK Arts, Michael Joseph Gross, Gered Mankowitz, Terry O'neill, The Beatles, A.r. Rahman, Bookshop Gallery, David Wedgbury, Peter Stone, Joss Stone, Michael Cooper, Cecil Beaton, Colin Jones, Rolling Stones, Philip Townsend, Rock and Roll, Damian Marley, Arts News

Colin Jones' 1967 portrait of Sir Mick Jagger, with a confrontational gaze and a military coat à la Sgt. Pepper's, says it all. Jagger and the Rollin...

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Civil Rights Leader Andrew Young Honored by National Portrait Gallery

Henry Miller | Posted 07.05.2011

Read More: Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King, United Nations, Smithsonian, Atlanta, Namibia, National Portrait Gallery, Andrew Young, African Americans, Civil Rights, Politics News
Henry Miller

Andrew Young recently received a portrait at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. It was a much-deserved honor for a man whose legacy is one of extraordinary impact.

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Royal Wedding Fever - Bespoke Style

Margie Goldsmith | Posted 06.12.2011

Read More: Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Nicola Jane Philipps, Royal Wedding Fever, Bespoke, London, Prince Charles, Thames, The Savoy, Paddy Renouf. Queen Elizabeth II, Buckingham Palace, London Eye, Royal Wedding, Kate Middleton, National Portrait Gallery, Travel News
Margie Goldsmith

A vendor at London's Covent Garden Market said to me, "We don't really care about the royal wedding because we have Mother's Day and Easter both around the same time." Not true. The Brits care plenty.

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PHOTOS: Ballet Legend Nijinsky's Strange Photography Session With E.O. Hoppé

Debra Levine | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Nijinsky, National Portrait Gallery, Graham Howe, Vaslav Nijinsky, Spectre De La Rose, E.O. Hoppe, Michel Fokine, Photography, Bronislava Nijinska, Ballets Russes, Tamara Karsavina, Arts News
Debra Levine

A recently opened exhibition at London's National Portrait Gallery features master photographer E.O. Hoppé's modernist portraits of society figures a...

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"Hide/Seek" Fallout: Interference Institutionalized at the Smithsonian

Lee Rosenbaum | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Art, Art Museums, Smithsonian Institution, G. Wayne Clough, Hide/Seek, National Portrait Gallery, David Wojnarowicz, Arts News
Lee Rosenbaum

If it follows the advice of a committee, Smithsonian museums will be buried under a new layer of procedural requirements for public input whenever a cautious curator flags a proposed exhibition as "sensitive."

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For the Smithsonian's Sake, Clough Should Step Down

Michael B. Keegan | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Politics, John Boehner, Artistic-Freedom, Smithsonian, Hide/Seek, National Portrait Gallery, Bill Donohue, Wayne Clough, Censorship, Eric Cantor, David Wojnarowicz, Arts News
Michael B. Keegan

In making the decision to remove a controversial work of art from one of the Smithsonian's museums, Clough has shown that he cannot adequately uphold the mission and the legacy of this American institution.

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Protests Against Censorship At Smithsonian Secrectary's Speech In L.A.

Los Angeles Times | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: A Fire in My Belly, Smithsonian-Controversy, Video Art, Clough Speech, Smithsonian Speech, Smithsonian, Los Angeles Art, National Portrait Gallery, Wayne Clough, Biltmore Hotel, David Wojnarowicz, Arts News

The few protesters outside the Biltmore Hotel Thursday with a poster-board cross and a casket weren't exactly sure what to do. They had come to prote...

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'Hide/Seek' Portrait Defended By Smithsonian Chief In Wake Of Controversy

AP | SUE MANNING | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: John Boehner, Ants on Jesus, Hide/Seek, Wayne Clough, Gop, Eric Cantor, Wayne Clough Hide/Seek, David Wojnarowicz, Gop National Portrait Gallery, Hide Seek Portrait, Republicans National Portrait Gallery, Art, Hide Seek, Republicans, National Portrait Gallery, Politics News

LOS ANGELES — After complaints prompted him to cut a 4-minute video from an exhibition about gay contributions to art, the secretary of the Smit...

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'Hide/Seek' Interview: Smithsonian Secretary Clough 'Can Do the Math' (But Miscalculates)

Lee Rosenbaum | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Art, G. Wayne Clough, Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Art Museums, Hide/Seek, National Portrait Gallery, David Wojnarowicz, Arts News
Lee Rosenbaum

How did Clough analyze the potential damage from the political, cultural and religious firestorm that erupted over his order to remove one work from the National Portrait Gallery's provocative, gay-themed "Hide/Seek" exhibition?

