Agency history, 1979-

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Subject

  • Miles, Ellen Gross 1941-
  • Stewart, Robert G
  • Fabian, Monroe H
  • Moss, Dorothy

Category

Agency History

Notes

  • 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], 09/27/1999
  • National Portrait Gallery, Staff Profiles, Dorothy Moss, https://npg.si.edu/staff/dorothy-moss-0, accessed August 16, 2021.
  • The National Portrait Gallery formed a Curatorial Department in 1964. In 1979, the unit was divided into three specialized departments: Photographs, Painting and Sculpture, and Prints and Drawings.
  • The Department of Painting and Sculpture oversees the conservation of art work, the authentication of sitters and artists, and conducts research in American portraiture. Research by staff is incorporated into exhibitions and catalogs or transferred to the research file of the Catalog of American Portraits. Permanent collection records document portraits in the permanent and study collections, artists and their collected works, and associative and decorative objects.
  • The Department of Painting and Sculpture is a curatorial department responsible for the acquisition, cataloging, and researching of all paintings and sculpture in the Gallery. The Department also conducts research for special exhibitions and for publications on the history of American portraiture, and handles numerous public inquiries.
  • Professional staff of the Department include: Dorothy Moss, Assistant Curator of Painting and Sculpture, 2011-2013; Associate Curator of Painting and Sculpture, 2013-2017; and Curator of Painting and Sculpture, 2017- ; Ellen Gross Miles, Associate Curator, 1978; Associate Curator of Painting and Sculpture, 1979-1994; and Curator of Painting and Sculpture, 1994-2010; Robert G. Stewart, Associate Curator, 1964, Curator, 1965, and Curator of Painting and Sculpture, 1979-1994; Monroe H. Fabian, Associate Curator, 1969-1971, Associate Curator, 1972-1978, and Associate Curator of Painting and Sculpture, 1979-1986.

Repository Loc.

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Capital Gallery, Suite 3000, MRC 507; 600 Maryland Avenue, SW; Washington, DC 20024-2520

Date

  • 1979
  • 1979-

Topic

  • Art museums
  • Portraits, American
  • Art museum curators

Form/Genre

Mixed archival materials

Local number

SIA AH00068

Full Record

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