Annual Reports

View annual reports for the National Gallery of Art’s fiscal year. You can also download and view our annual reports for previous years going back to 1938.

2020 Annual Report

When Andrew W. Mellon wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936 to offer his gift of paintings and sculpture for a new museum in Washington, DC, that he would build and finance with his own funds, he stipulated that the museum not bear his name. Mellon believed that it should be a truly national institution with no single individual’s name but with a name that identified it as a museum for and of the American people. This emphasis on the national character of the National Gallery of Art is at the very heart of the vision that continues to guide the museum today. This past year, Americans have endured unimaginable loss and hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has also been a year that has witnessed the great resilience of the American people. President Roosevelt’s words from 1941, marking the opening of the National Gallery, resonate profoundly at this moment when hope and renewal are on the horizon. “The dedication of this gallery to a living past and a greater and more richly living future is the measure of the earnestness of our intention that the freedom of the human spirit shall go on too.”

As an institution “Of the Nation and for the People,” the National Gallery of Art has the responsibility and privilege to serve our country by welcoming all people to explore and experience art, creativity, and our shared humanity. As stewards of Andrew Mellon’s long-ranging vision, the trustees and I, along with Director Kaywin Feldman and the staff, are committed to reflecting and serving the nation in all its diversity while continuing to operate a financially sustainable institution. We are dedicated to expanding the reach of the National Gallery and sharing its educational resources in new ways so that all Americans can engage with the nation’s art collection. This work is only possible because of the indissoluble public-private partnership between the federal government and private citizens that sustains this remarkable institution. The trustees and staff join me in expressing our sincere gratitude to the President and the Congress of the United States for their unwavering support of the National Gallery.

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Past Annual Reports