National Portrait Gallery Small-Group Guided Tour

The National Portrait Gallery occupies one wing of the Old Patent Office Building, a Greek Revival landmark in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington, D.C., that has been at the center of American public life since the 1830s. Built between 1836 and 1867, the building once displayed patent models and the original Declaration of Independence. During the Civil War, its galleries held wounded soldiers; Walt Whitman nursed them among glass cases of inventions. In March 1865, the same Great Hall served as the venue for Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural ball. Saved from demolition in the 1950s, the building became part of the Smithsonian in 1968, and today it houses both the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum under one roof.

What makes the National Portrait Gallery distinct among Washington's museums is its focus on the faces behind the history. The "America's Presidents" exhibition is the only complete set of presidential portraits outside the White House, anchored by the Lansdowne portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart. Surrounding those familiar faces are daguerreotypes, photographs from the Matthew Brady Studio, and portraits of activists, inventors, and performers who collectively tell the story of who shaped the country and how they were seen in their time. Walking into the adjacent Smithsonian American Art Museum, you find the visual counterpart: WPA murals from the New Deal, bold canvases by Hopper and O'Keeffe, and contemporary works by Hockney and others that trace the evolution of American artistic expression.

This tour is well suited for visitors who want a guided narrative through both collections rather than wandering the galleries alone, history enthusiasts looking to connect portraits to the events and eras they represent, art lovers interested in American art from the colonial period to the present, and anyone who appreciates a small-group setting where you can ask questions and hear insider stories about the building and its collections. After the tour ends, you are free to stay inside the National Portrait Gallery or the American Art Museum until closing time.