Glenn Ligon, artist, with Molly Donovan and James Meyer, associate curators of modern art, National Gallery of Art. Glenn Ligon’s intertextual works examine cultural and social identity—often through found sources such as literature, Afro-centric coloring books, and photographs—to reveal the ways in which slavery, the civil rights movement, and identity politics inform our understanding of American society. In 2012, the Gallery acquired its first painting by Ligon, Untitled (I Am a Man) (1988). In honor of this acquisition, Ligon presented the 20th annual Elson Lecture on March 14, 2013. Untitled (I Am a Man) is a reinterpretation of the signs carried by 1,300 striking African American sanitation workers in Memphis in 1968 and made famous in Ernest Withers' photographs of the march. Proclaiming "I Am a Man," the signs evoke Ralph Ellison's famous line—"I am an invisible man." Approximating the size of these signs, Ligon’s roughly made painting combines layers of history, meaning, and physical material in a dense, resonant object. As the first painting in which the artist appropriated text, itis a breakthrough. In subsequent works he would transform texts into fields of semilegible and masked meanings. The Gallery owns sixteen works by Ligon, including a suite of etchings and a print portfolio.

Robert and Jane Meyerhoff, collectors, in conversation with Irving Blum, collector and co-founder of the Ferus Gallery, Los Angeles. To celebrate the exhibition opening of The Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection: 1945-1995 at the National Gallery of Art on March 31, 1996, the Meyerhoffs joined Irving Blum to discuss the history and practice of their collecting.  On view through July 21, 1996, the exhibition presented 194 works, almost their entire collection of post-World War II art. The Meyerhoffs' acquisitions have been based wholly on their belief in the quality of individual works and not on any preconceived theory or plan. If they were passionate about an artist, they collected his or her work in depth. Their private residence has a room dedicated to each of the following artists: Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, and Frank Stella. The collection is both a tribute to the extraordinarily high level of accomplishment by these artists and to the Meyerhoffs' intuition.

Gwendolyn H. Everett, assistant professor, department of art, Howard University. Gwendolyn H. Everett, scholar and author of the award-winning children's book Li'L Sis and Uncle Willie: A Story Based on the Life and Paintings of William H. Johnson, provides an overview of William Henry Johnson's (1901-1970) career as part of the Five African American Artists lecture series recorded on August 3, 2003. Everett traces Johnson's determination to become an artist, despite a humble upbringing in South Carolina, to his years at a segregated elementary school where art was not part of the formal curriculum. In 1918, during the first Great Migration, Johnson moved to New York to pursue artistic training unavailable in the South. While living in Harlem and working several jobs to support himself, he was accepted into the prestigious National Academy of Design. Noted watercolorist Charles Webster Hawthorne provided critical mentorship at the academy, hired Johnson to work at the Cape Cod School of Art, and sponsored his further training in Europe. Johnson supplemented this sponsorship with prizes awarded by the academy and funds earned working for Ashcan School painter George Luks. In 1920s Paris, Johnson lived in the former studio of James McNeill Whistler and became acquainted with Henry O. Tanner, an African American expatriate artist who had achieved international acclaim and who would become a pivotal figure in Johnson's rise to prominence. Follow along as Everett illustrates Johnson's journey—marked by determination, strengthened by hard work, and bolstered by the support of influential artists—that led him to become one of the greatest American artists of the 20th century.

Gwendolyn H. Everett, lecturer, National Gallery of Art. As part of the Artist in Residence lecture series, Gwendolyn H. Everett focused on Henry Ossawa Tanner’s (1859-1937) visits to the Holy Land, and how this travel affected the later religious paintings for which he achieved international recognition. In this podcast recorded on August 9, 1987, Everett explains the formative influence of Tanner’s upbringing in an educated, religious family in post-Civil War Philadelphia. Tanner’s father was a minister and, later, a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and his mother administered a Methodist school. Tanner enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts as the only African American student in 1879, graduating in 1885. His professor, the artist Thomas Eakins, encouraged a progressive method of study from live models instead of plaster casts, which profoundly affected Tanner. after 1891 Tanner resided primarily in France; by 1895 his paintings were mostly of biblical themes, and in 1897 he made his first trip to the Holy Land, where his firsthand experience led to mastery of religious subject matter. He visited the region several times to explore mosques and biblical sites, and to complete character studies of the local population, as he had learned from Eakins. Tanner invigorated religious painting with modernism and with his deeply rooted faith, achieving renown in the international art world.

Charles W. Haxthausen, Robert Sterling Clark Professor of Art History, Williams College. “My work,” the German photo artist Candida Höfer has said, “is about making images of spaces.” Yet both she and fellow photographer Thomas Struth are equally interested in the dimension of time andthe evidence of layers of history in the spaces they photograph. Although Struth’s and Höfer’s photographs are inevitably the products of a single exposure, of a unique, fugitive moment, their images manifest a temporal complexity and transparency. Recorded on January 13, 2013, at the National Gallery of Art, the lecture by Professor Haxthausen explores the ways in which these artists’ work complicates how we think about the relationship of photography to time.

Sidney Geist, sculptor, and professor of sculpture, New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture. In conjunction with the exhibition Rodin Rediscovered, on view at the National Gallery of Art from June 28, 1981, to May 2, 1982, Sidney Geist highlights some of the 366 catalogued works by Auguste Rodin that filled spaces on each of the East Building's four levels. With works from about 40 American and European collections, the exhibition recreated a typical Paris Salon of the 1870s. Twenty-nine sculptures filled the Upper Level Galleries, continued downward through the building with nine sections devoted to different themes of Rodin's work, and ended on the Concourse with a new eight-ton bronze cast of The Gates of Hell with its 186 figures. In this lecture recorded on September 27, 1981, Geist brings his unique perspective as a sculptor to the examination of Rodin's work, expressing how difficult it is to separate Rodin's technical ability from the mystical quality of his sculpture. This intertwining of the human and the divine, the mundane and the transcendent led Geist to remark of Rodin and his apprentice, Constantin Brancusi: "Sculpture is the place we read their spirits."

Emmet Gowin, photographer and professor of visual arts, Princeton University. In the first of two lectures honoring the exhibition Stieglitz in the Darkroom, on view at the National Gallery of Art from October 4, 1992, to February 14, 1993, photographer Emmet Gowin shares the relevance of Alfred Stieglitz's (1864-1946) work to his own. The exhibition of 75 photographic prints, chosen from the "key set" of 1,600 photographs given to the Gallery by Georgia O'Keeffe in 1949 and 1980, spanned Stieglitz's career. It demonstrated how a photographer can alter the aesthetics of his art and meaning through cropping, scale, tone, paper selection, and printing process- and also the extraordinary commitment a photographer has to his work. One of the most important photographers of his generation, Gowin (born 1941) is the son of a Methodist minister and considered America and Alfred Stieglitz (1934) to be his second bible. For this lecture recorded on November 29, 1992, Gowin used the title of his undergraduate senior thesis, demonstrating his strong connection with Stieglitz and Robert Frank's The Americans (1958). Tracing the influence of Stieglitz throughout his career, Gowin shares how his work transitioned from photographing primarily human beings to making aerial photographs of toxic waste sites and nuclear reservations.

David Alan Brown, curator of Italian and Spanish paintings, National Gallery of Art. In 1974, Michael Whitney Straight, scion of the Whitney family and an American arts administrator, donated Giorgione's portrait titled Giovanni Borgherini and His Tutor to the National Gallery of Art. At the time of the donation, Straight was serving as deputy chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts. Straight's legacy as an art collector is often overshadowed by his self-admitted involvement within the Communist party. In this lecture given on October 1, 2012, David Brown sheds light on Straight's vocation as a collector by attempting to connect his activities as a Soviet sympathizer and agent with his interest in the Giorgione painting and the technical evidence gathered about it.

Arthur C. Danto, Jonathan Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Columbia University, and art critic, The Nation. In this lecture recorded on September 19, 1993, at the National Gallery of Art, Arthur C. Danto assesses early works in Pablo Picasso's (1881-973) career as a starting point for considering the concept of the masterpiece. The understandable but obsessive tendency of Picasso scholarship has been to treat even his simplest works as evidence that his cognitive powers had almost mythic dimensions. Danto argues that much of Picasso's early work became part of history only retrospectively because he became a great artist- mythic a priori. An artist makes certain choices in materials when he believes himself to be embarking on a masterpiece. By investing in a large-scale canvas, its lining, and other expensive materials for a painting, an artist demonstrates the meaning this particular work intended to have relative to his other works so far. It is a conservation gesture-not part of the internal or aesthetic meaning of the work, but a declaration of achievement and hope. Citing Picasso's rose period work Family of Saltimbanques (1905), in the Gallery's collection, and the African-influenced period work Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), Danto considers the meaning of a masterpiece in an artist's life in terms of the language of beginnings and endings. One works up to a masterpiece, which defines a period of endeavor, and after that the artist may change direction entirely.

