Release Date: October 6, 2006
Gallery "Bookcase":
Mellon, Duveen, and Finley
The East Building Auditorium, National Gallery of Art, is located on the National Mall at Constitution Avenue and 4th Street, NW.
The Gallery is open Monday-Saturday, 10-5; Sunday, 11-6.
All programs are free and open to the public.
For more information, call (202) 737-4215, visit the Web site at www.nga.gov, or inquire at the Art Information Desks.
Books are available from the National Gallery of Art Shops by phone at (202) 842-6002 or (800) 697-9350, by fax at (202) 789-3047, or by e-mail at mailorder@nga.gov.
Mellon: An American Life
(Knopf, 2006)
By David Cannadine
Lectures & book signings:
Sunday, October 8, 2 p.m.
Saturday, December 9, 12 noon (no book signing)
A landmark work from one of the preeminent historians of our time: the first published biography of Andrew W. Mellon, the founder of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, scion of the Pittsburgh banking family, Secretary of the Treasury under Coolidge, Harding, and Hoover, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Random House
Duveen: A Life in Art
(Knopf, 2004)
By Meryle Secrest
Lecture & book signing:
Saturday, October 14, 12 noon
A new and richly detailed biography of Joseph Duveen, one of the most influential art dealers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and a key intermediary in bringing many great old master paintings to major museums across the United States, including the National Gallery of Art. Secrest has written biographies of Romaine Brooks, Bernard Berenson, Kenneth Clark, Salvador Dalí, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Stephen Sondheim, among others. Random House
David Finley: Quiet Force for America’s Arts
(National Trust for Historic Preservation, 2006)
By David A. Doheny
Throughout his long life David Finley (1890-1977) made brilliant contributions to the cultural life of this country (first director of the National Gallery of Art, founding chairman of the board of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and a key player in the creation of the just-reopened National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC). Finley’s distinguished role in promoting the work of the Roberts Commission, which protected the art and architectural monuments in Europe during World War II, stands as a landmark in America’s cultural maturity. Preservation Books
Mellon’s and Finley’s lives were closely intertwined for over 10 years, beginning when Finley became assistant to Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon shortly after WWI. Mellon was among Joseph Duveen’s best clients.
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