National Portrait Gallery

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery was established by an Act of Congress in 1962 and opened to the public in 1968. Its mission is to collect and display images of “men and women who have made significant contributions to the history, development and culture of the people of the United States.”

The Portrait Gallery is the only museum of its kind in the United States to present American history, biography and art. It tells the stories of America through the individuals who have shaped its culture. Through the visual arts, performing arts and new media, the Portrait Gallery portrays poets and presidents, visionaries and villains, actors and activists who speak American history.

Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture - the building

The Portrait Gallery’s National Historic Landmark building has been praised by Walt Whitman as the “noblest of Washington buildings,” this landmark is considered one of the finest examples of Greek Revival architecture in the United States. The recent $283 million renovation (2000-2006) revealed the full magnificence of the building’s architectural features, including porticos modeled after the Parthenon in Athens, a curving double staircase, vaulted galleries, large windows and skylights as long as a city block. The museum shares its building and entrances with the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Collectively, the two museums and their activities are known as the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture.