National Portrait Gallery451

The National Portrait Gallery reopened in 2006 after a six-year hiatus. The beautifully renovated building is known as the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture and also houses works from the Smithsonian American Art Museum's collection.

The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery was established by an Act of Congress in 1962 and originally opened to the public in 1968, with a mission 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." It is the only museum of its kind in the US to combine the aspects of American history, biography, and art. Through the visual arts, the performing arts, the literary arts, and the electronic arts, the Gallery provides a stage for George Washington and Martin Luther King, Marilyn Monroe and Babe Ruth, and thousands of other historic icons, to share with us who they were and what they mean to us.