http://www.nga.gov/highlights/index.shtm Find out what's new and what is happening at the National Gallery of Art. en-us National Gallery of Art To honor the achievements of Asian/Pacific Americans and to recognize their contributions to the United States, May is celebrated as Asian/Pacific American (apa) Heritage Month. The first observance, as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week, was celebrated in May 1979, soon after President Jimmy Carter signed a Joint Resolution enacting it. In 1992, President George H.W. Bush signed Public Law 102–450, which permanently designated a month. http://www.nga.gov/highlights/index.shtm http://www.nga.gov/highlights/index.shtm Bosch and Bruegel: Parallel Worlds, Joseph Leo Koerner, Harvard University http://www.nga.gov/programs/abstracts/koerner.shtm http://www.nga.gov/programs/abstracts/koerner.shtm Take a look at the beautiful new digital screen at the East Building Information Desk, which highlights both temporary exhibitions and works from the permanent collection. A new daily calendar reminds visitors when films, lectures, and tours are about to begin. http://www.nga.gov/ http://www.nga.gov/ Stay up to date with the National Gallery of Art by subscribing to our free e-mail newsletters: Web, educators, family programs, fellowships/internships, films, lectures, music programs, and teen programs. Select as many updates as you wish to receive. To edit your subscriber information, please go to our subscription management page. http://subscribe.nga.gov/subscription_form_ngart.cfm http://subscribe.nga.gov/subscription_form_ngart.cfm Elizabeth Murray made inventive, exuberant paintings. With their bright palette and apparent humor, they also reflect a spirited seriousness and rigor. She drew inspiration from rich and disparate sources ranging from still lifes by Paul Cézanne to colorful cartoons. Murray's amalgam of seeming opposites-high and low sources, the attributes of painting alongside those of sculpture, both abstract and highly personal imagery-creates powerful tensions in her work. Beginning in the late 1960s, she helped redefine and enliven the practice of painting at a time when many declared painting retrograde. She went on to become one of the most respected artists of our time. Murray enjoyed a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2006 and was featured at this year's Venice Biennale. The National Gallery of Art was honored in 1996 to have Elizabeth Murray deliver one of the first Elson Lectures, a forum for distinguished contemporary artists whose work is represented in the Gallery's collection. http://www.nga.gov/murray/index.shtm http://www.nga.gov/murray/index.shtm Nearly 120 paintings, pastels, and photographs reveal the pivotal role of the Forest of Fontainebleau in the development of 19th-century naturalistic landscape painting and early photography. The exhibition traces the evolution of landscape painting through the work of artists such as Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Théodore Rousseau, Jean-François Millet, and Claude Monet (whose experience in Fontainebleau inspired impressionism). Viewers can take a closer look at highlighted works in our new Web feature, as well as learn about Fontainebleau's history, its flora and fauna, and village life in and around the artists colony. http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/fontainebleauinfo.shtm http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/fontainebleauinfo.shtm The most important public collection of Renaissance-era medals in the United States resides at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and is the focus of a new publication, Renaissance Medals. The first comprehensive catalogue of this collection is available as a two-volume set covering 957 medals acquired through 2003. Of these, 163 are currently on view at the National Gallery of Art in the West Building Ground Floor Sculpture Galleries. The catalogue, compiled over more than 20 years, offers the most detailed art historical and scientific assessment of the collection available to date, including technical information such as the alloy composition of each medal. Volume one features Italian medals, including dozens of masterworks by Pisanello, who essentially invented the medium of portrait medals. Volume two focuses on French, German, Netherlandish, and English medals, including works by Guillaume Dupré, Albrecht Dürer, and Jacques Jonghelinck, and continues through the baroque and later periods. http://www.nga.gov/shop/index.shtm http://www.nga.gov/shop/index.shtm As part of a worldwide initiative, the National Gallery of Art is seeking information about drawings, watercolors, and paintings on paper in public and private collections by the American artist Mark