Release Date: May 25, 2007

See Old Masters in a New Way
The National Gallery of Art Presents Crosscurrents: American and European Masterpieces from the Permanent Collection, through December 31, 2008

Jacques-Louis David
French, 1748-1825
The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries, 1812
oil on canvas, 203.9 x 125.1 cm (80 1/4 x 49 1/4 in.)
Samuel H. Kress Collection
National Gallery of Art, Washington

Washington, DC – Some of the most notable paintings from the National Gallery of Art’s American, British, Spanish, and 18th- and early 19th-century French collections are now on view in the central galleries of the West Building Ground Floor while their Main Floor galleries undergo renovation. Crosscurrents: American and European Masterpieces from the Permanent Collection will be on view through December 31, 2007.

The installation is sponsored by Siemens.

“We are fortunate to have corporate sponsors who understand our desire to make our collection as accessible to the public as possible,” said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art. “We are most appreciative that Siemens could help us find a way to show these beautiful paintings to an audience who cherishes them.”

The installation features many works from the French school such as Jacques-Louis David’s intense portrayal of The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries (1812), Jean Siméon Chardin’s The House of Cards (1735), and A Young Girl Reading (1776) by Jean-Honoré Fragonard. Among the most popular works from the British and American schools on display are James McNeill Whistler’s delicate Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl (1862), John Singleton Copley’s dramatic Watson and the Shark (1778), and Joseph Mallord William Turner’s moonlit harbor scene Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Moonlight (1835).

General Information

The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden are at all times free to the public. They are located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, and are open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Gallery is closed on December 25 and January 1. For information call (202) 737-4215 or the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) at (202) 842-6176, or visit the Gallery's Web site at www.nga.gov. The Gallery is now on Facebook—become a fan at www.facebook.com/NationalGalleryofArt.

Visitors will be asked to present all carried items for inspection upon entering the East and West Buildings. Checkrooms are free of charge and located at each entrance. Luggage and other oversized bags must be presented at the 4th Street entrances to the East or West Building to permit x-ray screening and must be deposited in the checkrooms at those entrances. For the safety of visitors and the works of art, nothing may be carried into the Gallery on a visitor's back. Any bag or other items that cannot be carried reasonably and safely in some other manner must be left in the checkrooms. Items larger than 17 x 26 inches cannot be accepted by the Gallery or its checkrooms.

For additional press information please call or send inquiries to:

Press Office
National Gallery of Art
2000B South Club Drive
Landover, MD 20785
phone: (202) 842-6353 e-mail: pressinfo@nga.gov

Deborah Ziska
Chief of Press and Public Information
(202) 842-6353
ds-ziska@nga.gov

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See Old Masters in a New Way The National Gallery of Art Presents Crosscurrents: American and European Masterpieces from the Permanent Collection, through December 31, 2008

See Old Masters in a New Way
The National Gallery of Art Presents Crosscurrents: American and European Masterpieces from the Permanent Collection, through December 31, 2008