National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian Institution). Office of the Director Search this
Extent:
3 cu. ft. (3 record storage boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Brochures
Clippings
Manuscripts
Date:
circa 1970-1979, 1982-1994
Descriptive Entry:
This accession consists of the administrative and exhibit files of the National Portrait Gallery (NPG), Office of the Director. Most of the records date from 1982 to
1994, and document the tenure of Alan Fern, who became Director in 1982. The administrative files primarily concern the development of reports on NPG activities for central
Smithsonian Institution publications such as Smithsonian Year.
The exhibit records document the Director's involvement in many aspects of exhibit development at NPG. The records include loan requests from the NPG Director and responses
of lending individuals and organizations; agreements with lenders; exhibit scripts; catalog manuscripts; and press clippings. The files also contain correspondence and memoranda
between Smithsonian and Museum staff, guest curators, museum professionals, interested scholars, and the public regarding exhibit planning and content, exhibit funding issues,
and events associated with the exhibit.
In addition, there are files on the exhibit Then and Now: American Portraits of the Past Century in the National Portrait Gallery. The exhibit was originally developed
at the behest of the United States Information Agency for mounting in China in September 1987, but was cancelled at a late date. Work on the exhibit was completed, however,
and it was shown in Hong Kong and Japan in 1987 and 1988.
