The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., will show newly commissioned and acquired works paying tribute to filmmaker Steven Spielberg, JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, scientist Temple Grandin, and poet Joy Harjo in an exhibition titled “Portrait of a Nation: 2025 Honorees.”
The show, opening December 12 and running into next November, follows last month’s “Portrait of a Nation Gala,” during which the institution—embattled after the politically pointed departure of director Kim Sajet in June—raised money for its operations and endowment. “This year’s Portrait of a Nation Award honorees represent a few of the many disciplines of innovation that have shaped the nation’s trajectory and are reflected in the museum’s collection of more than 26,000 works,” Rhea L. Combs, the museum’s director of curatorial affairs, said in a statement. “Furthermore, these portraits offer a glimpse into the dynamic relationship between sitters and artists that has defined the genre of portraiture over time.”
The Spielberg portrait, commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery, combines the projection of film materials (including never-before-seen archival clips from the budding director’s teens and early 20s) and oil painting by his wife, Kate Capshaw. The portrait of Dimon, by London-based photographer Jason Alden, is notable for the business leader’s alternately contentious and cooperative relationship with Donald Trump, whose policies have roiled the Smithsonian Institution of which the NPG is a part.
The portrait of Harjo, the nation’s poet laureate from 2019 to 2022, is a drawing by Joel Daniel Phillips. And the Grandin portrait is a painting by David Lenz that shows the animal behaviorist and autism activist standing with cows in a special cattle-handling facility she helped design.
Combs, the director of curatorial affairs, said, “When viewing these artworks, audiences will discover new sides of four luminaries—each of whom has greatly impacted American life—thanks to the artists’ distinct and inspired interpretations.”
Sajet, who left the National Portrait Gallery after Trump claimed to “fire” her over issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, took a new job in September as the director of the Milwaukee Art Museum.
