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National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC

G Street Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia

Description

The National Portrait Gallery collection focuses on portraits of famous Americans divided across painting and sculpture, photography, and prints and drawings. It is housed in the mid-19h century Old Patent Office Building. The definition of 'historically' significant, the main criteria for selection, has nowadays become quite loose and individuals no longer need to be dead for at least 10 years. Some of the most famous items include the Lansdowne portrait of George Washington (painted by Gilbert Stuart in 1796) and the "cracked-plate" portrait of Abraham Lincoln (by Alexander Gardner in 1865).

Access & Transport

The museum is in the center of the city, on 8th and G Streets NW. It is 2 mins' walk from Gallery Pl-Chinatown metro station (Green, Rd, Yellow lines) and 5mins from three other stations: Metro Center (Blue, Orange, Red), Judiciary Square (Red) and Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter (Green, Yellow). Accessibility info: https://npg.si.edu/access

Instructions & Recommendations

We suggest combining this activity with the National Building Museum, the American Art Museum and/or the White House with its Visitors Center.

Meta review

Most of the visitors are pleasantly surprised and do enjoy their visit but some caution not to expect the same quality and breadth of content as in the National Gallery of Art and that too many portraits can become tedious. The President section seems to be the most popular, or at least best known and the most pleasing architectural feature seems to be the atrium interconnecting with the Smithsonian American Art Museum that shares the same building.

Environmental & Social

No info on building sustainability so we deem this marginally negative (electricity mostly). Helps spread culture and the arts

Conclusion

Tough competition among museums in DC so, even though it blends both artistic and historical aspects, it is hard to put forward this venue as being part of the short-list for a first-time visitor. We do think it is very worthwhile though, but for regional residents and return visitors to DC.

Key positive

Variety of style and medium

Enjoyable building architecture

Free admission and central location

Key negative

Don't expect many well-known masterpieces

Suitability

Wheelchair accessible. Best suited for 12yrs old and above.

About this Rating

TYPE

Desktop

RESEARCHED IN

August 2024

PROVIDER

Koreval

Included Items
None
Timing
Duration of visit
Closed on 25 Dec

av. transport time:0h 20m

est. visit time:2h 15m

Regulated hours

Monday11:30 - 19:00

Tuesday11:30 - 19:00

Wednesday11:30 - 19:00

Thursday11:30 - 19:00

Friday11:30 - 19:00

Saturday11:30 - 19:00

Sunday11:30 - 19:00

Pricing
Free

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