Introductory Remarks, Faya Causey, head of academic programs, National Gallery of Art and Kiki Smith, artist; "Dream of the Proper Context": Tony Smith, the Abstract Expressionists' Architect, Eileen Costello, editor and project director, The Catalogue Raisonné of the Drawings of Jasper Johns, The Menil Collection. Tony Smith was an architect-turned-sculptor who defied stylistic categories. His objects, at once imposing and playful, left a lasting mark on postwar art and raised public sculpture to a new level of ambition. On the occasion of what would have been his 100th year, this symposium, recorded on December 1, 2012, at the National Gallery of Art, takes a new look at Smith's achievement from the diverse perspectives of artist, art historian, and curator. Featured speakers include scholar Eileen Costello, sculptor Charles Ray, and curator Harry Cooper. This program was held in collaboration with Kiki Smith, Seton Smith, and the Tony Smith Estate.

Tony Smith: X Marks the Spot, Charles Ray, artist. Tony Smith was an architect-turned-sculptor who defied stylistic categories. His objects, at once imposing and playful, left a lasting mark on postwar art and raised public sculpture to a new level of ambition. On the occasion of what would have been his 100th year, this symposium, recorded on December 1, 2012, at the National Gallery of Art, takes a new look at Smith's achievement from the diverse perspectives of artist, art historian, and curator. Featured speakers include scholar Eileen Costello, sculptor Charles Ray, and curator Harry Cooper. This program was held in collaboration with Kiki Smith, Seton Smith, and the Tony Smith Estate.

The Tony Smith Experience, Harry Cooper, curator and head, department of modern art, National Gallery of Art; Q and A Session, featuring Kiki Smith. Tony Smith was an architect-turned-sculptor who defied stylistic categories. His objects, at once imposing and playful, left a lasting mark on postwar art and raised public sculpture to a new level of ambition. On the occasion of what would have been his 100th year, this symposium, recorded on December 1, 2012, at the National Gallery of Art, takes a new look at Smith's achievement from the diverse perspectives of artist, art historian, and curator. Featured speakers include scholar Eileen Costello, sculptor Charles Ray, and curator Harry Cooper. This program was held in collaboration with Kiki Smith, Seton Smith, and the Tony Smith Estate.

Wendy A. Cooper, director, The DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, Colonial Williamsburg. In honor of the exhibition opening for American Furniture from the Kaufman Collection on October 12, 1986, curator Wendy A. Cooper presented this lecture highlighting works collected by Mr. and Mrs. George M. Kaufman over a period of 25 years. The exhibition, on view through April 19, 1987, at the National Gallery of Art, showed 101 examples of American furniture made between 1690 and 1840. The collection, one of the largest and most refined in private hands, includes chairs, desks, tables, high chests, mirrors, clocks, and sconces from the major style centers of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Newport, and Charleston. The Kaufmans recognized this furniture as one of the earliest American art forms, as well as an expression of their love for and strong pride in our nation's creative and artistic heritage. Each and every object that they desired to acquire and live with is an extraordinary example of high quality craftsmanship, aesthetics, and design.

Gregory Jecmen, associate curator of old master prints and drawings, National Gallery of Art With a storied past and a strong imperial presence, Augsburg enjoyed a golden age in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, fostering artists such as Hans Burgkmair, Erhard Ratdolt, Daniel Hopfer, Jörg Breu, and Hans Weiditz. The artists flourished from about 1475 as the effects of the Italian Renaissance were first being felt, through the social, political, and religious upheavals of the Reformation, which took hold in 1537 following 20 years of struggle. In this paired lecture recorded on October 21, 2012, Gregory Jecmen explains this rich and varied history through more than 100 works featured in Imperial Augsburg: Renaissance Prints and Drawings, 1475-1540. Focusing on drawings, prints, and illustrated books mostly from the Gallery's own extensive collection, the exhibition- first of its kind in America- serves as an introduction to Augsburg, its artists, and its cultural history, during this period.

Joel Shapiro, artist. On October 28, 2012 at the National Gallery of Art, Joel Shapiro presents a lecture on his nearly 50-year career as part of the Diamonstein-Spielvogel Lecture Series. Born in 1941 in New York City, Shapiro received BA and MA degrees from New York University. Since his first exhibition in 1970, Shapiro has become one of the most widely exhibited American sculptors and the subject of many solo exhibitions and retrospectives, and his work can now be found in numerous public collections in the United States and abroad. His work, from early minimal objects to increasingly expansive and complex forms, has always dealt with such central issues of the sculptural tradition as size and scale, balance and imbalance, figuration and abstraction. He believes that all sculpture is a projection of thought into the world, and he strives to create intimacy and vitality in all his projects. Shapiro lives and works in New York City. The Gallery owns 16 works by the artist, including drawings, prints, and sculptures.

Wendy A. Cooper, Lois F. and Henry S. McNeil Senior Curator of Furniture, Winterthur Museum, University of Delaware. Curator Wendy A. Cooper celebrated the landmark installation of early American furniture and related decorative arts at the National Gallery of Art in this lecture recorded on October 28, 2012. The Kaufman Collection is one of the largest and most refined collections of early American furniture in private hands, acquired with great connoisseurship over five decades by George M. (1932-2001) and Linda H. Kaufman (born 1938). The collection, a gift promised to the Gallery in October 2010, comprises more than 200 works of art including American furniture, paintings, and works on paper. These fine examples of American decorative arts in the Kaufman Collection will be complemented by outstanding American paintings from the Gallery's own collection, including portraits by artists such as John Wollaston (active 1742/1775), Ralph Earl (1751-1801), and Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828). Located on the Ground Floor of the West Building, Masterpieces of American Furniture from the Kaufman Collection, 1700-1830 is the first major presentation of such objects to be on continuous public view in the nation's capital.

Alan Shestack, deputy director and chief curator; Philip Conisbee, senior curator of European paintings; John O. Hand, curator of Northern Renaissance paintings, Kimberly Jones, assistant curator of French paintings, National Gallery of Art. In honor of the publication of National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection, contributing authors share highlights from this new survey of the Gallery's European and American paintings collection. Despite the Gallery's short history, opening to the public in 1941, its collection spans 600 years, from middle ages to the present, and includes some of the greatest masterpieces in Western art history. Most of the masterpieces were given by the Founding Benefactors and their families. It has been the Gallery's mission to supplement these gifts with acquisitions that present Western paintings in as broad and comprehensive a manner as possible. The first collection survey was published by then-director John Walker in 1975, which was revised and reprinted in 1984. In this program recorded on December 4, 2004, the new survey is revealed- 400 master paintings are chosen from 3,000, and 1 of 4 works were acquired since the 1984 survey. Collecting is tempered by its time and a particular point of view, and this new publication showcases master paintings in the Gallery's collection as measured from the present moment.

John Wilmerding, Christopher Binyon Sarofim '86 Professor of American Art in the Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University, and visiting curator, department of American art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art John Wilmerding, former senior curator and deputy director at the National Gallery of Art, discusses his book Signs of the Artist: Signatures and Self-Expression in American Paintings in this lecture recorded on October 19, 2003. Wilmerding explores unconventional use of signatures in paintings, focusing on American artists who have placed their signature within the pictorial space of the canvas. With this act, Wilmerding argues, the artist may be making a metaphorical, and often biographical, association with the setting or situation depicted. Wilmerding discusses artists from the 18th through 20th centuries, including John Singleton Copley, Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins, Jasper Johns, Andrew Wyeth, and Richard Estes.

