The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., was conceived, founded, and endowed in 1937 by the collector Andrew W. Mellon. The original neoclassical marble building was designed by the architect John Russell Pope and opened to the public in 1941. The collection, which focuses on the major schools of European and American painting, sculpture, graphic arts, and decorative arts from the 12th through the 20th century, includes the Andrew W. Mellon Collection, the Widener Collection, the Samuel H. Kress Collection, the Chester Dale Collection, and the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection of prints.
The nucleus of the original collection was 21 masterpieces, once owned by Catherine II of Russia and purchased in the early 1930s by Mellon from the Hermitage Museum, Leningrad. These works included the Annunciation (c.1434) by Jan van Eyck, Titian's Venus with a Mirror (1550-55), and Raphael's Alba Madonna (c.1511). The beautiful portrait Ginevra dei Benci (c.1475), the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Western Hemisphere, is another highlight of the gallery's collection. The American art holdings include James A. M. Whistler's Symphony in White No. 1: The White Girl (1862).
The collection of the National Gallery of Art is constantly growing. The addition of the new East Wing, designed by I. M. PEI and completed in 1978, has made even greater growth possible. This modern architectural masterpiece, which is sheathed in the same pink Tennessee marble as the original structure, was donated by Paul Mellon through the Mellon family foundations. The East Wing contains a collection of contemporary art in addition to a study center. Among the masterpieces of modern art are a large mobile by Alexander Calder, located in the central lobby, as well as works by Joan Miro, Robert Motherwell, and Jackson Pollock. The National Gallery of Art offers a wide range of educational activities, including lectures, guided tours, films, concerts, and fellowship programs. The museum possesses a large library of books and periodicals in the fine arts and related fields, photographic archives, and conservation laboratories. It was also one of the first museums to produce (1984) a videodisc, with pictures of over 1,600 of its holdings.
Return to map