National Portrait Gallery
ATTRACTION Keywords:
Cultural Experience,
Good Place to Relax,
People Watching,
Pop Culture,
Popular with Locals,
Walking/Hiking,
Museum
Highlights among the permanent exhibits are Gilbert Stuart’s 1796 “Lansdowne” portrait of George Washington, paintings of civil rights leaders like Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King, Jr., a bronze bust of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and photos of celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Shaquille O’Neal. You can take a break from viewing the Gallery’s works at the Courtyard Café, which opens with the museum and closes at 6:30 p.m.
The Gallery’s light-filled Greek Revival building, which housed the nation’s Patent Office from 1840 to 1932 and was completely renovated in 2006, is considered a National Historic Landmark. The Gallery’s south (and main) entrance is on F Street, while the north entrance, on G Street, serves tour groups and provides access to the store shared with the American Art Museum. On the building’s lower level, the two museums also share the state-of-the-art, 346-seat Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium, which stages lectures and films as well as music, theater and dance performances.
The Gallery offers no dedicated parking, but is located above the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metrorail station, which serves the Red, Yellow and Green Lines.
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