In the National Portrait Gallery hangs a portrait of every president of the United States. Elsa Miller was recently present for the latest addition, which was, strangely enough, the portrait of a fictional one.
鈥淜evin Spacey as President Francis J. Underwood,鈥� a six-foot by six-foot painting by Jonathan Yeo, . It portrays actor Kevin Spacey’s character from the television series 鈥淗ouse of Cards鈥� in somber tones and slightly distorted.
Miller, a senior major at 91短视频 who is interning with the American Art and Portrait Gallery (AA/PG) Library, attended the press conference that preceded the painting鈥檚 unveiling.
The event has been one of the highlights of her semester in Washington D.C. with the .
鈥淭here was a panel held about the painting which involved the artist, a museum curator, and Kevin Spacey, who plays Underwood. It was great to hear about the portrait from these three different people who were involved in it in different ways, and why it was painted the way it was,鈥� she says.
Miller applied for an internship with the AA/PG Library because she likes 鈥渉istory, museums and libraries,鈥� she said. She鈥檚 appreciated the opportunity to learn more about American art, which she says wasn鈥檛 particularly an area of strength.
Her inexperience has been the greatest challenge, she added, but also the greatest opportunity for growth.
Miller spends her days inundated with art-related history 鈥� organizing files on American artists, answering reference questions, sorting books, shifting shelves and assisting patrons at the library.
Her work supports the research of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, National Portrait Gallery, and the Archives of American Art from a block away.
She is surrounded by the resources of 鈥�180,000 books, exhibition catalogs, catalogues raisonnes, serials and dissertations concentrated in the area of American art, history, and biography, with supportive materials on European art,鈥� according to the Smithsonian Libraries website.
鈥淚’m still doing new things every day,鈥� Miller says. 鈥淚t’s hard knowing that I’m going to mess up a lot, but it’s all part of the learning process.鈥�
The confluence of art, popular culture and history that she was special witness to has been an inspiration, she says, with the possibility of working in a library a 鈥渢op choice鈥� as Miller considers her future.
While Miller returns home in a few short weeks from her cross-cultural at WCSC, the painting of President Francis J. Underwood will remain until October.