Nancy Reagan was remembered on Monday by the Smithsonian in Washington with the public exhibition of the former first lady’s portrait by the late artist Aaron Shikler.
The work of art, which dates from 1984-85 and was once featured on the cover of Time magazine, is currently on view at the National Portrait Gallery’s In Memoriam space on the first floor.
Reagan died Sunday at 94 at her home in Los Angeles. The portrait, which was created during her time at the White House, shows her striking a casual pose and wearing a red dress.
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The Smithsonian said that the essence of oil on paper work was a gift of Time magazine. The portrait appeared on the magazine’s cover on Jan. 14, 1985, with the headline “White House Co-Star: Nancy Reagan’s Growing Role.”
The National Portrait Gallery’s In Memoriam section commemorates prominent political and cultural figures who have recently died and who are represented in the museum’s collection.
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American actor and future president Ronald Reagan (1911 - 2004) sits with his wife, actress Nancy Reagan, as the par talk with fellow actor and future US Senator George Murphy (1902 - 1992) at the premiere of ‘High Society,’ July 1956. (Photo by Pictorial Parade/Getty Images) (Pictorial Parade / Getty Images)
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Nancy and Ronald Reagan, with running mate George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, are cheered by delegates at the Republican National Convention in July 1980. “Reagan knew where he wanted to go, but she had a better sense of what he needed to do to get there,” biographer Lou Cannon said of Nancy Reagan. (Joe Kennedy / Los Angeles Times)
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The Reagans attend a 1980 reception in their honor in Los Angeles with Los Angeles Times Publisher Otis Chandler and his mother, Dorothy. (Lennox McClendon / Associated Press)
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The Reagans prepare to return to Washington from Point Mugu Naval Air Station after a Memorial Day vacation in California in 1981. (Joe Kennedy / Los Angeles Times)
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The Reagans with music legend Ray Charles at a musical salute in Washington in March 1983. (Ira Schwartz / Associated Press)
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Nancy Reagan holds Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping’s hand during a 1984 visit to Beijing. The first lady took an active role in advising President Reagan on policy matters. (Scott Stewart / Associated Press)
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The president and first lady visit the terra cotta soldiers archeological site during their 1984 China trip. (Bob Daugherty / Associated Press)
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The Reagans walk through Normandy American Cemetery above Omaha Beach in northern France on June 6, 1984, the 40th anniversary of the D-day invasion. (Bob Daugherty / Associated Press)
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President Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan at a New Orleans luncheon in August 1988. (Mike Sargent / AFP/Getty Images)
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The former president and first lady arrive for the premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Sunset Boulevard” in Los Angeles in December 1993. (Chris Martinez / Associated Press)
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Nancy Reagan with stepdaughter Maureen at the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, a year before Maureen’s death from skin cancer. (Hillery Garrison Smith / Associated Press)
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The former first lady lays her cheek on Ronald Reagan’s casket after his death in 2004. His Alzheimer’s diagnosis led her to become an advocate for stem cell research and hastened a reconciliation between her and her children. (Bryan Chan / Los Angeles Times)
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Nancy Reagan with President George W. Bush in 2005 at an Air Force One exhibit at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, with Nancy Reagan at a ceremony commemorating the 40th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s first gubernatorial win. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
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The First Lady’s in front of the Red Dress display. First Lady Laura Bush and former First Lady Nancy Reagan participated in the Heart Truth Roundtable at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley on Wednesday, February 28, 2007. Later they visited students at Balboa Magnet School in Northridge who are part of a National Park Service program. (Stephen Osman / Los Angeles Times)
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Nancy Reagan poses with the 2008 Republican presidential candidates after their May 2007 debate at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. (Robert A. Reeder / Associated Press)
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Nancy Reagan after a GOP presidential debate at the Reagan Presidential Library. (Paul Buck / EPA)
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Vice President Dick Cheney escorts the former first lady at a white-tie dinner for Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II at the White House in May 2007. (Pool / Getty Images)
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In May 2007, Nancy Reagan holds a copy of the newly released “Reagan Diaries,” which chronicles her husband’s two terms in the White House. (Stephen Osman / Los Angeles Times)
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Nancy Reagan is joined by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Assemblyman Martin Garrick (R-Carlsbad), left, at a signing ceremony for two bills honoring her late husband at the Reagan library in Simi Valley. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Nancy Reagan is helped by Marine Lt. Gen. George J. Flynn as she arrives for a wreath-laying ceremony at her husband’s memorial at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
A spokeswoman at the Smithsonian said the Reagan portrait will be on public view through March 28.
Shikler, who died last year, was a noted portrait artist who created paintings of numerous political figures. He created the posthumous portrait of John F. Kennedy that hangs in the White House and has painted other first ladies including Jacqueline Kennedy and Lady Bird Johnson.
VIDEO: Former First Lady Nancy Reagan remembered
He also created a separate portrait of Nancy Reagan that hangs in the White House. The painting depicts the first lady standing in profile, dressed in a formal red gown.
On Monday, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley said it will remain closed to the public through Saturday. The former first lady will lie in repose at the library on Wednesday from 1 to 7 p.m. and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The funeral is scheduled to take place on Friday. The venue is set to re-open to the public on Sunday at 10 a.m.
Nancy Reagan will be buried on the grounds of the library next to her husband, Ronald Reagan, who was president from 1981 to 1989. He died in 2004 at 93.
david.ng@latimes.com
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