Star Power: Photographs from Hollywood’s Golden Age by George Hurrell (A Sequel)

The National Portrait Gallery presents a second installation of Star Power: Photographs from Hollywood’s Golden Age by George Hurrell, with a new selection of 20 vintage photographs that explore timeless images of film royalty from the 1930s and 1940s. This “encore” installation is curated from the Portrait Gallery’s collection of 70 portraits by George Hurrell (1904–1992), who rose to fame as the in-house portraitist for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) before establishing his own studio. With a keen eye for lighting effects and artful posing, Hurrell magnified the stars and influenced popular standards of glamour. 

The new selection of photographs portrays some of Golden Age Hollywood’s most memorable stars, including Constance Bennett, Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Dorothy Lamour, Myrna Loy, Mary Pickford, William Powell, Basil Rathbone, Charles “Buddy” Rogers, Rosalind Russell, and Barbara Stanwyck.

The first iteration of Star Power: Photographs from Hollywood’s Golden Age by George Hurrell was on view March 1, 2024 - January 25, 2026.

Star Power is curated by senior curator of photographs Ann Shumard.

This exhibition has been made possible in part through the generous support of Mark and Cindy Aron.