Liz Tunick, Kress Interpretive Fellow, National Gallery of Art; Mary Morton, curator and head of the department of French paintings, National Gallery of Art; Kimberly Jones, associate curator, National Gallery of Art; Charlie Ritchie, associate curator, National Gallery of Art; Ann Hoenigswald, senior conservator, National Gallery of Art; Wil Scott, head of adult programs, National Gallery of Art Edouard Manet's iconic painting The Railway has intrigued and perplexed viewers ever since it was first publicly exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1874. The painting was given to the National Gallery of Art in 1956 and now hangs in the recently reinstalled West Building Galleries devoted to 19th-century French painting. Gallery Fellow Liz Tunick discusses the painting with National Gallery curators Mary Morton, Kimberly Jones, and Charlie Ritchie, paintings conservator Ann Hoenigswald, and educator Wil Scott. Their discussions explore and illuminate the artist's innovative techniques- such as his bold, varied brushwork- and the painting's historical context, noting the contemporary criticism it received for its modern subject matter and unrefined appearance.

Gary Tinterow, director, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Following a two-year renovation, the galleries devoted to impressionism and post-impressionism in the West Building of the National Gallery of Art reopened on January 28, 2012. Among the world's greatest collections of paintings by Manet, Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Van Gogh, and Gauguin, the Gallery's later 19th-century French paintings returned to public view in a freshly conceived installation design. In honor of the reopening, the Gallery hosted a public symposium on April 27, 2012, focused on issues surrounding the reinstallation of three major 19th-century paintings collections: The Barnes Foundation, the Musée d'Orsay, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Xavier Rey, curator of paintings, Musée d'Orsay. Following a two-year renovation, the galleries devoted to impressionism and post-impressionism in the West Building of the National Gallery of Art reopened on January 28, 2012. Among the world's greatest collections of paintings by Manet, Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Van Gogh, and Gauguin, the Gallery's later 19th-century French paintings returned to public view in a freshly conceived installation design. In honor of the reopening, the Gallery hosted a public symposium on April 27, 2012, focused on issues surrounding the reinstallation of three major 19th-century paintings collections: The Barnes Foundation, the Musée d'Orsay, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Martha Lucy, associate curator, The Barnes Foundation. Following a two-year renovation, the galleries devoted to impressionism and post-impressionism in the West Building of the National Gallery of Art reopened on January 28, 2012. Among the world's greatest collections of paintings by Manet, Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Van Gogh, and Gauguin, the Gallery's later 19th-century French paintings returned to public view in a freshly conceived installation design. In honor of the reopening, the Gallery hosted a public symposium on April 27, 2012, focused on issues surrounding the reinstallation of three major 19th-century paintings collections: The Barnes Foundation, the Musée d'Orsay, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Marla Prather, curator and head of the department of 20th-century art, National Gallery of Art. On May 23, 1999, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton accepted the completed National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden on behalf of the nation. Designed by landscape architect Laurie D. Olin of Olin Partnership, the Sculpture Garden was given to the nation by The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. In this podcast recorded on September 19, 1999, curator Marla Prather explains the history and evolution of the 6.1-acre Sculpture Garden, highlighting the site's historical significance in Major Pierre Charles L'Enfant's 1791 plan for Washington, DC, the 1974 construction of the fountain, the 1991 transfer of jurisdiction of the Sculpture Garden site from the National Park Service to the National Gallery of Art, and the selection and installation of the garden's 17 original sculptures.

David A. Doheny, lawyer and former general counsel of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In this podcast recorded on June 17, 2006, David A. Doheny presents a lecture in conjunction with the publication of his book, David Finley: Quiet Force for America's Arts. Doheny discusses the relationship between Andrew W. Mellon and David E. Finley Jr., the National Gallery of Art's first director. Finley played an influential role in Mellon's acquisition of works from the Italian Renaissance, in particular the 1936 purchase of 30 paintings and 24 sculptures from Lord Joseph Duveen. In January 1937, Mellon formally presented to President Roosevelt his proposal to create the National Gallery of Art for the American public. On March 24, 1937, an act of Congress accepted Mellon's art collection as well as funds for the museum and approved plans for an elegant building on the National Mall designed by John Russell Pope. When Mellon and Pope both died within a day of each other later that year, Finley oversaw the construction and completion of the Gallery. Finley was also responsible for acquiring important collections for the Gallery, including those of Samuel H. Kress, Joseph E. Widener, Chester Dale, and Lessing J. Rosenwald.

Molly Donovan, assistant curator of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art. A month after the dedication of the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden on May 23, 1999, Molly Donovan discusses the grandeur and significance of its two components: the garden and the sculptures. In this lecture recorded on June 27, 1999, Donovan shares the history of the 6.1-acre space, from Major Pierre Charles L'Enfant's 1791 plan for Washington, DC, up to its 20th-century realization as the Gallery's Sculpture Garden. On April 22, 1791, while touring the grounds of the Potomac Valley, L'Enfant stated that "nothing can be more admirably adapted for the purpose [for the federal city]; nature has done much for it, and with the aid of art it will become the wonder of the world." L'Enfant's plan for a public, landscaped garden- originally known as L'Enfant Square- was based on the grounds at the Palace of Versailles outside Paris, France. A refuge from the linear expanse of the National Mall, the Gallery's Sculpture Garden features meandering paths, a fountain, and contemporary art. In this way, two hundred years later, the National Gallery of Art and Laurie D. Olin of Olin Partnership, the garden's architect, achieved L'Enfant's original vision of showcasing both natural beauty and artistic achievement.

James Earl Carter Jr., 39th President of the United States of America. In 1971, on a triangular lot once occupied by tennis courts, architect I. M. Pei broke ground on the East Building of the National Gallery of Art. Funds for construction were given by Paul Mellon and the late Ailsa Mellon Bruce, the son and daughter of the founder, and by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The contemporary building was designed to accommodate the Gallery's growing collections and houses an advanced research center, administrative offices, a great library, and a burgeoning collection of drawings and prints. President Jimmy Carter accepted the new building on behalf of the nation in this speech recorded on June 1, 1978.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States of America. The National Gallery of Art was created on March 17, 1937, by a joint resolution of Congress, accepting the gift of financier and art collector Andrew W. Mellon. Designed by John Russell Pope, the West Building was made possible by construction funds provided by the A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust. In this speech, recorded on March 17, 1941, during an evening of ceremonies attended by 8,822 people, President Franklin D. Roosevelt accepts the completed West Building of the National Gallery of Art and the art collection of Andrew W. Mellon on behalf of the people of the United States.

Kerry James Marshall, artist. Kerry James Marshall is a master of the human figure. His imposing, radiant paintings and installations draw equally upon African American history and the history of Western art. Born in 1955 in Birmingham, Alabama, he moved with his family to the town of Watts in 1963, shortly before the race riots began. At Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles he studied with social realist painter Charles White. Marshall's mature career can be dated to 1980, when, inspired by Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, he developed his signature motif of a dark, near-silhouetted figure. This figure of "extreme blackness," as he puts it, has been important for younger artists including Glenn Ligon and Kara Walker. In honor of the Gallery's acquisition of its first painting, Great America (1994), by the artist last year, Marshall presented the 19th annual Elson Lecture, titled The Importance of Being Figurative, on March 22, 2012.

David Cannadine, director and professor, Institute of Historical Research, University of London To celebrate the landmark publication Mellon: An American Life, David Cannadine inaugurated and concluded his U.S. book tour at the National Gallery of Art with lectures on the founding benefactor of the Gallery, Andrew W. Mellon (1855-1937). In this second lecture recorded on December 9, 2006, Cannadine concentrates on Mellon's art collecting as his only nonprofessional gratification, and his great gift of the Gallery to the nation. His son Paul Mellon commissioned this biography in the mid-1990s to document the magnitude and range of his father's contributions to American history. Preeminent in the diverse fields of business, politics, art collecting, and philanthropy, Mellon was one of the greatest art collectors and philanthropists of his generation. According to Cannadine, the Gallery remains Mellon's culminating and most tangible legacy, although he did not live to see its completion and dedication on March 17, 1941.

Joel Shapiro, artist. Following the installation of Joel Shapiro's Untitled (1989) in the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden with other major post-World War II sculptures, the artist received an invitation to curate an exhibition of his work alongside the 19th-century sculpture of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux. In this podcast recorded on March 9, 2003, Shapiro explains that the upcoming exhibition gave him on opportunity to focus on the continuity of thought in sculpture. Although certain ideas for form in sculpture seem radical and contemporary, their ideas have already been discovered and worked with in earlier times. Shapiro finds that the development of form seems to repeat itself, although it is ever-changing, more or less focused, and contextualized by the era in which it was created.

