Nancy Reagan remembered at National Portrait Gallery - Los Angeles Times
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Nancy Reagan remembered by National Portrait Gallery with a work once seen on Time magazine cover

Visitors at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington look at a portrait of former first lady Nancy Reagan.

Visitors at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington look at a portrait of former first lady Nancy Reagan.

(Susan Walsh / Associated Press)
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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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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.

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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.

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