Explore portraits from The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today at the National Portrait Gallery in this Learning Lab collection.

The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today presents nearly 50 portraits that were selected through an open call that garnered more than 2,600 entries from artists working across the United States and Puerto Rico. For the first time in the triennial’s history, the museum specifically asked that submissions respond “to the current political and social context,” and this resulting presentation offers perspectives on some of today’s most pressing issues.

The selected finalists create portraits in a wide range of media—painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, time-based media art, installation, and performance—but all are keenly aware of portraiture’s potential to insist on the presence, and importance, of every human being. 2019's Outwin aims to advance the art of portraiture for future generations while encouraging visitors to empathize and locate meaningful connections.

Every three years, the National Portrait Gallery invites both emerging and established artists working in the U.S. to submit a recent portrait to the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. Around fifty works are then selected by expert jurors who, on average, review more than 2,500 entries. The competition has evolved since its inception in 2006 to include performance art and time-based media alongside painting, photography, drawing, and sculpture.

As part of its deep commitment to supporting contemporary artists working in portraiture, the National Portrait Gallery looks to the Outwin to share the genre’s remarkable relevance and strengthen the visual representation of American history. Each iteration of the competition gauges portraiture’s progression while underscoring the potential of one person to make an impact.

The Outwin is made possible through the Virginia Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition Endowment, established by Virginia Outwin Boochever (1920–2005), who served as a docent for the National Portrait Gallery for nearly two decades. Mrs. Boochever’s vision for the Outwin is now carried out by her children.

Educators, to explore these portraits with your students through close looking and visible thinking routines, see the resources at the end of this collection for ideas.

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