ception during which actor Billy Dee Williams read one of 

 Douglass's most famous speeches. 



"In Pursuit of the Butterfly: Portraits of James McNeill 

 Whistler" was the first of four exhibitions held in Washing- 

 ton during the summer of 1995 that were devoted to this 

 American expatriate painter. Whistler was the single most de- 

 picted artist prior to the twentieth century, and NPG's exhibi- 

 tion demonstrated the evolution of his image and his carefully 

 self-constructed role as a popular icon in Victorian England. 



Several 1995 exhibitions highlighted aspects of the Gallery's 

 permanent collection. "Federal Profiles: Saint-Memin in 

 America, 1793-1814" amplified the museum's large holding of 

 Saint-Memin engravings by featuring many of the original 

 drawings from which the engravings were made. "From Tru- 

 man to Clinton: Presidents on Time" was the most recent in a 

 series of exhibitions drawn from the Gallery's collection of 

 original Time magazine cover art. "The Passionate Observer: 

 Photographs by Carl Van Vechten," which was organized by 

 Hallmark Cards, presented a comprehensive overview of an 

 artist whose works are widely represented in the Gallery's 

 collection. 



Publications 



Saint-Memin and the Neoclassical Profile Portrait in America by 

 Ellen G. Miles, NPG's Curator of Paintings and Sculpture, 

 was published in November 1994 by the National Portrait 

 Gallery and Smithsonian Institution Press. The culmination 

 of twenty years of research on the French emigre artist who 

 made nearly a thousand likenesses of Federal-era Americans, 

 this book includes an essay on the history of the neoclassical 

 profile portrait with a biography of Saint-Memin and a com- 

 plete, illustrated catalogue of the artist's known works. It has 

 been awarded second prize in the book category in the Ameri- 

 can Association of Museums' 1995 Design Competition and 

 first prize for illustrated books in the Washington Book 

 Publishers' design competition. 



Produced to accompany the National Portrait Gallery's ex- 

 hibition, Majestic in His Wrath: A Pictorial Life of Frederick 

 Douglass, by NPG historian Frederick S. Voss, was published 

 by the Smithsonian Institution Press. This softcover book's 

 more than seventy illustrations include rare daguerreotypes of 

 Douglass and images of fellow abolitionists and reformers. 



In Pursuit of the Butterfly: Portraits of James McNeill Whistler, 

 co-published by the National Portrait Gallery and the Univer- 

 sity of Washington Press, was written by Eric Denker, curator 

 of the NPG exhibition of portraits of Whistler. Available in 

 softcover, this illustrated book illuminates how this unconven- 

 tional American expatriate was perceived by the artists and 

 writers of his time. 



Work has commenced on a new edition of the National Por- 

 trait Gallery Permanent Collection Illustrated Checklist. Data is 

 being gathered on NPG acquisitions over the past ten years, 

 since the previous edition was published. A James Smithson 

 Society grant will allow the purchase of state-of-the-art 

 desktop-publishing equipment for NPG's Publications Of- 



fice. This will make it possible to produce this valuable ref- 

 erence tool — including some 7,000 illustrated entries — in- 

 house through the prepress stage in the coming fiscal year. 



Education 



NPG offered a dramatization that provided both historical 

 background and context to enhance students' knowledge 

 gained during their tour of the Frederick Douglass exhibi- 

 tion. Collaborations with publishers also made possible public 

 lectures and book signings for biographies and portrait- 

 related books. 



"Blues Woman," an interpretation of the music and life sto- 

 ries of Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters, and Billie Holiday, was 

 presented through the Gallery's "Portraits in Motion" series. 



Special Projects 



On the morning of July 21, 1995, the National Portrait 

 Gallery's Hall of Presidents doubled as a television studio 

 when C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" broadcast a live pro- 

 gram on the museum and its collections. Host Btian Lamb in- 

 terviewed NPG director Alan Fern as camera crews rolled 

 through the Gallery's second floor, providing viewers with 

 glimpses of the permanent collection on display. Pre-taped 

 segments included presentations by curator of photographs 

 Mary Panzer, historian Fred Voss, curator for the Frederick 

 Douglass exhibition, and a cameo appearance by curator of 

 prints and drawings Wendy Wick Reaves. The three-hour 

 broadcast also included a live interview with museum shop 

 manager Jackie Jackson on the shop's offerings. 



Office of Exhibits Central 



Mike Headley, Acting Director 



The Office of Exhibits Central (OEC) provides Smithsonian 

 museums, galleries, and exhibitors with expertise in the 

 creation of permanent, temporary, and traveling exhibitions, 

 from concept to crating. Office of Exhibit Central services in- 

 clude exhibition design and production, script development, 

 consultation on design and production, writing, editing, 

 graphic production, matting, and framing. Along with a wide 

 range of exhibit fabrication services, OEC provides model 

 making, gallery lighting, exhibit installation, and the han- 

 dling, bracketing, and packing of artifacts. 



This year, OEC designed, edited, and produced five exhibi- 

 tions for the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition 

 Service (SITES): "Try This On: A History of Clothing, 

 Gender, and Power"; "Full Deck Art Quilts"; "Voyages and 

 Visions: Nineteenth-Century European Images of the Middle 

 East from the Victoria and Albert Museum"; "VanDerZee, 

 Photographer"; and "An Ocean Apart: Contemporary 



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