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Crosscurrents: American and European Masterpieces from the Permanent Collection

March 14, 2007 – January 1, 2009
West Building, Ground Floor, Central Galleries G39 through G43

Joseph Mallord William Turner, Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Moonlight, 1835, oil on canvas, Widener Collection, 1942.9.86

This exhibition is no longer on view at the National Gallery.

Overview: Important paintings from the permanent collection of French, English, and American art were kept on view during renovation of Main Floor galleries in a thematic installation. Included were Jacques-Louis David's The Emperor Napolean in His Study at the Tuileries, James McNeill Whistler’s Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl, and Jean Siméon Chardin's The House of Cards. Thomas Cole's four-painting series The Voyage of Life was on view in gallery G39 with other landscapes and seascapes. Four portrait busts by Jean-Antoine Houdon and selected French paintings were shown in gallery G37. A few works in the exhibition were changed over the course of the installation.

Organization: The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington.