Step inside the National Portrait Gallery and its companion Smithsonian American Art Museum on a 2.5-hour guided tour led by an art historian through one of Washington's most storied buildings. With groups capped at eight guests and reserved entry, this semi-private format gives you room to see the collections up close and ask questions along the way.

Stand in front of the Lansdowne portrait of George Washington, the painting that inspired the image on the U.S. dollar bill, and continue through the complete presidential portrait collection at the National Portrait Gallery
See the Shepard Fairey "Hope" portrait of Barack Obama, portraits of Civil War generals, and one of the earliest known European depictions of Pocahontas
Cross into the Smithsonian American Art Museum to explore works by Cassatt, Hopper, Hockney, O'Keeffe, Whistler, and Sargent alongside New Deal WPA murals
Hear insider stories about the Old Patent Office Building, where Walt Whitman nursed Civil War soldiers and Abraham Lincoln held his second inaugural ball
Stay in the museums after the tour ends to revisit galleries or relax in the Kogod Courtyard at your own pace

This tour connects the portraits and artworks to the people and events behind them, giving you a narrative thread through the National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum that is difficult to piece together on your own.

What's Included

Semi-private guided tour with reserved entry (no more than 8 guests)
Professional art-historian guide
Admission tickets for the permanent collections

Things to know

Groups are limited to eight guests. The tour lasts approximately 2.5 hours and involves continuous walking through museum galleries. Participants should be comfortable standing and walking for that duration. Wheelchair users are asked to book a private tour. Large bags are not permitted in the museums. Arrive 10 minutes before your scheduled start time. Children ages 9 and under and youth ages 10 to 17 are welcome at reduced pricing. Your guide will reach out to you the morning of the tour to confirm the meeting point. Guides wear a Babylon badge on a Babylon lanyard.

Itinerary

This is a typical itinerary for this semi-private museum tour. Your guide may adjust the route or featured works based on the group's interests, temporary exhibitions, and gallery availability.

Your guide meets the group outside the museum and begins with a brief introduction to the Old Patent Office Building, the Greek Revival landmark that has housed both the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum since 1968. The building itself is part of the story: designed by Robert Mills (architect of the Washington Monument), it was the third public building constructed in Washington after the White House and the Capitol. Before it held art, it held patent models, the original Declaration of Independence, Civil War wounded, and a presidential inauguration ball.

The National Portrait Gallery

Inside the National Portrait Gallery, your guide leads you through the "America's Presidents" exhibition, the only complete collection of presidential portraits outside the White House. You will see the Lansdowne portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart, painted in 1796 and later the model for the image on the U.S. dollar bill. Your guide moves through the collection chronologically, stopping at portraits of key figures and sharing the stories behind them: how each portrait was commissioned, what it reveals about the era, and what the artist chose to emphasize or conceal. Highlights include portraits of Civil War generals such as Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman, the 17th-century Pocahontas portrait (one of the earliest European depictions of a Native American), and the Shepard Fairey "Hope" portrait of Barack Obama. Beyond the presidential gallery, your guide introduces you to daguerreotypes, early photographs from the Matthew Brady Studio collection, and portraits of activists, scientists, and cultural figures who shaped the country.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum

The two museums share the same building and flow into each other through connected hallways surrounding the Kogod Courtyard. Your guide transitions from portraiture to the broader sweep of American art, stopping at works that span from the colonial period to the present. You will see New Deal-era WPA murals commissioned during the Roosevelt administration, portraits by Whistler and Sargent, and modern and contemporary works by Edward Hopper, Mary Cassatt, David Hockney, and Georgia O'Keeffe. Your guide draws connections between the art and the American history you encountered in the Portrait Gallery, showing how artists documented, challenged, and reimagined the country across three centuries.

The Kogod Courtyard and Free Time

The tour concludes near the Kogod Courtyard, the enclosed central atrium covered by a glass canopy designed by Foster + Partners. Your guide offers final context and recommendations for galleries worth revisiting on your own. You are welcome to remain in either museum until closing time.

Pass-by highlights include: The Great Hall (site of Lincoln's second inaugural ball), the building's Parthenon-inspired porticos and vaulted galleries, and the Kogod Courtyard's undulating glass canopy.

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