DC -- Donald W. Reynolds Center for Amer Art & Portraiture -- America's Presidents -- Notes:

• Photo Library Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie's Photo Library home page.
• Description of Pictures: Including yet another Bill Clinton portrait. They definitely have trouble getting a decent one of this guy!
• Slide Show: Want to see the pictures as a slide show? [Slideshow]
• Copyrights: Standard stuff. All pictures were taken by Bruce Guthrie who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use. If used in a publication or web site, please give appropriate attribution (such as "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie"). If they're used in a publication, I'd love to receive a free copy of the publication. You are not authorized to resell these pictures or make a profit from them. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from official signs on location; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.
• Help? The 0640x0480 links are for screen viewing and emailing. The 2048x1536 (older ones may be different sizes than this) links are mostly for downloading and printing (they can be used to do reasonable-quality prints up to about 8x10). [Click here for additional help]

[1] SIPGPR_100131_02.JPG   0640x0480 2048x1536	[2] SIPGPR_100131_06.JPG   0640x0480 2048x1536	[3] SIPGPR_100131_25.JPG   0640x0480 2048x1536
[4] SIPGPR_100131_34.JPG   0640x0480 2048x1536

• Limiting Text: You can turn off all of this text by clicking this link: [Thumbnails Only] 
• AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
• Description of Subject Matter: The nation’s only complete collection of presidential portraits outside the White House, this exhibition lies at the heart of the Portrait Gallery’s mission to tell the American story through the individuals who have shaped it. Visitors will see an enhanced and extended display of multiple images of 42 presidents of the United States, including Gilbert Stuart’s “Lansdowne” portrait of George Washington, the famous “cracked plate” photograph of Abraham Lincoln and whimsical sculptures of Presidents Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon and George H. W. Bush by noted caricaturist Pat Oliphant. Presidents Washington, Andrew Jackson, Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt will be given expanded attention because of their significant impact on the office. Presidents from FDR to Bill Clinton are featured in a video component of the exhibit.
• Various Signs: The National Portrait Gallery is proud to hold one of two official national collections of presidential portraits. The other belongs to the White House. Some of the portraits are more sophisticated than others; some are calculated to impress us with their gravity; some are warmly intimate. Together they have one thing in common; they all evoke the history of the nation's highest office and the individuals who have held it in trust for the American people.
  The first citizens of our republic came to know their presidents through paintings, sculpture, or prints. Later, representation was enhanced through photographs and then through the technological revolutions of film, radio, television, and other new media. In all of these forms, the president's portrayal has reflected an ongoing dialogue about the office itself, and posing for the presidential portrait has become part of the process by which chief executives have affirmed their understanding of the role.
  
  Collecting the Portraits of American Presidents:
  Assembling an outstanding collection of portraits of the American presidents seemed like a daunting task when the National Portrait Gallery opened in 1968. By that year, fully thirty-five presidents had been in office, and many of their life portraits were already in public institutions.
  The Gallery has since made a concerted effort to acquire a portrait of each sitting president. In 1968, Peter Hurd donated his portrait of Lyndon Johnson; in 1971 the Gallery purchased Norman Rockwell's portrait of Richard Nixon, made just prior to his 1969 inauguration; Ray Kinstler based his 1987 portrait of Gerald Ford on sketches made in 1977 for the official White House portrait; Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan chose paintings made during their presidency to represent them. Most recently, the Gallery has commissioned the artists selected by George HW Bush and Bill Clinton to paint their portraits for the collection.
• Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
  1. SIPGPR_100131_02.JPG: Yet another Bill Clinton portrait. Eventually they'll find a good one...
  2. SIPGPR_100131_06.JPG: William Jefferson Clinton born 1946 A key to Bill Clinton's successes as president, along with his resilience and personal affability, was his determination to govern through consensus. Major accomplishments, such as welfare reform, the first budget surplus since the late 1960s, and successful US intervention in the Balkans stemmed from this pragmatic viewpoint. Other proposals, such as universal health care, failed. His administration was plagued by several scandals, such as Whitewater and the consequences of his affair with a White House intern. His denial under oath about this relationship led to his impeachment. He was not convicted in the Senate trial, however, and his popularity actually increased as Americans continued to admire Clinton for this political talents, quick intelligence, and determination. Chuck Close begins all his paintings by taking a photograph of the subject, in this case a 2005 image made as a cover for New York Magazine. He then creates grids on both the canvas and the original image to replicate the information contained in the photograph with a series of abstract modules. Chuck Close (born 1940) Oil on canvas, 2006 Lent by Ian and Annette Cumming
  4. SIPGPR_100131_34.JPG: Abraham Lincoln a month before his second inauguration: Lincoln's faint, tired smile in this likeness makes it one of he most compelling photographic images ever taken of him. For many years, it was commonly thought that this photograph dated from early April 1865 and that it was the last one every made of Lincoln. But in fact, it was part of a series of photographs taken at Alexander Gardner's Washington DC studio two months earlier, on February 5. The large glass negative that Gardner used for this particular portrait broke after it was developed, and just one print was made before the ruined negative was discarded. The portrait later acquired special significance when some interpreted the crack running through the image as a portent of Lincoln's assassination. Alexander Gardner (1821-1882) Polaroid facsimile of the original 1865 albumen silver print Courtesy of the Polaroid Corporation. This reproduction has replaced the original to protect it from further exposure to light.
• Directly Related Pages: Other pages here that have content directly related to this one: [Display ALL photos]
  • 2006_DC_SIPG_Pres: DC -- Donald W. Reynolds Center for Amer Art & Portraiture -- America's Presidents (35 photos from 2006)
  • 2007_DC_SIPG_Pres: DC -- Donald W. Reynolds Center for Amer Art & Portraiture -- America's Presidents (5 photos from 2007)
  • 2008_DC_SIPG_Pres: DC -- Donald W. Reynolds Center for Amer Art & Portraiture -- America's Presidents (13 photos from 2008)
  • 2009_DC_SIPG_Pres: DC -- Donald W. Reynolds Center for Amer Art & Portraiture -- America's Presidents (217 photos from 2009)
  • 2009_DC_SIPG_Pres: DC -- Donald W. Reynolds Center for Amer Art & Portraiture -- America's Presidents (2 photos from 2009)
  • 2010_01_31C_SIPG_Pres: DC -- Donald W. Reynolds Center for Amer Art & Portraiture -- America's Presidents (4 photos from 01/31/2010)
• Generally-Related Subject: DC -- Donald W. Reynolds Center for Amer Art & Portraiture
• Generally-Related Subject Description: The country's original patent office building burned down in 1836. From 1839 to 1866, another was built. Designed by Robert Mills who also designed the Capitol and Treasury buildings, it was based in part on the design of the Parthenon with marble hallways and Doric columns. During the Civil War, it was used as both a troop barracks and a hospital; both Clara Barton and Walt Whitman nursed wounded soldiers here. Abraham Lincoln held his second inaugural ball in the main gallery in March 1865, one month before his assassination. When the building's construction was finished, it was the largest building in the country. The Patent Office moved to the Dept of Commerce building in 1932. The Civil Service Commission took over until they moved to their new headquarters in 1960. Saved from destruction by the Commission of Fine Arts, the building was turned over to the Smithsonian which established two galleries -- the National Portrait Gallery and the National Museum of American Art -- in the building.
  
