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In Celebration of Paul Mellon

May 8 – September 18, 2016
West Building, Main Floor, Northeast Galleries

Mary Cassatt, The Black Hat, c. 1890, pastel, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

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

Overview: Paul Mellon played many crucial roles at the National Gallery of Art in carrying out the founding vision of his father, Andrew, who had laid plans for the museum before his death in 1937. The younger Mellon was a major donor of funds and works of art, a valiant advocate for the Gallery’s architecture (both the East and West Buildings), and a supporter of its programs for scholars and for all who appreciate fine art. Renowned as a collector, Paul Mellon (1907–1999), with his late wife Rachel Lambert (“Bunny”), was also among the most generous donors to the Gallery. Paintings and sculptures from their collection are always on view throughout the Gallery’s permanent installations. A great number of Paul Mellon's gifts, however, are works of art on paper, which, because of their sensitivity to light, cannot be constantly displayed. Timed to coincide with the Gallery’s 75th anniversary, this celebratory exhibition brings together some 80 of the finest pastels, watercolors, drawings, prints, and illustrated books given to the Gallery by Paul Mellon. Among the works on display are evocative watercolors by Winslow Homer and Édouard Manet, powerful portrait drawings by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Edgar Degas, sporting lithographs by George Bellows, a pen landscape by Vincent van Gogh, and cubist compositions by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.

Organization: Organized by National Gallery of Art, Washington

Attendance: 160,659

Brochure: A Lasting Legacy: Paintings and Sculptures from the Paul Mellon Collection. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 2016.  

Bellows, George
American, 1882 - 1925
Braque, Georges
French, 1882 - 1963
Degas, Edgar
French, 1834 - 1917
Gericault, Théodore
French, 1791 - 1824
Gogh, Vincent van
Dutch, 1853 - 1890
Homer, Winslow
American, 1836 - 1910
Ingres, Jean-Auguste-Dominique
French, 1780 - 1867
Klee, Paul
Swiss, 1879 - 1940
Manet, Edouard
French, 1832 - 1883
Picasso, Pablo
Spanish, 1881 - 1973
Prendergast, Maurice
American, 1858 - 1924
Redon, Odilon
French, 1840 - 1916
Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri de
French, 1864 - 1901
Villon, Jacques
French, 1875 - 1963
Photographing "Little Dancer"
Video, Released: June 7, 2016, (3:36 minutes)
The National Gallery of Art at 75: Andrew W. Mellon, David Finley, Paul Mellon
Audio, Released: May 24, 2016, (47:41 minutes)