PORTRAITS

National Portrait Gallery
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PORTRAITS

Art, biography, history and identity collide in this podcast from the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Join Director Kim Sajet as she chats with artists, historians, and thought leaders about the big and small ways that portraits shape our world.

  1. How Do You Portray A Dinosaur?

    2D AGO

    How Do You Portray A Dinosaur?

    We have portraits of people in our galleries. But what if you’re a natural science museum? How do you portray a dinosaur?  We talk with Kirk Johnson, Sant Director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, about the ways our portrayals of dinosaurs have evolved, from sluggish and lizard-like to warm-blooded, colorful and spry. Then Matthew Carrano, curator of dinosauria, explains how the museum put T. rex into a striking new pose. The trick, he says, is to convey how cool dinosaurs were, without making them seem alien. We also tie in a couple portraits from the National Portrait Gallery's collection: an image of the first person to describe an American dinosaur, and a photograph of the first person to give them the Hollywood treatment. See the portraits we discussed: Joseph Leidy, by Frederick Gutekunst Steven Spielberg, by Gregory Heisler The Nation's T. rex, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History Also recommended: Visions of Lost Worlds: The Paleoart of Jay Matternes, by Matthew T. Carrano and Kirk R. Johnson

    25 min
  2. Blink: A Flower Is Not Just A Flower

    APR 1

    Blink: A Flower Is Not Just A Flower

    This mini 'Blink' episode celebrates the cherry blossoms that are blooming all over Washington D.C. at the moment by taking a closer look at portraits that feature flowers. Kim visits three paintings in the National Portrait Gallery that use specific blooms to convey coded information about the sitter, including the experiences that shaped them and the roles they took on. Sarah Weston Seaton with her Children, by Charles Bird King Barack Obama, by Kehinde Wiley George Washington Carver, by Betsy Graves Reyneau

    8 min
  3. The Vanishing Bison

    MAR 4

    The Vanishing Bison

    When William Temple Hornaday's exhibition of stuffed bison went on display at the Smithsonian Institution in 1888, it caused a sensation. Most visitors had never seen this majestic, hulking animal up close. And most probably thought it would be their only chance, since the bison had all but vanished from the wild. Some 140 years later, Kirk Johnson, director of the National Museum of Natural History, realized that the iconic display itself had vanished from the museum's collection. So he went on the road to see what had happened to it. In this episode, we trace the story of how the bison - or American buffalo - were driven right to the edge of extinction, severing a sacred relationship with Native people. Then we track how the species' catastrophic decline, as memorialized in a taxidermy masterpiece, gave rise to the early conservation movement that brought the bison back. With guest Rosalyn LaPier. See the artwork we discuss: William Temple Hornaday, by George Rufus Boynton Hornaday's taxidermy bison display Theodore Roosevelt, by Peter A. Juley Hornaday and Sandy Also referenced: The American Buffalo, a film by Ken Burns

    31 min
  4. Bonus: The Whole Truth

    FEB 4

    Bonus: The Whole Truth

    From the Smithsonian's Sidedoor podcast: sorting fact from fiction to find the real Sojourner Truth. As a prominent woman's rights activist and abolitionist, Sojourner Truth gave hundreds of speeches and sold countless images of herself. And yet the words that define her in our popular imagination - "Ain't I a woman?" - were actually made up. Host Lizzie Peabody went looking for the real Sojourner Truth and she found a woman with a much more complicated and fascinating life than any slogan can capture. Guests: Nell Irvin Painter, author of Sojourner Truth: a Life, a Symbol; Edwards Professor of American History Emerita at Princeton University Ashleigh Coren, former content strategist for the Smithsonian's Our Shared Future: Reckoning with Our Racial Past initiative Kim Sajet, director of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and host of the Smithsonian's Portraits podcast

    35 min
  5. Who Built This Place?

    JAN 21

    Who Built This Place?

    We follow a paper trail back in time to learn about the laborers -- some of them enslaved -- who put their backs into the graceful old building that now houses the National Portrait Gallery. When construction began on the building in the 1830s, Washington D.C. was in the midst of a mini building boom as a seat of freedom and democracy. Yet the city also had an active slave trade. By sifting through reams of microfilm and estate records, historian Michael Hussey was able to establish that at least 17 men who worked at this site were enslaved. His next step was to try to sketch a portrait, however faint, of one of their lives.

    24 min
  6. In Memoriam: Former President Jimmy Carter

    JAN 9

    In Memoriam: Former President Jimmy Carter

    We remember former President Jimmy Carter through a slightly different lens-- through the eyes of a longtime friend and through the portraits of Carter that are housed here at the National Portrait Gallery. Political aide Jack Watson met Carter 10 years before he became president. He found a farmer in work clothes driving a Chevy and quoting philosophy. Over their long friendship and while serving as chief of staff, Jack came to appreciate Carter as a man who was willing to take "bitter medicine" to do what he felt was right for the country.  Jack describes a huge Polaroid portrait of Carter by the landscape photographer Ansel Adams, and he also explains why a softly lit painting depicting Carter in the Oval Office is not one of his favorites. See the portraits we discussed: Jimmy Carter, by Ansel Adams Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, by Ansel Adams Jimmy Carter, by Robert Templeton Other portraits in the collection: Jimmy Carter, by Richard Avedon Jimmy Carter, by Alan Reingold (Time magazine) Jimmy Carter, by Andy Warhol

    21 min
  7. Blink: Carter's Smile

    12/17/2024

    Blink: Carter's Smile

    In this mini 'Blink' episode, Kim asks political aide Jack Watson for his thoughts on a couple of Time magazine covers featuring his old boss, former President Jimmy Carter.  One depicts the transition team that helped Carter sift through potential political appointees -- a team that Jack led. The other depicts Carter with his characteristic broad smile, which, Jack says, doesn't tell the whole story. See the artwork we discussed: The Great Talent Hunt, by Jack Davis Jimmy Carter, by Alan Reingold

    7 min
  8. From The Vault: Brilliant Exiles

    12/03/2024

    From The Vault: Brilliant Exiles

    Paris in the early 1900s was a magnet for convention-defying American women. It offered a delicious taste of freedom, which they used to explode the gender norms of their day, and to explore new kinds of art, literature, dance and design. In the process, they became arbiters of modernism. In this episode we revisit our interview with curator Robyn Asleson about the National Portrait Gallery’s “Brilliant Exiles” exhibition, which opened in April. It features 60 trailblazing women, including the dancer, singer and spy Josephine Baker, as well as the bookshop owner Sylvia Beach, who took a chance on James Joyce. Also in the lineup: Ada ‘Bricktop’ Smith, whose bustling nightclub became a hub for American jazz musicians, and Romaine Brooks, the painter who reinvented herself... and then reinvented herself again. The exhibition runs until Feb. 23, 2025, so there's still time to catch it! See the portraits we discussed: Ada “Bricktop” Smith, by Carl Van Vechten Josephine Baker, by Stanislaus Julian Walery Gertrude Stein, by Pablo Picasso Sylvia Beach, by Paul-Émile Bécat Romaine Brooks, self-portrait

    27 min
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4.7
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About

Art, biography, history and identity collide in this podcast from the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Join Director Kim Sajet as she chats with artists, historians, and thought leaders about the big and small ways that portraits shape our world.

Information

  • Creator
    National Portrait Gallery
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2025
  • Episodes
    84
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
  • Show Website
    PORTRAITS

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