Overview: Paul Mellon played many crucial roles at the National Gallery of Art in carrying out the founding vision of his father, Andrew, who had laid plans for the museum before his death in 1937. The younger Mellon was a major donor of funds and works of art, a valiant advocate for the Gallery’s architecture (both the East and West Buildings), and a supporter of its programs for scholars and for all who appreciate fine art. Renowned as a collector, Paul Mellon (1907–1999), with his late wife Rachel Lambert (“Bunny”), was also among the most generous donors to the Gallery. Paintings and sculptures from their collection are always on view throughout the Gallery’s permanent installations. A great number of Paul Mellon's gifts, however, are works of art on paper, which, because of their sensitivity to light, cannot be constantly displayed. Timed to coincide with the Gallery’s 75th anniversary, this celebratory exhibition brings together some 80 of the finest pastels, watercolors, drawings, prints, and illustrated books given to the Gallery by Paul Mellon. Among the works on display are evocative watercolors by Winslow Homer and Édouard Manet, powerful portrait drawings by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Edgar Degas, sporting lithographs by George Bellows, a pen landscape by Vincent van Gogh, and cubist compositions by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.

Organization: Organized by National Gallery of Art, Washington