This is an agency history. It does not describe actual records. The Smithsonian Institution Archives uses these histories as brief accounts of the origin, development, and functions of an office or administrative unit to set that unit in its historical context. To find information on record holdings, please double-click the highlighted field "Creator/Author", which will open on a brief view of relevant records.
Guide to the Smithsonian Archives
Smithsonian Institution, "The National PortraitGallery," [http://www.npg.si.edu], accessed October 27, 1999
National Portrait Gallery, About Us, Staff Profiles, Robyn Asleson, https://npg.si.edu/staff/robyn-asleson, accessed August 25, 2021.
The Curatorial Department of the National Portrait Gallery was formed in 1964. In 1979, the department was divided into three departents: Department of Prints and Drawings, Department of Painting and Sculpture, and Department of Photographs.
The Curatorial Department and departments oversee the conservation of art work, the authentication of sitters and artists, and conducted research in American portraiture. Research by staff has been incorporated into exhibitions and catalogs or transferred to the research file of the Catalog of American Portraits. Permanent collection records have documented portraits in the permanent and study collections, artists and their collected works, and associative and decorative objects.
The Department of Prints and Drawings is the curatorial office that has custody of the Gallery's portrait prints and drawings. Its work includes acquiring, researching, cataloging, and storing these respective objects.
Staff of the Department of Prints and Drawings include: Robyn Asleson, Curator of Prints and Drawings, 2016- ; Wendy Wick Reaves, Curator of Prints and Drawings, 1979-2014; Ann P. Wagner, Curatorial Assistant, 1989- ; Lucille L. (LuLen) Walker, Curatorial Assistant, 1989- ; and Marie L. (Pie) Friendly, Research Assistant, 1991- .
Repository Loc.:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Capital Gallery, Suite 3000, MRC 507; 600 Maryland Avenue, SW; Washington, DC 20024-2520
