PROFILESmithsonian National Portrait Gallery News Winter/Spring 2008 From the Acting Director Over Presidents’ Day weekend, nearly 25,000 peo- Steichen: Portraits” pre- ple visited the Donald W. Reynolds Center. I would sents celebrity photo- like to think that what motivated so many to come graphs that complement Ken Rahaim to the museums at Gallery Place was the National those of the less-well-known Zaida Ben-Yusuf—the Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection, which is subject of the groundbreaking loan show “Zaida currently enhanced by the loan of Charles Willson Ben-Yusuf: New York Portrait Photographer.” If Peale’s splendid 1779 portrait of George Washing- you traveled to the National Portrait Gallery twice, ton after the Battle of Princeton. This iconic por- once in the winter and again in late spring, you trait of the triumphant General Washington com- would have seen “The Presidency and the Cold plements our own equally iconic “Lansdowne” War” and its replacement, “Herblock’s Presidents: portrait of Washington as president, completed by ‘Puncturing Pomposity,’” which takes a less-than- Gilbert Stuart in 1796. Both of these imposing por- reverential look at those who occupy our nation’s traits, which represent the cornerstones of Wash- highest office. Two one-person shows have also been ington’s career, were initially destined for European big draws: “KATE: A Centennial Celebration,” il- collections: Peale’s portrait was sent to Spain the luminates moments in the life of Katharine Hep- year it was completed, and Stuart’s portrait was a burn, while Stephen Colbert’s portrait, displayed gift to Lord Lansdowne, an English supporter of over the water fountains between the second-floor the American Revolution. restrooms, was a wonderful but tongue-in-cheek For others, it may have been NPG’s temporary tribute to both the mission of the National Portrait exhibitions—which this year have been marked by Gallery and power of celebrity portraiture. their extraordinary range and diversity—from Of course, some visitors may have come just to “Legacy: Spain and the United States in the Age of enjoy our beautifully restored 1836 building and Independence, 1763–1848,” to “RECOGNIZE! the spectacular new Robert and Arlene Kogod Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture.” Where Courtyard—or they may have just come to enjoy else could one find Carlos III and Grandmaster Flash it all. only one floor apart? Our collection of nearly 20,000 Against this background of public enthusiasm portraits has yielded three shows. “Let Your Motto for all that we do, the Smithsonian Institution wel- Be Resistance: African American Portraits” featured comes its twelfth Secretary, G. Wayne Clough. And 100 photographs highlighting such distinguished in- here at the National Portrait Gallery, the staff wel- dividuals as crusader Sojourner Truth, jazz vocalist comes Martin E. Sullivan, who becomes the fifth Sarah Vaughan, and civil rights leader Martin Lu- director of the museum on April 28. Dr. Sullivan is ther King Jr. “Ballyhoo! Posters as Portraiture” un- currently the CEO of the Historic St. Mary’s City derscores the role that this ephemeral medium has in Commission in Maryland. You will get to know popularizing likenesses to a mass market. “Edward him better in the next issue of Profile. George Washington after the Battle of Princeton by Charles Willson Peale, 1779. Private collection PROFILE Contents Vol. 8, no. 4; vol. 9, no. 1 Carolyn Carr Acting Director Winter/Spring 2008 Editor Dru Dowdy Office of Publications 4 12 Associate Editor Hip Hop Exhibition NPG on TV Ann M. Shumard Office of Photographs Editorial Committee Energizes the Portrait 13 Bethany Morookian Office of Gallery Bentley Development Coming Soon! and External Affairs The Next Outwin Lizanne Garrett Office of 6 Photographic Services Boochever Portrait Historian’s Choice Ellen G. Miles Department of Frank O’Hara Competition Painting and Sculpture Jewell Robinson Office of Education 7 14 David C. Ward Department of History NPG Exhibitions Editorial Support Curator’s Choice Amy Baskette Curatorial Assistant Zaida Ben-Yusuf 16 George Parlier Program Assistant Design 8 Portrait Puzzlers Naylor Design, Inc. New Arrivals Recent Acquisitions on Commission View at NPG Daniel Okrent R. Ted Steinbock Chair Mallory Walker Anthony C. Beilenson Jack H. Watson Jr. 10 Vice Chair John Wilmerding John Boochever Staff Profile Sheryll D. Cashin Ex Officio Members Mark Planisek and In the Sally G. Chubb Earl A. Powell III His Memorial Portraits H. P. “Pete” Claussen John G. Roberts Jr. next issue Joan Kent Dillon Cristián Samper Ella Milbank Foshay 11 Meet NPG’s Michael Harreld Honorary Jill Krementz Commissioners Stephen Colbert new director, Joan A. Mondale Julie Harris Refreshes Visitors at Martin E. Sullivan Roger Mudd David Levering Lewis V. Thanh Nguyen Bette Bao Lord the National Portrait W. Dean Smith Fred W. Smith Gallery PROFILE National Portrait Gallery Smithsonian Institution P.O. Box 37012, MRC 973 Washington, DC 20013-7012 Phone: (202) 633-8300 E-mail: [email protected] Cover: Fred Astaire (detail) by Edward Website: www.npg.si.edu Steichen, 1927, acquired in memory of Hours: 11:30 a.m.