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Smithsonian Secretary Defends Decision To Remove Wojnarowicz's Controversial Video

Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Gay Rights, Fire in My Belly, Smithsonian Censorship, Art Controversy, Video Art, Smithsonian, Hide/Seek, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Controversy, Censorship, Wayne Clough, David Wojnarowicz, Arts News

On Tuesday, Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough defended his decision to remove David Wojnarowicz's controversial video Fire In My Belly. The video, wh...

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Smithsonian: Just Put the Art Back

Michael B. Keegan | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Catholic League, Bill Donohue, John Boehner, Politics, Smithsonian, Congress, National Portrait Gallery, Censorship, Eric Cantor, David Wojnarowicz, Arts News
Michael B. Keegan

Everyone makes mistakes under pressure. But the Smithsonian's leaders have the rare opportunity to correct the damage done by their error of removing David Wojnarowicz's A Fire in My Belly exhibit.

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Trying to Undo the Whitewashing

Edward Goldman | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Jeffrey Deitch, Washington, Npr, Street Art, Los Angeles, Kcrw, New York, David Wojnarowicz, Blu, New Museum of Contemporary Art, Edward Goldman, Hammer Museum, Artists, Art, Redcat, Moca, National Portrait Gallery, D.C., Art Talk, Arts News
Edward Goldman

Last week's program American Museums: All Talk, No Walk addressed the issue of the latest artistic censorship, when two leading American museums wer...

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Censorship and Civic Mindedness: There Can Be a Difference

Bill Lasarow | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Peter Hujar, Jeffrey Deitch, Blu, Bill Donohue, Smithsonian, Wayne Clough, Moca, National Portrait Gallery, David Wojnarowicz, Arts News
Bill Lasarow

On infrequent occasions a cause célèbre will arise that is a matter of concern and reflection on our society's enshrinement of free speech and expression.

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Censorship: Toys in the Nation's Attic

Michael Winship | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: A Fire in My Belly, Entertainment, John Boehner, Washington, Smithsonian, Hide/Seek, National Portrait Gallery, Dc, Eric Cantor, David Wojnarowicz, Freedom of Speech, Politics, Freedom of Expression, Arts, Censorship, Aids, Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery, Politics News
Michael Winship

God knows, Christianity will carry on, despite this minuscule, alleged affront of the Wojnarowicz video.

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"Don't Ask, Don't Tell": A Useful Policy for the "Hide/Seek" Show at National Portrait Gallery

Lee Rosenbaum | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Hide Seek Portrait, Hide/Seek, National Portrait Gallery, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Arts News
Lee Rosenbaum

Politicians who know relatively little about art and museums should adhere to the "don't ask" admonition: They should refrain from asking the NPG to take down works that, in professional curators' judgment, belong in the show.

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American Museums: All Talk, No Walk

Edward Goldman | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Jeffrey Deitch, Avant Garde, Hitler, Moca, Gustave Courbet, LA Culture, Alfaro Siquerios, The Bathers, World War II, National Portrait Gallery, Picasso, Getty, Salon, Canada, Arts News
Edward Goldman

We Americans have become so sensitive, so wimpy, that we are in danger of ending up with art that avoids controversy at all costs. The name for such "neutered" art? Irrelevant art. Or, simply, bad art.

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The Smithsonian, The Cross And David Wojnarowicz

Paul Brandeis Raushenbush | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: A Fire in My Belly, Judson Memorial Church, Smithsonian, Union Theological Seminary, David Wojnarowicz, Crucifixion, Spiral, HIV/AIDS, Hide/Seek, National Portrait Gallery, Art Censorship, Religion News
Paul Brandeis Raushenbush

The Smithsonian should realize that there are many ways to interpret art and religious respect. The National Portrait Gallery should re-instate "Fire In My Belly" as an act of righteousness and courage -- and make the exhibit whole again.

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"Hide/Seek" Gamesmanship: National Portrait Gallery Is Wrong Target

Lee Rosenbaum | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Smithsonian Institution, Hide/Seek, National Portrait Gallery, David Wojnarowicz, Arts News
Lee Rosenbaum

Monday's news that the Andy Warhol Foundation may pull the plug on all future support for Smithsonian exhibitions is just the latest example of out-of-proportion responses by defenders of artist David Wojnarowicz's work.

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