The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., will debut an exhibition titled “Portrait of a Nation: 2025 Honorees” on December 12, featuring newly commissioned and acquired portraits of filmmaker Steven Spielberg, JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, scientist Temple Grandin, and poet Joy Harjo. The show follows a fundraising gala and includes works by Kate Capshaw, Jason Alden, Joel Daniel Phillips, and David Lenz, with the Spielberg portrait combining oil painting and film projection.
The exhibition matters because it highlights the museum’s ongoing efforts to celebrate influential American figures amid institutional turmoil, following the politically charged departure of former director Kim Sajet in June. It also underscores the National Portrait Gallery’s role in shaping national narratives through portraiture, while navigating tensions with the Trump administration over diversity policies that have affected the broader Smithsonian Institution.