Release Date: December 17, 2009

Chester Dale Collection Celebrated with Array of Public Programs and Special Offerings in Garden CafÉ and Shops

Vocal chamber ensemble Virginia Virtuosi performs a concert of Gershwin songs at the National Gallery of Art on Sunday, April 18, at 6:30 p.m. in celebration of From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection.

Washington, DC— A wide range of programs, a new short documentary film, and special offerings in the Garden Café and Gallery Shops celebrate the French and American masterpieces from the Gallery’s Chester Dale Collection, brought together in the exhibition From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection, on view from January 31, 2010, through July 31, 2011.

All programs are offered free of charge, with seating available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Film

A new 17-minute documentary film profiling Chester and Maud Dale and produced by the National Gallery of Art will be shown continuously in the West Building Project Room (adjacent to the exhibition space). An illustrated chronology of the Dales’ collecting activity will be located nearby. The film was made possible by the HRH Foundation.

Lecture

Three Perspectives on the Chester Dale Collection
January 31, 2:00 p.m.
East Building Auditorium
Maygene Daniels, chief of Gallery Archives; Ann Hoenigswald, senior conservator of paintings; and Kimberly A. Jones, associate curator of French paintings, National Gallery of Art
Book signing of The Chester Dale Collection follows

Concerts

New York Opera Society
Wednesday, February 3, 12:10 p.m.
West Building Lecture Hall
A concert of Gershwin songs and arias from Porgy and Bess

Friday, February 5, 12:00 noon and 7:00 p.m.
Repeat of February 3 program, with an intermission feature about the Chester Dale exhibition presented by Stephen Ackert (head of music programs, National Gallery of Art)
Wintergarden World Financial Center in New York City

Karin Paludin-Sorey, soprano
Danielle DeSwert Hahn, pianist
Wednesday, February 10, 12:10 p.m.
West Building Lecture Hall
A concert of Gershwin songs

Dan Franklin Smith, pianist
Sunday, March 21, 6:30 p.m.
West Building, West Garden Court
A piano recital of music by Gershwin, Chopin, and Liszt

Virginia Virtuosi, vocal chamber ensemble
Sunday, April 18, at 6:30 p.m.
West Building, West Garden Court
A concert of Gershwin songs

Gallery Talks

The adult programs department of the education division offers regular public tours of the Chester Dale exhibition. For times and topics, please consult the bimonthly Calendar of Events or the Gallery Talk section of the National Gallery of Art Web site at www.nga.gov/programs/galtalks.

Garden Café Français

Inspired by the masterpieces of French impressionist painting in the exhibition From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection, award-winning Washington-based chef Michel Richard, owner and executive chef of Citronelle and Central Michel Richard, has created a menu of signature French dishes for Garden Café Français at the National Gallery of Art.

Located in the West Building near the 6th Street and Constitution Avenue entrance, the Garden Café is open for lunch Monday–Saturday, 11:30 a.m.–3:00 p.m., and Sunday, noon–4:00 p.m. For more information or to make reservations, please call (202) 712-7454 or visit www.nga.gov/dining.

Garden Café Français is presented in partnership with Restaurant Associates and executive chef David Rogers at the National Gallery of Art.

Gallery Shops

A selection of books related to the exhibition, including The Chester Dale Collection by curator Kimberly A. Jones and archivist Maygene Daniels, will be available for purchase in the Gallery Shops on the Ground Floor of the West Building as well as in the Book Shop on the Concourse. Chef Michel Richard’s latest cookbook, Happy in the Kitchen, featuring two recipes for dishes being served in the Garden Café Français, will also be for sale.

Gift items in the shops include 16 x 20-inch prints of works from the Dale collection, which will also be available as custom art prints through the Art on Demand kiosk. A poster of Claude Monet’s Jerusalem Artichoke Flowers, a set of note cards, a Modigliani Art Cube, and, later in the year, a 2011 calendar of impressionist paintings round out the shop’s exhibition-related offerings.

After the exhibition opens, browse the Gallery Shop’s offerings online at http://shop.nga.gov.

About the Exhibition

Wall Street investor Chester Dale’s 1962 bequest made the National Gallery of Art one of the leading repositories in North America of French art of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. From Impressionism to Modernism brings together 81 of the finest European and American paintings that Dale and his wife Maud, an artist and critic, assembled from 1919 through the 1950s.

The exhibition and its accompanying book explore the Dales’ passion and talent for acquiring great art. Many of the works in the show are among the most renowned masterpieces in the history of art, but due to a stipulation in the bequest, they may be seen only at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art.

The exhibition is made possible by United Technologies Corporation.

In kind promotional support is provided by Chef Michel Richard of Citronelle and Central, Washington, DC.

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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