David Cannadine, director and professor, Institute of Historical Research, University of London. David Cannadine launched the U.S. book tour for his landmark publication, Mellon: An American Life- the first commissioned biography of the great American industrialist and founding benefactor of the National Gallery of Art, Andrew W. Mellon- on October 8, 2006, at the National Gallery of Art. Mellon was born in Pittsburgh in 1855 and over time established himself as preeminent in four different fields: business, politics, art collecting, and philanthropy. He died in 1937. In this lecture, Cannadine describes Mellon's life and work before creating the Gallery as a gift to the nation- "from the smokestacks of Pittsburgh to the matchless, stripped neoclassical [West] Building." In explaining the magnitude and range of Mellon's contribution to American history, Cannadine starts with his business career as banker and creator of iconic American companies, and his political career as Secretary of the Treasury (1921-1932) and U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain (1932-1933). Cannadine finished his tour with a second lecture at the Gallery on December 9, 2006. This second lecture, titled Andrew W. Mellon: Collecting for the Nation, focused on Mellon's art collecting and philanthropy, and on the Gallery as the culminating and most enduring endeavor of his life.

Mary Morton, curator and head of the department of French paintings, National Gallery of Art. Curator Mary Morton celebrates the reinstallation of the impressionist and post-impressionist paintings galleries in the West Building of the National Gallery of Art in this lecture recorded on January 29, 2012. Among the world's great collections of paintings by Cézanne, Gauguin, Manet, Monet, Renoir, and Van Gogh, the Gallery's nineteenth-century French paintings are recently back on view after a two-year period of gallery repair, restoration, and renovation. Morton discusses the new installation and its thematic, monographic, and art historical organization.

Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art. To coincide with the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday weekend, Ruth Fine describes the history and growth of the collection of works on paper by African American artists at the National Gallery of Art in this podcast recorded on January 16, 2011. The Gallery owns approximately 70,000 prints and 30,000 drawings, all of which have been acquired by donation or purchased with donated funds. The Gallery, which opened to the public in 1941, acquired its first works by African American artists in 1943, which is the starting point of Fine's presentation. She tracks the collection's riches by the chronological order in which the drawings and prints entered the collection. The earliest of them are Edward Loper's contributions to the Index of American Design, acquired in 1943, with the most recent being Norma Gloria Morgan's etching and aquatint Turning Forms, added in 2010. Throughout the lecture, Fine suggests the unique ability of works on paper to reveal much about an artist's thought processes.

Program: Music by Gershwin, Milhaud, Porter, Stravinsky, and other composers. To honor From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection, violinist Bruno Nasta and pianist Danielle Hahn called upon clarinetist David Neithamer, bassist Jonathan Nazdin, and pianist Ronald Chiles to join them for performances of works that music historians now recognize as belonging to the "modern" period in music. The ensemble played a suite for violin, clarinet, and piano by Darius Milhaud; Stravinsky's famous Soldier's Tale; and a medley of songs by Gershwin and other Broadway composers, noting that Gershwin and Chester Dale knew each other personally.

Program: Music by Praetorius and arrangements of traditional carols. Founded in 1990, Ensemble Galilei has made a name for itself through innovative chamber music concerts that incorporate images and words as well as music. Taking a cue from programs that the ensemble presented with curators at the National Geographic Society and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gallery music department head Stephen Ackert combined the ensemble's holiday repertoire with images of paintings from the Gallery's permanent collection, which have in past years been featured on Christmas stamps issued by the Unites States Postal Service.

Ann Hamilton, artist. On September 16, 2011, Ann Hamilton presented a lecture on her nearly 30-year career as part of the Diamonstein-Spielvogel Lecture Series at the National Gallery of Art. Hamilton has made multimedia installations with stunning qualities and quantities of materials: a room lined with small canvas dummies, a table spread with human and animal teeth, the artist herself wearing a man's suit covered in a layer of thousands of toothpicks. Along the way, she has constantly set and reset the course of contemporary art. Often using sound, found objects, and the spoken and written word, as well as photography and video, her objects and environments invite us to embark on sensory and metaphorical explorations of time, language, and memory. Textiles and fabric have consistently played an important role in her performances and installations—whether she is considering clothing as a membrane or (more recently) treating architecture itself as a kind of skin. The Gallery owns fifteen works by the artist, including photographs, prints, sculptures, and a video installation.

Nancy Graves and Donald Saff, artists, in conversation with Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art. Artists Nancy Graves and Donald Saff, artist and founding director of Graphicstudio, discuss the formation of the Graphicstudio archive at the National Gallery of Art with Ruth Fine in this podcast recorded on October 6, 1991. This program was held in honor of the exhibition Graphicstudio: Contemporary Art from the Collaborative Workshop at the University of South Florida, which was on view from September 15, 1991, to January 5, 1992, and for which Graves completed her most recent work, Canoptic Legerdemain. The archive consists of 140 paintings, photographs, sculptures, and works in other media created by 24 artists who worked in collaboration with Graphicstudio's printers and artisans.

Roy Lichtenstein, artist, in conversation with Jack Cowart, curator of 20th-century art, National Gallery of Art; introduction by Ruth Fine, curator of the department of graphic arts, National Gallery of Art. American artist Roy Lichtenstein appears in conversation with curator Jack Cowart to celebrate the exhibition Gemini G.E.L.: Art and Collaboration, on view at the National Gallery of Art from November 18, 1984, to February 24, 1985. In this recording from January 27, 1985, Lichtenstein discusses some of his 134 prints in the Gemini G.E.L. collection. Gemini G.E.L. (Graphic Edition Limited) is an artists' workshop and publisher of hand-printed limited-edition lithographs. Gemini G.E.L. played a pivotal role in the formation of the Gallery's contemporary collection when Sidney B. Felsen and Stanley Grinstein, owners of Gemini, donated 256 prints and sculpture editions by 22 contemporary American artists working at Gemini G.E.L. of Los Angeles. The archive collection now has more than 1,200 works, establishing the Gallery as a primary research center in the field of contemporary graphic art and edition sculpture.

Maygene Daniels, Chief of Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art. On March 17, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt accepted the completed West Building of the National Gallery of Art and the collection of financier and art collector Andrew W. Mellon on behalf of the people of the United States. To commemorate the 70th anniversary of this event, Maygene Daniels presented this lecture on March 17, 2011. Daniels provides a comprehensive and fascinating overview of the Gallery's past seven decades, including the opening of the East Building on June 1, 1978, when President Jimmy Carter accepted it on behalf of the nation; and the May 23, 1999, opening of the 6.1-acre Sculpture Garden. Blockbuster exhibitions and visits by celebrities, royalty, and heads of state are also highlighted.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude, artists To celebrate the opening of the exhibition Christo and Jeanne-Claude in the Vogel Collection on February 3, 2002, at the National Gallery of Art, artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude discussed their realized and non-realized projects. Featuring 72 works representing four decades of the artists' careers, the exhibition included preparatory drawings, collages, scale models for proposed large-scale works, and photographs of completed projects. In this podcast, the artists share their thoughts on The Gates, Project for Central Park, New York City; Wrapped Reichstag, Berlin; and Valley Curtain, Grand Hogback, Rifle, Colorado.

Jim Dine, artist, in conversation with Judith Brodie, curator of modern prints and drawings, National Gallery of Art. In the first of two appearances at the National Gallery of Art to celebrate the Drawings of Jim Dine exhibition, Jim Dine participated in the annual Elson Lecture Series with Judith Brodie on March 16, 2004. Dine begins by discussing his life as an artist, the formative events in his career, and the emotional and romantic qualities entailed in the act of drawing. A consummate draftsman, Dine explains that "drawing is not an exercise. Exercise is sitting on a stationary bicycle and going nowhere. Drawing is being on a bicycle and taking a journey. For me to succeed in drawing, I must go fast and arrive somewhere. The quest is to keep the thing alive..."

Sam Gilliam, artist, in conversation with Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art. For the 10th annual Elson Lecture, recorded on April 28, 2003, at the National Gallery of Art, Sam Gilliam discussed his artistic training at the University of Louisville (BFA 1955, MFA 1961) and his DC-based career since 1962. In conversation with Ruth Fine, Gilliam explained his transition from an expressionistic figurative style to the abstract painting associated with the Washington Color School. His painting took on several three-dimensional formats, starting with his draped canvases that eschewed the use of stretchers to take their own forms in space. By 2003, Gilliam's work had been the subject of more than 30 solo exhibitions internationally and was represented in dozens of museum collections and public installations. His painting titled Relative (1969) was acquired by the Gallery in 1994.

