The
National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden, located on the National
Mall between Third and Ninth Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, 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., and are closed on December 25 and January 1. Admission
is free. For general information, call (202) 737-4215 or the Telecommunications
Device for the Deaf (TDD) at (202) 842-6176. To receive the Gallery's
free bimonthly Calendar of Events, call (202) 842-6662.
The National Gallery of Art, one of the world's preeminent museums, was created for the people of the United States of America by a joint resolution of Congress accepting the gift of financier, public servant, and art collector Andrew W. Mellon in 1937, the year of his death. The Gallery's collection of some 116,000 paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculpture, and decorative arts traces the development of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present.
West
Building. Funds for the construction of the original (West)
building, which opened to the public in 1941, were provided by the A.
W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust. Designed by John Russell
Pope, the West Building includes European (13th-early 20th century) and
American (18th-early 20th century) works. An extensive survey of Italian
painting and sculpture, including the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci
in the Western Hemisphere, is presented here. Rich in Dutch masters and
French impressionists, the collection offers superb surveys of American,
British, Flemish, Spanish, and 15th– and 16th–century German art. (Learn
more about the West Building)
East
Building. Funds for construction of the East Building were given by
Paul Mellon and Ailsa Mellon Bruce, the son and daughter of the founder,
and by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Designed by I. M. Pei, the East
Building opened to the public in 1978. Its galleries and exhibition spaces
are especially suited for displaying contemporary art. Major 20th-century
artists such as Alexander Calder, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Pablo
Picasso, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko are represented in the collection.
The East Building also houses the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual
Arts, a research library, an extensive photographic archive, and administrative
offices. The library is available for use by researchers (18 years and
older) by appointment only; call (202) 842-6511. (Learn
more about the East Building)
Sculpture
Garden. Given to the nation by The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation,
the 6.1-acre National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden opened to the public
in 1999. The dynamic and richly landscaped setting includes 17 major works,
including important acquisitions of post–World War II sculpture by such
internationally renowned artists as Louise Bourgeois, Mark di Suvero,
Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, and Tony Smith.
Visitors are able to enjoy live jazz on Friday evenings by the reflecting
pool and fountain in summer and an ice-skating rink in winter, as well
as ample seating and walking areas with native American canopy trees,
flowering trees, shrubs, groundcovers, and perennials. The Pavilion Café
offers refreshments year-round. The Sculpture Garden, located on the Mall
at 7th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, is open during regular Gallery
hours. (Learn
more about the Sculpture Garden)
Special Exhibitions and Public 
Programs. Special exhibitions are presented throughout the year. The
Gallery also offers a free concert series, lectures, tours, film screenings,
and a wide range of educational programs and materials for loan. Works
on paper by important artists ranging from Albrecht Dürer to Helen
Frankenthaler may be seen in special exhibitions or by appointment in
the Print Study Room; call (202) 842-6392.
Funding Sources. The National Gallery represents a partnership
of federal and private resources. The Gallery's operations and maintenance
are supported through federal appropriations. All of the Gallery's acquisitions
of works of art, as well as numerous special programs, are made possible
through private donations and funds.
(All photos © Dennis Brack/Black Star)
# # #
