National Portrait Gallery
The Wild Bunch and More Are New Faces at the Portrait Gallery
Meet the Wild Bunch, left, a group of outlaws active in the late 1800s who terrorized Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and the Oklahoma Territory. In 1900, as the story goes, after robbing a bank in Winnemucca, Nevada, the group dispersed and later met up in Fort Worth, Texas. There, they marched into a ...
September 28, 2009 |
By Abby Callard
The Technique Behind Martin Schoeller's Photography
Large, close-up portraits are in many ways magazine photographer Martin Schoeller's signature style. Over the years, he has photographed dozens of celebrities and politicians, such as President Barack Obama, Sen. John McCain, Angelina Jolie and Jack Nicholson, in this intimate style. Some of his cl...
September 24, 2009 |
By Abby Callard
Tommy Lasorda Visits DC; Washington Nationals Cower in Fear
Baseball legend Tommy Lasorda comes to Washington today for a variety of reasons. First, the team that is nearly synonymous with Lasorda's legacy, the Los Angeles Dodgers, are coming to town to play the Washington Nationals. Second, today is his 82nd birthday and who wouldn't want to celebrate thei...
September 22, 2009 |
By Brian Wolly
Smithsonian Events for the Week of September 21-25: Thomas Jefferson, The Jungle Book, and an Artists' Roundtable Talk
Monday, September 21: A Conversation with Thomas Jefferson and His Slave, Betty HemingsThis theatrical performance imagines what it's like to look at Thomas Jefferson through the eyes of Betty Hemings—a slave owned by Jefferson's father-in-law, John Wayles, and mother of Sally Hemings. This show fe...
September 21, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Senator Teddy Kennedy, 1932-2009
In tribute and in honor of Edward "Teddy" Kennedy, who passed away early this morning at age 77, the National Portrait Gallery announces that it will display, beginning tomorrow, a silk-screened portrait of the senator from Massachusetts. Today, President Obama noted that Kennedy was "not only one ...
August 26, 2009 |
By Beth Py-Lieberman
Going to Lunch in Style with Historic Lunchboxes
It's back to school time, which means that kids everywhere are prepping for another year in the classroom. Of course, this requires purchasing those pieces of classroom haute couture, such as book bag, notebooks, new clothes and perhaps a pair of stylish-but-sensible sneakers. But let's not forget ...
August 24, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Lunder Conservation Center Educates the Public
"To be a good conservator, you need to think of yourself as a three-legged stool," Amber Kerr-Allison, a paintings conservator who works in at the Lunder Conservation Center explains during a public tour. "One leg is science, the second is art history and the last is studio arts. You need to have a...
August 20, 2009 |
By Abby Callard
Weekend Events: Portraits Come Alive, Family Celebrations and a Scavenger Hunt!
Friday, August 14: Portraits Alive! Tour and PerformancesA tour of highlights from the National Portrait Gallery’s collections, Portraits Alive! is a series of short dramatic monologues researched, written and acted by high school students participating in a summer internship program. The performan...
August 14, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Need a Dose of Common Sense? Go See Thomas Paine
You'd never know by looking at Thomas Paine's portrait with his fine clothes and his perfectly coiffed hair, but the National Portrait Gallery's Margaret Christman says Paine's contemporaries described him as "dirty, smelly and slovenly." He was a "pretty obnoxious character," she concedes. But tha...
August 11, 2009 |
By Abby Callard
Remembering the Life and Legacy of Eunice Kennedy Shriver
We were saddened to read of the passing of Eunice Kennedy Shriver. A person who was deeply devoted to charity work throughout her life, she is perhaps best remembered as the founder of the Special Olympics. Shriver—whose sister, Rosemary Kennedy, was mentally disabled—established the Special Olympi...
August 11, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Smithsonian Events for the Week of August 10-14: Peter Lorre, the Wright Flyer, Japanese Folklore and Living Portraits
Monday, August 10Sorry kids, nothing special going on today—but be sure to check out this site for a listing of regularly-scheduled goings-on around the Smithsonian. From animal feedings to museum tours, there's lots of free fun to be had!Tuesday, August 11: Visual Action: The Tale of Shuten DojiCo...
August 10, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Weekend Events: Portraits Alive, Keith Secola Concert and a Book Signing with Fergus Bordewich
Friday, August 7: Portraits Alive! Tour and performancesA tour of highlights from the National Portrait Gallery’s collections, Portraits Alive! is a series of short dramatic monologues researched, written and acted by high school students participating in a summer internship program. The performanc...
August 07, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
High School Students Portray Personalities from the Portrait Gallery
A few dozen visitors gathered in the Kogod Courtyard yesterday to watch a student performance entitled "2009 Portraits Alive! Lost and Found." The sunlight reflected off the dress of one Washington DC-area student portraying dancer Irene Castle and illuminated the shrouded face of another teen dres...
August 06, 2009 |
By Abby Callard
From Morning Glory to On Golden Pond, Four Oscars for Kate Hepburn
In 1981, when Katharine Hepburn received an Academy Award, starring with Peter Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond, she became the first woman ever to win four Oscars for Best Actress—a record that remains to this day. Yesterday, all four of her Academy Awards went on view at the National Portrait Galler...
August 05, 2009 |
By Abby Callard
Smithsonian Events for the Week of August 3-7: Andy Warhol, Orchids, Superheroes and More!
Monday, August 3: Warhol Himself: Culture in Motion PerformanceCome experience a fantasy interview with the iconic pop artist extraordinaire Andy Warhol in a performance piece that culls quips and quotations from the artist, portrayed here by Kryztov Lindquist. Free, but seating is limited. Call 20...
August 03, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Smithsonian Weekend Events: LEGOs, Forensics, and Marcel Duchamp
Saturday, August 1: Facing History: Be the ArtistCome take a quick tour of the exhibit Inventing Marcel Duchamp, paying close attention to one of the artist's self-portraits. Afterwards, head back to the studio for an art class and draw on Duchamp's ideas to create your own work of art. Free, but r...
August 01, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Andy Warhol's "Michael Jackson"
The painting that Vered Gallery co-owner Janet Lehr calls the "quintessential painting" was removed from the gallery’s silent auction, which ended Sunday. Andy Warhol’s portrait of Michael Jackson represents an intersection of the King of Pop and the King of Pop Art, Lehr said. After a larger-than-...
July 15, 2009 |
By Abby Callard
Author Fred Bowen Steps Up to Bat for the Nationals and the Smithsonian
For many, summertime is synonymous with a hot dog, a bleacher seat and the crack of a bat. But how about a history lesson? Ask author and columnist Fred Bowen, and he will tell you that history and baseball are the perfect pair—especially when writing for children.Bowen's books provide life lessons...
July 15, 2009 |
By Jordan Steffen
Children's Author James Warhola Tells About His Crazy Uncle Andy (as in Warhol)
The young James Warhola, children's book author and illustrator, loved taking six-hour family road trips to New York City to surprise his uncle and grandmother, who lived there with their 25 Siamese cats.In his new book, Uncle Andy’s Cats (Putnam) that comes out later this month, Warhola recounts t...
June 18, 2009 |
By Lauren Hogan
Text President Lincoln
Back in January, the New York Post reported that a 13-year-old girl in Silverado Canyon, California, sent 14,528 text messages in one month. (The average number of texts per month for 13- to 17-year-old cell phone users is 1,742.) And in March, two Pennsylvania men attempted to set a world text-mes...
June 17, 2009 |
By Megan Gambino