Andy Goldsworthy, artist. Two weeks after finishing his site-specific installation, Roof, on the Ground Level of the East Building of the National Gallery of Art, British artist Andy Goldsworthy returned to the Gallery to present the Elson Lecture on March 17, 2005. His lecture describes the working process involved for his concurrent exhibitions The Andy Goldsworthy Project and Andy Goldsworthy: Roof, which first showed the permanent sculpture of nine stacked slate domes, completed over the course of nine weeks in the winter of 2004-2005. Goldsworthy notes that the installation required him to stay in one place longer than he had in nearly 20 years. As an artist who uses natural materials to create both ephemeral work in landscapes and permanent sculptures, Goldsworthy explains his interest in change and the value of returning to the same place to get deeper and deeper into it.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude, artists. Artists Christo (b. 1935) and Jeanne-Claude (1935-2009) redefined the artistic practice by taking their art out of a museum setting and into urban and natural environments. In this podcast recorded on March 13, 2002, the pair makes their second appearance at the Gallery while the exhibition Christo and Jeanne-Claude in the Vogel Collection was on view. By examining their past and future projects, Christo and Jeanne-Claude explain how the communal construction efforts and the temporary status of their installations have contributed to their impressive qualities.

Wayne Thiebaud, artist. American artist and teacher Wayne Thiebaud discusses the important differences between "painting" and "art" in this podcast recorded on March 1, 2000, at the National Gallery of Art. This lecture was held in conjunction with the exhibition Twentieth-Century American Art: The Ebsworth Collection, on view at the Gallery from March 5 through June 11, 2000, which featured Thiebaud's Bakery Counter (1962). Emblematic of his signature commentary on mass culture, Bakery Counter compliments the Gallery's own Cakes (1963), purchased as a gift to commemorate the Gallery's 50th anniversary in 1991.

Ellsworth Kelly, artist, in conversation with Marla Prather, curator and head of the department of 20th-century art, National Gallery of Art. Contemporary artist Ellsworth Kelly joins curator Marla Prather in this podcast recorded on April 21, 1999, at the National Gallery of Art. Spanning more than 60 years, Kelly's career has shown commitment to abstraction and humanism. His intuitive ability to merge space, color, and shape has positioned him as one of the leading post-war American artists working today. The Gallery has more than 200 works by Kelly in its collection including paintings, prints, and sculptures. Kelly's Stele II was one of the 17 major works to be included in the Gallery's Sculpture Garden when it first opened a month after this Elson Lecture program.

Terry Winters, artist. A prodigious painter, draftsman, and printmaker, Terry Winters has pushed the boundaries of modern art while he has maintained a keen sense of its history and craft. In this podcast recorded on April 14, 2011, for the Elson Lecture Series at the National Gallery of Art, Winters explains his use of the "low-tech, shape-shifting capabilities" of paint, as he puts it, to engage the complex experience of a high-tech world. The Gallery owns two important paintings by Winters: Bitumen (1986) and Composition (1991).

I. M. Pei, architect, in conversation with Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art Legendary architect I. M. Pei appears in conversation with Gallery director Earl A. Powell III to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the opening of the East Building of the National Gallery of Art. In this podcast recorded on March 26, 1998, Pei discusses the evolution of the East Building's design and construction from the time Pei was awarded the commission until the building was dedicated by President Jimmy Carter on June 1, 1978.

Elizabeth Murray, artist, in conversation with Marla Prather, curator and head of the department of 20th century art, National Gallery of Art. Elizabeth Murray (1940-2007) is one of the few artists to be credited with both rehabilitating the abstract movement and bringing new energy to figuration. Her sculpted canvases blur the line between the painting as an object and the painting as a space for depicting objects. In this podcast recorded on October 9, 1996, at the National Gallery of Art, Murray discusses her personal connection to painting with curator Marla Prather and how being a woman in a field generally dominated by men has influenced her work.

Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, artists. Working in collaboration since 1976, husband and wife artists Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen (1942-2009) redefined the nature of outdoor sculpture in public spaces. In this podcast recorded on October 12, 1995, at the National Gallery of Art, Oldenburg and Van Bruggen discuss the design and installation of their larger-than-life sculptures. These works have been installed all over the world and have become iconic images of large-scale public art. This program was presented in conjunction with the traveling exhibition Claes Oldenburg: An Anthology, which was on view at the Gallery from February 12 to May 7, 1995.

Roy Lichtenstein, artist, in conversation with Robert Rosenblum, professor of art history, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and the Stephen and Nan Swid Curator of 20th-Century Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York American artist Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) appears in conversation with art historian and curator Robert Rosenblum in this podcast recorded on October 26, 1994, at the National Gallery of Art. Lichtenstein discusses his career and life as an artist, and the impact that his art has had on popular culture. Rosenblum notes that Lichtenstein turned the popular into the elite and that the popular, in turn, turned Lichtenstein into the popular. This program coincided with the traveling exhibition The Prints of Roy Lichtenstein, the first comprehensive survey of the artist's prints in more than two decades, which was on view at the Gallery from October 30, 1994, to January 8, 1995.

Frank Stella, artist. In this podcast recorded on October 27, 1993, at the National Gallery of Art, leading contemporary artist Frank Stella delivers the first annual Elson Lecture. Regarded as one of the foremost postwar American artists, Stella has pursued his career over five decades, creating prints, sculpture, and works on canvas. Stella discusses the current state of painting and how his own creative process is influenced by inspirational lessons from art of the past. The Gallery owns more than 140 works by Stella, including eight major paintings.

Daphne Barbour, senior conservator, department of object conservation, National Gallery of Art; Suzanne G. Lindsay, adjunct associate professor in the history of art, University of Pennsylvania; and Shelley Sturman, senior conservator and head of the department of object conservation, National Gallery of Art. This podcast, recorded on January 30, 2011, celebrates the publication of Edgar Degas Sculpture, The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue, which documents the Gallery's collection of the artist's lifetime sculptures—the largest of its kind in the world. Catalogue authors Daphne Barbour, Suzanne Lindsay, and Shelley Sturman present their contributions to the landmark publication, including essays on Degas' life and work, his sculptural technique and materials, and the story of the sculptures after his death. The technical analysis reveals that Degas usually built his own armatures from wires, wood, and metal pins, and formed the sculptures over them and fillers he had at hand: cork stoppers, paper, rope, rags, and even discarded objects such as the lid of a saltshaker.

Andy Goldsworthy, artist. Held in conjunction with the exhibitions The Andy Goldsworthy Project and Andy Goldsworthy: Roof, Andy Goldsworthy spoke about his career and current projects in this podcast recorded on January 23, 2005, at the National Gallery of Art. Goldsworthy has gained worldwide renown for works both ephemeral and permanent that draw out the endemic character of a place. The artist employs natural materials such as leaves, sand, ice, and stone that often originate from the site of the project. Roof, a site-specific sculpture, consists of nine hollow, low-profile domes of stacked slate, each with a centered oculus, that run the length of the ground-level garden area on the north side of the Gallery's East Building. Goldsworthy selected the dome form as a counterpoint to the many architectural domes in Washington, DC. The Andy Goldsworthy Project catalogue is available for purchase in the Gallery Shop.

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of northern baroque paintings, National Gallery of Art. In this podcast recorded on November 28, 2010, at the National Gallery of Art, Arthur Wheelock reveals the provenance of various Dutch masterpieces that hang in the West Building galleries. Wheelock explores the growth of the Dutch collection from the time the Gallery opened in 1941 to the present day, when it is considered one of the most celebrated collections of Dutch paintings in the world.

Daphne Barbour, senior object conservator, and Shelley Sturman, head of object conservation, National Gallery of Art. The National Gallery of Art holds the greatest collection in the world of original wax sculptures created by Edgar Degas. Celebrating the publication of the Gallery's newest Systematic Catalogue, Edgar Degas Sculpture, Shelley Sturman and Daphne Barbour, two of the authors who are senior conservators, discuss their extensive research on the art, history, and techniques of the Gallery's unsurpassed collection of 52 works in wax, clay, and plaster, as well as a dozen posthumously cast bronzes.

