September 13, 2009

Last Chance to See Stephen Colbert’s Portrait

Stephen Colbert's portrait, which he donated to the American History Museum last year, will come down tomorrow. Image courtesy of the museum.

Stephen Colbert's portrait, which he donated to the American History Museum last year, will come down tomorrow. Image courtesy of the museum.

Tomorrow is the last day to take your picture in front of Stephen Colbert’s portrait, which currently hangs next to Dumbo the Flying Elephant on the National Museum of American History’s third floor. Colbert tirelessly campaigned to donate his portrait to a Smithsonian museum in a well-publicized quest beginning in January 2008.

Colbert first met with museum director Brent Glass to tour the “Treasures of American History” exhibit and convince him to include the portrait. After losing a bet, Glass rejected the portrait’s inclusion, and Colbert moves on. He headed over to the National Portrait Gallery where he met with former director Marc Pachter who agrees to hang the portrait above a drinking fountain for six weeks.

But it didn’t end there. After the six weeks was over, Glass reconsidered. He called to say that Colbert is, in fact, a national treasure. The portrait hung in the museum’s temporary exhibit space in the National Air and Space museum. After the American History museum reopened in November 2008, it hung the portrait in its current location.

But alas the portrait will come down tomorrow. So hurry over, and snap a photo.



Posted By: Abby Callard — American History Museum | Link | Comments (11)



11 Comments »

  1. [...] the Smithsonian.com blog: Last Chance to See Stephen Colbert’s [...]

    Pingback by Second season ‘Colbert Report’ portrait being taken down at National Museum of American History :: No Fact Zone — September 13, 2009 @ 3:30 pm

  2. This portrait is an enduring piece of our nation’s history that is no less important than the statues of the Greeks or the Egyptian Pyramids. It must stand! At least until I can snap a picture of it.

    Comment by Rob Mabry — September 13, 2009 @ 3:36 pm

  3. This is just wrong! Why on earth are you taking it down? I can’t exactly hurry over, as I live in CA. I was in DC last year right before the re-opening of the American History museum, so I just missed it. Now I’ll never get to see it.

    Comment by jentaps — September 13, 2009 @ 3:55 pm

  4. Why? Why take the gift if is not going to be displayed forever and ever? The Colbert Portrait was the only reason I ever went to DC or the Smithsonian.

    Comment by BC — September 13, 2009 @ 4:54 pm

  5. “We are in the forever business”? – http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/188603/october-16-2008/portrait-accepted—brent-glass

    Comment by BC — September 13, 2009 @ 5:08 pm

  6. You haven’t told us why the portrait will come down, or any of the details of the story. Has it been accepted into the collections, and if so, is it just coming down for a small period of time to limit light exposure, for example? Will it go up again at a time in the future? Or is it actually being removed from the collections?

    Comment by Catherine S — September 14, 2009 @ 10:40 am

  7. So many people that treasure both Stephen Colbert and the Smithsonian’s museums never had a chance to travel to Washington to see Colbert’s portrait.

    We are in sincere hope that the Smithsonian will create a traveling exhibit of ‘Treasures’ including the Colbert portrait, to be shared with people all across the nation!

    Comment by SusieBlack — September 14, 2009 @ 11:20 am

  8. Taking down this portrait is a very unpatriotic move. You’re on notice, National Museum of American History.

    Seriously, what will happen to the portrait after it’s taken down? Will it be displayed somewhere else?

    Comment by Ann G — September 14, 2009 @ 1:03 pm

  9. I was in DC last in 2005. I just recently mentioned to my wife – I want to go back – more to see this than anything. Does the Natl. Museums’ Portrait gallery have a Will Rogers? Or would they have gotten rid of that too?

    Comment by JRC — October 19, 2009 @ 10:50 am

  10. Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

    Comment by Ben Small — November 1, 2009 @ 2:46 pm

  11. [...] Gallery. Fairey’s Hope poster was acquired in January 2009; a portrait of Colbert was temporarily displayed for six weeks in the fall of [...]

    Pingback by Portrait: Stephen Colbert « miss.stephanie — February 25, 2010 @ 2:09 am

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