Rothko (1903-1970). The National Gallery of Art is publishing a multivolume catalogue raisonné, Mark Rothko: The Works on Paper, which will document more than 2,700 objects that are largely unknown to both art specialists and the public. Demonstrating the range of Rothko's creative achievements, these volumes will be the definitive historical record of Rothko's oeuvre on paper for decades to come. Anyone with information regarding works on paper by Mark Rothko should contact Laili Nasr, Rothko Catalogue Raisonné Project. Mailing address: National Gallery of Art, 2000B South Club Drive, Landover, MD 20785; phone: (202) 842-6779; fax: 202-789-3204; e-mail: l-nasr@nga.gov. http://www.nga.gov/press/2007/rothko.shtm http://www.nga.gov/press/2007/rothko.shtm The Sculpture Garden plantings are maintained by the National Gallery of Art horticulture staff. The division of horticulture is currently accepting applications for volunteers. For more information on volunteer opportunities, candidates should submit a letter of interest including all vital contact information to gardens@nga.gov. http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/sculptureinfo.shtm http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/sculptureinfo.shtm We would like to hear from you. Please tell us about your visit to the National Gallery of Art. If you would like a reply, please be sure to include your e-mail address. http://www.nga.gov/feedback/comments.shtm http://www.nga.gov/feedback/comments.shtm The new NGAkids Still Life interactive encourages young artists to explore the world around them by arranging artistic elements and everyday objects into multi-dimensional works that mirror those of the old masters. But there are surprises in store, as some of the objects unexpectedly spring to life! Experiment with spatial arrangements, size variables, and perspective angles, then switch modes and add layers of textured "brushstrokes" to create a more painterly, abstract image. This Art Zone activity is suitable for all ages. http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/stilllife.htm http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/stilllife.htm British sculptor Andy Goldsworthy (b. 1956) was invited by the National Gallery of Art in January 2003 to create a work for the Gallery on site or elsewhere in the region. Impressed with the abundance and character of Washington's stone structures, Goldsworthy conceived a project reflecting his interest in local building stones and their geological origins. The resulting project comprises two phases: ephemeral work completed on Government Island in Stafford County, Virginia, and a permanent sculpture located on the Ground Level of the Gallery's East Building. Goldsworthy, along with his assistant and a team of workers including four dry-stone wallers from Britain, installed the sculpture entitled Roof over the course of nine weeks in the winter of 2004/2005. The site specific sculpture comprises nine hollow, low-profile domes of stacked slate, each with a centered oculus. http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2005/goldsworthy/vr/goldsworthy_vr.shtm http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2005/goldsworthy/vr/goldsworthy_vr.shtm The National Gallery of Art relies on a partnership of public support and private philanthropy to carry out its mission of service to the nation. You can learn more about giving to the Gallery through a Web site feature, "Support the Gallery." This feature includes information about the many important Gallery programs that benefit from private funding and the various ways to make a gift. We invite you to explore how you can help the Gallery fulfill its mission through a charitable gift. http://www.nga.gov/support/index.htm http://www.nga.gov/support/index.htm Plan your visit to the National Gallery with these maps of must-see works. http://www.nga.gov/collection/pdf/wbhighlights.pdf http://www.nga.gov/collection/pdf/wbhighlights.pdf Plan your visit to the National Gallery with these maps of must-see works. http://www.nga.gov/collection/pdf/ebhighlights.pdf http://www.nga.gov/collection/pdf/ebhighlights.pdf Find out what's happening this month at the National Gallery of Art. To obtain a free bimonthly calendar of events by mail, call (202) 842-6662, or contact us by e-mail at calendar@nga.gov. The current bimonthly Calendar of Events is available in PDF format. http://www.nga.gov/ginfo/calendar.shtm http://www.nga.gov/ginfo/calendar.shtm To obtain a free quarterly film calendar by mail, contact us by e-mail at film-department@nga.gov. Please include your mailing address. The current bimonthly Film Calendar is available in PDF format. http://www.nga.gov/pdf/nga-film-calendar.pdf http://www.nga.gov/pdf/nga-film-calendar.pdf