Robert Gober, artist, in conversation with Harry Cooper, curator and head of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art. For 25 years the sculptural and pictorial installations of American artist Robert Gober have proved difficult to ignore, assimilate, or forget. In this podcast, recorded on March 27, 2008, at the National Gallery of Art, Gober speaks with Harry Cooper. They discuss Gober's life as an artist and the consistently unpredictable and affecting nature of his oeuvre, which has had singular importance for contemporary art.

Held in conjunction with the exhibition American Modernism: The Shein Collection, on view at the National Gallery of Art from May 16, 2010, to January 2, 2011, this public symposium provides an analysis of the paintings, sculptures, and drawings created by the first generation of American avant-garde artists. In this podcast recorded on November 6, 2010, noted scholars Michael C. FitzGerald, Didier Ottinger, Debra Bricker Balken, Carol Troyen, and Jay Bochner present illustrated lectures that chronicle the advent of the modernist movement.

Maygene Daniels, chief of Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, and Dorothy and Herbert Vogel, collectors. Dorothy and Herbert Vogel have amassed one of the greatest collections of minimal, conceptual, and post-minimal art in the world, acquiring works by some of the most important contemporary artists of our time. Daniels spoke with the Vogels about the 231 artist postcards in their collection—the personalized cards and other items that artists mailed to them, often with drawings, sketches, as well as personal messages.

Program: Music by Glass and Szymanski. The Del Sol String quartet plays music by Philip Glass and Pawel Szymanski in honor of the exhibition The Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection: Selected Works. Two-time winner of the Chamber Music America/ASCAP First Prize for Adventurous Programming, the San Francisco-based Del Sol String Quartet has received enthusiastic response from critics and audiences for its lively interpretation of new music. Their concert at the National Gallery was presented in celebration of the Meyerhoff Collection and late twentieth-century American masters.

Dorothy and Herbert Vogel, collectors, in conversation with Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art. New York art collectors Dorothy and Herbert Vogel discuss the genesis of their extraordinary art collection with curator Ruth Fine in this podcast recorded on Sunday, November 16, 2008, at the National Gallery of Art. Over a 45-year period, the Vogels collected 4,782 works of art and stored them in their one-bedroom New York apartment. In 1991, the National Gallery of Art acquired a portion of their collection, through partial purchase and gift from the Vogels, which consists largely of minimal and conceptual art. In 2008, the Vogels and the National Gallery of Art, with assistance from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, launched a national gifts program titled The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States in 2008. The program distributed 2,500 works from the Vogels' collection throughout the nation, with 50 works going to a selected art institution in each of the 50 states.

Leo Villareal, artist, in conversation with Molly Donovan, associate curator of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art. In this podcast recorded on September 7, 2008, at the National Gallery of Art, American artist Leo Villareal and curator Molly Donovan discuss Villareal's Multiverse installation, which occupies the Concourse walkway between the East and West Buildings of the National Gallery of Art. Installed between September and December of 2008, Multiverse is one of the largest and most complex light sculptures created by the artist, featuring approximately 41,000 computer-programmed LED (light-emitting diode) nodes that run through channels along the 200-foot-long space.

Joseph Baillio, Gail Feigenbaum, Francis Gage, John Oliver Hand, Benedict Leca, Richard Rand, Pauline Maguire Robison, and Elizabeth Walmsley. This podcast recorded on January 24, 2010, celebrates the launch of the National Gallery's 18th systematic catalogue, French Paintings of the 15th through the 18th Century. Eight contributing authors highlight masterpieces in the Gallery's collection of old master French paintings—one of the most important collections of its kind outside France. Lavishly illustrated, with commentary written by leading scholars, this book shares the fruits of years of research and technical analysis. It catalogues nearly 100 paintings from works by François Clouet in the 16th century to paintings by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun in the 18th.

Program: Music by Hassler, Isaac, Senfl, and other German Renaissance composers. Amarcord, one of Germany's outstanding male vocal ensembles, sings a special program of Renaissance music to complement the works by German and Netherlandish Renaissance masters in the Gallery's collection. The internationally acclaimed five-voice male ensemble draws from its repertoire of music by Hans Leo Hassler, Heinrich Isaac, Ludwig Senfl, and other Renaissance composers.

James Turrell, artist. James Turrell began working in the 1960s, when many artists abandoned conventional painting and sculpture for new media and an expanded definition of art practice. In this podcast recorded on April 7, 2002, at the National Gallery of Art, Turrell discusses the four decades of his career spent creating installations based on the pure experience of artificial and natural light. His work, which ranges in scale from single rooms to the vast, complex Roden crater project in Arizona, has established him as one of the most original visionary artists of our time.

Rachel Whiteread, artist, in conversation with Molly Donovan, associate curator of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art. British sculptor Rachel Whiteread has enjoyed international acclaim for her provocative sculptural practices. Beginning in the early 1990s with positive casts of empty architectural spaces and household objects, Whiteread has continued to articulate typically unseen, immaterial space in increasingly public settings. Her breakthrough work, Ghost (1990), was given to the National Gallery of Art in 2004 by the Glenstone Foundation. In this podcast recorded on October 12, 2008, at the National Gallery of Art, Rachel Whiteread and Gallery curator Molly Donovan discuss all aspects of Whiteread's career, with a particular focus on Ghost.

Mel Bochner, artist, in conversation with Jeffrey Weiss, curator and head of the department of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art. Mel Bochner is one of the most prominent figures of the minimal and conceptual art generation. In this podcast recorded on March 11, 2007, at the National Gallery of Art, he discusses his body of work, which spans 40 years and includes painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, film, and installation, with Gallery curator Jeffrey Weiss. This podcast honors the Gallery's acquisition of Bochner's painting Theory of Boundaries (1969-1970).

Byron Kim, artist, and Molly Donovan, associate curator of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art. In this podcast recorded on January 10, 2010, at the National Gallery of Art, Molly Donovan and Byron Kim discuss Synecdoche, a watershed work that is a continuing project of portraiture recently acquired by and installed at the Gallery. Synecdoche consists of more than 400 10 x 8 inch panels, each painted a single hue that is meant to record the skin tone of individual sitters. Kim and Donovan also examine Kim's exploration of abstract painting, color, human identity, and existence.

Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art, and collectors Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Dorothy and Herbert Vogel have amassed one of the greatest collections of minimal, conceptual, and post-minimal art in the world, acquiring works by some of the most important contemporary artists of our time. Curator Ruth Fine spoke with the Vogels two years after they announced The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States project, which distributed their vast collection across the country for all to enjoy. In this podcast, the Vogels relate stories from the recipient museums and their special exhibitions celebrating the gifts.

Nancy Anderson, curator, American and British paintings, National Gallery of Art, and Charles Brock, associate curator, American and British paintings, National Gallery of Art. Distinguished by a rigorous focus on leading artists from the first generation of American modernists, the Shein Collection is one of the nation's foremost private collections of works from this movement. Curators Nancy Anderson and Charlie Brock discuss the importance of these artists in the development of modernism in the United States and Europe during the 20th century, on the occasion of the exhibition American Modernism: The Shein Collection.

Brice Marden, artist, in conversation with Harry Cooper, curator and head of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art, Washington. As part of the Diamonstein-Spielvogel Lecture Series at the National Gallery of Art, artist Brice Marden joined Harry Cooper, the Gallery's curator and head of the department of modern and contemporary art, to discuss the evolution of his career and the influence of his contemporaries on his work. In this podcast, recorded on November 22, 2009, Marden and Cooper also discuss five paintings and two drawings by Marden in the Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection, promised gifts to the National Gallery.

Harry Cooper, curator and head of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art, in conversation with Susan Rothenberg, artist. Over the past 30 years, Susan Rothenberg has done more than any other living artist to expand the poetic and painterly possibilities of her craft. In this podcast recorded on March 25, 2010, for the Elson Lecture Series at the National Gallery of Art, Rothenberg and curator Harry Cooper discuss her life and career in painting. The Gallery has two important paintings by Rothenberg in its collection: Butterfly (1976), currently on loan to the White House, and Head within Head (1978).

Nicholas Penny, director, The National Gallery, London. On March 7, 2010, the National Gallery of Art welcomed back former senior curator of sculpture Nicholas Penny, now director of the National Gallery, London. In this podcast, Penny discusses the sculptural masterpieces in the exhibition The Sacred Made Real-in particular, Francisco Antonio Gijón's magnificent Saint John of the Cross, which the Gallery purchased during Penny's tenure in Washington.