  The building closed in January 2000 for a $200 million renovation. It reopened on July 1, 2006. In the interim, it beefed up its virtual presence on the Web at http://www.npg.si.edu and had a number of exhibits have been touring the country. One of those is on American woman and "A Brush with History: Paintings from the National Portrait Gallery". In the spring of 2001, a generous $30 million donation from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation of Las Vegas, Nevada allowed it to purchase the "Lansdowne" portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart.
  
  The building closed well before I purchased my first digital camera and once it reopened, I found myself taking lots and lots of pictures. For example, during the reopening day on July 1, 2006, I took over 3,500 pictures. To keep the numbers on each page smaller, I separated them out by theme, sometimes somewhat arbitrarily, so you'll see separate listings for:
  -- America's Presidents (paintings, sculpture, etc ...More...
• Generally-Related Subject Pages: Other pages here that have content somewhat related to this one:
  • 2009_DC_SIPG_1934: DC -- Donald W. Reynolds Center -- Special Exhibits -- 1934: A New Deal for Artists (154 photos from 2009)
  • 2008_DC_SIPG_Scholars: DC -- Donald W. Reynolds Center -- Special Exhibits -- 2008 Presidential Scholars in the Arts (5 photos from 2008)
  • 2008_DC_SIPG_Bally: DC -- Donald W. Reynolds Center -- Special Exhibits -- Ballyhoo! (35 photos from 2008)
  • 2008_DC_SIPG_Colbert: DC -- Donald W. Reynolds Center -- Special Exhibits -- Colbert portrait (12 photos from 2008)
  • 2008_DC_SIPG_GM1: DC -- Donald W. Reynolds Center -- Special Exhibits -- Graphic Masters I (28 photos from 2008)
  • 2009_DC_SIPG_GM2: DC -- Donald W. Reynolds Center -- Special Exhibits -- Graphic Masters II (22 photos from 2009)
  • 2008_DC_SIPG_Herblock: DC -- Donald W. Reynolds Center -- Special Exhibits -- Herblock (10 photos from 2008)
  • 2007_DC_SIPG_Motto: DC -- Donald W. Reynolds Center -- Special Exhibits -- Let Your Motto Be Resistance (4 photos from 2007)
  • 2010_01_28D_SIPG_Lists: DC -- Donald W. Reynolds Center -- Special Exhibits -- Lists (2 photos from 01/28/2010)
  • 2010_02_13F_SIPG_Lists: DC -- Donald W. Reynolds Center -- Special Exhibits -- Lists (12 photos from 02/13/2010)
  • ...More (79 total)...
• Same Subject: Click on this link to see coverage of items having the same subject: Museums (Art) Smithsonian -- Museums
• 2010 photos: Yee ha! A new year!
• Photo Contact: Email Bruce Guthrie.