–7:00 p.m. Agnes and Eugene Meyer through the Readers’ comments are welcome. To generosity of Katharine Graham and the receive Profile, please send your name, New York Community Trust, The Island home address, and e-mail address to Fund © The Estate of Edward Steichen. [email protected] or the post office box This is one of many of Steichen’s portraits listed above. featured in the NPG exhibition, on view Unless otherwise noted, all images are from the through September 1, 2008 (see p. 14). National Portrait Gallery collection. © 2008 Smithsonian Institution. All rights reserved. Hip Hop Exhibition Energizes the Portrait Gallery Frank H. Goodyear III away/ You are just/ a person/ with a big heart and Associate Curator of Photographs wonderful talent/ That you just/ think should be On a recent day at the National Portrait Gallery, shared,” she writes. Celebrating the need and de- Acting Director Carolyn Carr greeted a family with sire to express one’s individuality—regardless of several children as they entered the museum. Carr one’s instrument, training, or social background— welcomed them, and then asked what they had Giovanni’s poem acknowledges hip hop’s legacy come to see. Without hesitation, a young boy in the as a powerful form of portrayal. Whether one has group exclaimed excitedly, “LL Cool J and the found expression through DJ-ing, MC-ing, break- presidents.” For many years, the museum’s signa- dancing, or art-making, hip hop has given voice ture exhibition on the American presidency has and visibility to a new generation. been the focus for countless school groups. With Based on the outpouring of responses to the ex- the opening of the Portrait Gallery’s new exhibi- hibition from reviewers and audiences alike, “REC- tion, “RECOGNIZE! Hip Hop and Contemporary OGNIZE!” has drawn renewed attention to hip Portraiture,” people of all ages—yet especially the hop and the positive elements that are squarely at young—have flocked to see recently completed the core of this cultural phenomenon. During the portraits of such hip hop stars as KRS-ONE, exhibition, the Portrait Gallery is sponsoring a va- Grandmaster Flash, and James Todd Smith, known riety of public programs—films, artists’ talks, and more famously as LL Cool J. family-oriented activities. Please see the exhibi- “RECOGNIZE!” which opened on February 8 tion’s website at http://www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/ and remains on view until October, is the most re- recognize/index.html for details about these events, cent installation in the museum’s “Portraiture as well as recorded interviews with each of the Now” series—temporary exhibitions meant to exhibition’s participants. highlight the latest developments in the art of portraiture. With “RECOGNIZE!” the Por- trait Gallery showcases six artists and a poet, each of whom has created work that grows out of or responds to the tradition of hip hop. The featured individuals include painter Kehinde Wiley, photographer David Scheinbaum, video artist Jefferson Pinder, poet Nikki Giovanni, sculptor Shinique Smith, and graffiti muralists Tim Conlon and David Hupp. Nikki Giovanni’s poem, “It’s Not a Just Situation: Though We Just Can’t Keep Crying About It”—commissioned especially for the exhibition—speaks directly to a larger theme that unites this group of artists. “You are just/ © David Scheinbaum determined/ to be the very best you and/ You Jean Grae, Indio, California, by David Scheinbaum just guess/ you better not let anyone take that 2005. David Scheinbaum Mark Gulezian AREK by Tim Conlon and Dave Hupp, 2007 4 Hip Hop Exhibition © Kehinde Wiley Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five by Kehinde Wiley, 2005. Glenn Fuhrman © Jefferson Pinder Mark Gulezian No Thief to Blame (installation Invisible Man by Jefferson Pinder, 2004. Courtesy of G Fine Art detail) by Shinique Smith, 2007–8. Shinique Smith Hip Hop Exhibition 5 HISTORIAN’S CHOICE Frank O’Hara Color lithograph with collage by Larry Rivers (1923–2002), 1967 David C. Ward Historian Early in the morning of July 24, 1966, a summertime party at a beach house on Fire Island, Long Island, began to break up. As the revelers started to drift home, the poet and art curator Frank O’Hara (1926–1966) walked out onto the beach and was hit by a speeding dune buggy. He died the next day. O’Hara had had some minor success- es as a poet during his lifetime, but he was best known in New York City’s cul- tural world as an instigator: bridging the worlds of art, poetry, and society; spark- ing ideas; initiating projects; and stoking creative energies through his charismatic personality.