Kimberly A. Jones, associate curator, department of French paintings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, and chef Michel Richard of Citronelle and Central in Washington, DC. Inspired by the exhibition From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection, renowned chef Michel Richard created a special menu of classic French dishes for the National Gallery's Garden Café. In this podcast, produced to celebrate the Garden Café Français, Richard talks to Jones about the paintings that inspired this menu and his lifelong love of art.

Kimberly A. Jones, conservateur, département des peintures françaises, National Gallery of Art, Washington, et Chef Michel Richard de Citronelle et Central, à Washington, DC. Inspiré par l'exposition « De l'impressionnisme à Modernisme : La Collection Chester Dale », le chef célèbre Michel Richard a créé un menu spéciale des plats classiques de la cuisine française pour le Garden Café de la National Gallery. Dans ce podcast, produit pour célèbrer le Garden Café Français, Richard parle à Jones au sujet des peintures qui ont inspirées ce menu et son amour endurant de l'art.

Maygene Daniels, chief of Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, and Franklin Kelly, deputy director, National Gallery of Art. The 1962 bequest of Wall Street investor Chester Dale made the National Gallery of Art one of the leading repositories in North America of French art of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The exhibition features some 80 of the finest European and American paintings that Dale and his wife Maud, an artist and critic, avidly assembled from the 1920s through the 1950s. In the second of this two-part podcast series, produced on the occasion of the exhibition, Franklin Kelly talks with archivist Maygene Daniels about the personalities behind this important collection.

Wall Street investor Chester Dale's 1962 bequest made the National Gallery of Art one of the leading repositories in North America of French art of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The exhibition features 81 of the finest European and American paintings that Dale and his wife Maud, an artist and critic, avidly assembled from the 1920s through the 1950s. In the first of this two-part podcast series, produced on the occasion of the exhibition, Franklin Kelly talks to curator Kimberly Jones about how these masterpieces come together as an extraordinary collection.

Molly Donovan, associate curator, department of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art, Washington. In 2009 the National Gallery of Art commissioned American sculptor Roxy Paine to create a stainless steel Dendroid, as the artist calls his series of treelike sculptures, for the Sculpture Garden. In this podcast produced on the occasion of the completed work-the first contemporary sculpture installed in the Sculpture Garden in the nearly 10 years since it opened-associate curator Donovan talks to host Barbara Tempchin about Graft.

Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art, Washington. The prints of Jasper Johns are heralded for their beauty as well as their conceptual and psychological complexity. A group of the artist's working proofs-prints pulled during the working process on which Johns made drawn and painted additions, recently acquired from the artist by the National Gallery of Art-are showcased here as independent works of art for the first time. On the occasion of the exhibition, curator Fine talks to host Barbara Tempchin about this extraordinary body of work.

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator, northern baroque painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Dutch artist Hendrick ter Brugghen (1588-1629) is the most important of the Utrecht Caravaggisti, artists who traveled to Rome in the early decades of the 17th century, and who returned to Utrecht having embraced the radical stylistic and thematic ideas of Caravaggio. In this podcast produced on the occasion of a new acquisition, Wheelock talks to host Barbara Tempchin about Ter Brugghen's Bagpipe Player, the first painting of this stylistic group to enter the Gallery's collection.

Margaret Morgan Grasselli, curator, old master drawings, National Gallery of Art, Washington. The National Gallery of Art's collection of French old master drawings is remarkable for its breadth, depth, and individual masterpieces. In the third Behind the Scenes podcast produced on the occasion of the exhibition Renaissance to Revolution: French Drawings from the National Gallery of Art, 1500-1800, Grasselli talks to host Barbara Tempchin about how this collection has grown since 1942.

Margaret Morgan Grasselli, curator, old master drawings, National Gallery of Art, Washington. The National Gallery of Art's collection of French old master drawings is remarkable for its breadth, depth, and individual masterpieces. In the second Behind the Scenes podcast produced on the occasion of the exhibition Renaissance to Revolution: French Drawings from the National Gallery of Art, 1500-1800, Grasselli talks to host Barbara Tempchin about the Gallery's exceptionally rich collection of 18th-century drawings by the major artists-Boucher, Fragonard, Greuze, and Watteau, among many others-each represented by several works of outstanding quality.

Margaret Morgan Grasselli, curator, old master drawings, National Gallery of Art, Washington. The National Gallery of Art's collection of French old master drawings is remarkable for its breadth, depth, and individual masterpieces. In the first podcast produced on the occasion of the exhibition Renaissance to Revolution: French Drawings from the National Gallery of Art, 1500-1800, Grasselli talks to host Barbara Tempchin about delicate, rare works from the 16th century and extraordinary images of French classicism from the 17th century.

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of northern baroque painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, and Frima Fox Hofrichter, professor of the history of art and design, Pratt Institute, New York. Dutch artist Judith Leyster's 400th birthday is celebrated at the Gallery with an exhibition of 10 of her most engaging paintings, joined by some 20 works by 17th-century contemporaries, as well as musical instruments of the period depicted in the art. In the first of this three-part podcast, produced on the occasion of the exhibition, Gallery curator Arthur Wheelock talks to Leyster scholar Frima Fox Hofrichter about the range of Leyster's work, beginning with her renowned Self-Portrait, c. 1632-1633, from the Gallery's permanent collection.

Paul G. Sanderson III, filmmaker and Gregory C. Schwarz, chief of interpretation, Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site. The monumental plaster model for one of the greatest works of American sculpture, Augustus Saint-Gaudens' Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment, is on view in the National Gallery of Art. In this podcast, Schwarz of the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, New Hampshire, talks to filmmaker Sanderson about his new documentary exploring the life and work of one of America's most renowned sculptors.

Harry Cooper, curator, modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art For more than five decades Guston explored ways to paint, from the mural art of the Depression through midcentury abstract expressionism to a raw new imagery beginning in 1968. His shocking return to figuration in that year, influenced by comics and politics, paved the way for numerous developments in contemporary art. In this Backstory podcast, produced as the Gallery opens the first in a new series of special focus exhibitions, "In the Tower," Cooper talks to host Barbara Tempchin about the paintings, prints, and drawings on view, which chart Guston's career from 1949 to 1980.

Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art, and collectors Dorothy and Herbert Vogel. Dorothy and Herbert Vogel have amassed one of the greatest collections of minimal, conceptual, and post-minimal art in the world, acquiring works by some of the most important contemporary artists of our time, including Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Sol LeWitt, Richard Tuttle, and Pat Steir. Curator of special projects in modern art, Ruth Fine, spoke with the Vogels shortly after they announced The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States project, which will distribute their vast collection across the country for all to enjoy. In the final part of this three-part podcast, the Vogels discuss the impact they hope their project will have on the arts nationwide.

Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art, and collectors Dorothy and Herbert Vogel. Dorothy and Herbert Vogel have amassed one of the greatest collections of minimal, conceptual, and post-minimal art in the world, acquiring works by some of the most important contemporary artists of our time, including Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Sol LeWitt, Richard Tuttle, and Pat Steir. Curator of special projects in modern art, Ruth Fine, spoke with the Vogels shortly after they announced The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States Project, which will distribute their vast collection across the country for all to enjoy. In the second part of this three-part podcast, the Vogels discuss their choice of the National Gallery of Art for their collection.

Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art, and collectors Dorothy and Herbert Vogel. Dorothy and Herbert Vogel have amassed one of the greatest collections of minimal, conceptual, and post-minimal art in the world, acquiring works by some of the most important contemporary artists of our time, including Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Sol LeWitt, Richard Tuttle, and Pat Steir. Curator of special projects in modern art, Ruth Fine, spoke with the Vogels shortly after they announced The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States Project, which will distribute their vast collection across the country for all to enjoy. In part one of this three-part podcast, the Vogels discuss how they met, and how they started collecting art.

Neal Turtell, executive librarian, National Gallery of Art. Artists in the 19th and early 20th century had access to more up-to-date information about art technique and technology than any generation before. Tools of the Trade-in the National Gallery of Art library-offers a fascinating look back in time. The display complements In the Forest of Fontainebleau: Painters and Photographers from Corot to Monet, a showcase of 19th-century landscapes created in the famous forest south of Paris. Executive librarian Neal Turtell talks with NGA Backstory host, Barbara Tempchin, about Tools of the Trade. Produced in conjunction with the exhibition In the Forest of Fontainebleau: Painters and Photographers from Corot to Monet.

New York collectors Dorothy and Herbert Vogel, with the assistance of the National Gallery of Art, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, have launched a national gifts program entitled 'The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States.' It is distributing 2,500 works from the Vogels' collection of contemporary art throughout the nation, with fifty works going to a selected art institution in each of the fifty states.

Maygene Daniels, chief of Gallery Archives. From its inception, the design of the West Building of the National Gallery of Art was inspired by Italian tradition in art and architecture. The Gallery's collection of Italian paintings is considered to be among the finest in the world, and John Russell Pope's neoclassical design is reminiscent of ancient Rome's Pantheon. In this podcast, host Barbara Tempchin and Gallery chief archivist Maygene Daniels talk about the enduring link between Italian traditions and the National Gallery of Art.

Charles Ritchie, associate curator of modern prints and drawings, National Gallery of Art, and Mary Lynn Kotz, Rauschenberg biographer. Robert Rauschenberg has consistently created vital art for more than 50 years. Now working from a wheelchair after a series of strokes, Rauschenberg continues to produce new art. In the last episode of this four-part series, Gallery curator Charles Ritchie and Rauschenberg biographer Mary Lynn Kotz discuss his current work-the Lotus series-and reveal how his ROCI series got its name. Produced in conjunction with the exhibition Let the World In: Prints by Robert Rauschenberg from the National Gallery of Art and Related Collections.

Charles Ritchie, associate curator of modern prints and drawings, National Gallery of Art, and Mary Lynn Kotz, Rauschenberg biographer. Robert Rauschenberg has consistently created vital art for more than 50 years and family relationships have been influential. In the third episode of this four-part series, Gallery curator Charles Ritchie and Rauschenberg biographer Mary Lynn Kotz discuss the role that the artist's parents played in his becoming an artist, and how his strained relationship with his father affected his art. Produced in conjunction with the exhibition Let the World In: Prints by Robert Rauschenberg from the National Gallery of Art and Related Collections.

Charles Ritchie, associate curator of modern prints and drawings, National Gallery of Art, and Mary Lynn Kotz, Rauschenberg biographer. Robert Rauschenberg has consistently created vital art for more than 50 years. Everything from newspaper clippings to family images is crucial to his work. In the second episode of this four-part series, Gallery curator Charles Ritchie and Rauschenberg biographer May Lynn Kotz discuss how Rauschenberg's art has always incorporated both personal and global references. Produced in conjunction with the exhibition Let the World In: Prints by Robert Rauschenberg from the National Gallery of Art and Related Collections.

Charles Ritchie, associate curator of modern prints and drawings, National Gallery of Art, and Mary Lynn Kotz, Rauschenberg biographer. Robert Rauschenberg has consistently created vital art for more than 50 years. In the first episode of this four-part series, Gallery curator Charles Ritchie and Rauschenberg biographer Mary Lynn Kotz discuss why the artist chose printmaking as a favorite medium and why collaboration has been central to his creative process. Produced in conjunction with the exhibition Let the World In: Prints by Robert Rauschenberg from the National Gallery of Art and Related Collections.

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of northern baroque paintings, National Gallery of Art. Why do so many people love Dutch paintings? Whether it is the stunning landscapes, the seemingly familiar portraits, or the lush still lifes, these centuries-old paintings still resonate today. In the second part of this Backstory episode, curator Arthur Wheelock and host Barbara Tempchin discuss the National Gallery of Art Dutch paintings collection, how it grew, and the recent acquisition of a Salomon van Ruysdael masterpiece.

Nicholas Penny, senior curator of sculpture and decorative arts, National Gallery of Art, and Dylan Smith, Robert H. Smith Research Conservator, National Gallery of Art. Robert H. Smith has amassed one of the most important private collections of Renaissance sculptures in the world. The Smith collection includes bronzes by masters such as Antico, Giovanni Bologna, and Antonio Susini, as well as eye-catching works in ivory and boxwood. Nicholas Penny-in his last podcast as National Gallery of Art curator of sculpture and decorative arts before he assumes directorship of the National Gallery, London-talks to Robert H. Smith Research Conservator Dylan Smith about these beautiful works of art, their composition, and how they were made.

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of northern baroque paintings, National Gallery of Art. Why do so many people love Dutch paintings? Whether it is the stunning landscapes, the seemingly familiar portraits, or the lush still lifes, these centuries-old paintings still resonate today. In the first part of this Backstory episode, curator Arthur Wheelock and host Barbara Tempchin discuss these masterpieces and why they continue to fascinate us.

Eleonora Luciano, associate curator of sculpture, National Gallery of Art. Medals, like those given out at the Olympics, are typically associated with feats of athleticism. However, during the Renaissance, medals were used for purposes of propaganda. The National Gallery of Art has released a two-volume, 1200-page catalogue of its Renaissance medals collection, one of the world's most outstanding. In this podcast, one of the authors, Gallery associate curator Eleonora Luciano, talks to host Barbara Tempchin about these intriguing works of art.

Neal Turtell, executive librarian, National Gallery of Art. Most people think that rare books are stashed away in the corners of museums, untouched and collecting dust. At the National Gallery of Art, not only are they given a special climate-controlled environment, but they're often on public display. In this podcast, executive librarian Neal Turtell talks to host Barbara Tempchin about the Gallery's rare books collection, in particular about those featured in the exhibition British Picturesque Landscapes, on view in the Gallery's West Building through February 24, 2008.

Charles Ritchie, associate curator of modern prints and drawings, National Gallery of Art, Host: Barbara Tempchin. Robert Rauschenberg has been at the forefront of American art for more than 50 years. His bold, innovative experiments in printmaking are the focus of an exhibition called Let the World In: Prints by Robert Rauschenberg from the National Gallery of Art and Related Collections. In this Backstory, host Barbara Tempchin and Charles Ritchie, exhibition curator, discuss the impact Rauschenberg's prints have had on artists worldwide. Produced in conjunction with the exhibition Let the World In: Prints by Robert Rauschenberg from the National Gallery of Art and Related Collections.

David Brown, curator of Italian paintings, National Gallery of Art. Since 1965 the National Gallery of Art and the United State Postal Service have collaborated to select a national Christmas stamp. In 2007 Bernardino Luini's The Madonna of the Carnation (c. 1515) will grace envelopes across the country.

Program: Locus iste (Bruckner), Prevent us, O Lord in all our doings (Byrd), Ave maris stella (Grieg), Psalm 121, Above all praise and majesty (Mendelssohn). One of the most renowned choirs in the world, the Choir of St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, presented a brief concert at the National Gallery of Art on October 25, 2007, in honor of the centenary of the birth of Paul Mellon (1907–1999), founding benefactor of the Gallery and an ardent Anglophile. In his memoir, Reflections in a Silver Spoon, Mellon suggested that his love of Great Britain was foreshadowed during his first visit with his parents, when he was baptized in St. George's Chapel on December 22, 1907. The performance took place in the Gallery's East Garden Court.

Karen Serres, A.W. Mellon Curatorial Fellow. Going to a museum typically means looking at works of art inside picture frames. But have you ever taken the time to look at the frames themselves? Karen Serres, Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial Fellow, helped organize the installation Tabernacle Frames from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. Host Barbara Tempchin talks with her about the space just outside the picture.

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., Curator of Northern Baroque Paintings. More than forty years after Rembrandt's painting Portrait of a Boy in Fancy Dress (c. 1655), or "Titus," made its first Washington appearance, it has returned to the National Gallery of Art for several months through September 2007 as part of a new series of loan exchanges between the Gallery and the Norton Simon Foundations in Pasadena, CA. Installed in the Rembrandt galleries next to the artist's Self-Portrait (1659), it sparks intriguing questions: Who is this young boy? Is it Rembrandt's son? What is the mysterious animal on his shoulder? How does the portrait relate to a nearby painting by Hans Holbein? Host Alan Shestack probes these and other interesting questions with curator Arthur Wheelock.

Maygene Daniels, Chief of Gallery Archives. Gallery archivist Maygene Daniels and Barbara Tempchin discuss Andrew Mellon's founding of the National Gallery of Art and how this legacy was carried on through his son Paul Mellon.

Joe Krakora, Development and External Affairs Officer. The centenary of the birth of National Gallery of Art founder Paul Mellon provides the theme of this Backstory. Joe Krakora, director of the new documentary Paul Mellon: In His Own Words, and host Barbara Tempchin discuss the film, which airs on public television nationwide in fall 2007.