Past Exhibitions

Learn about past exhibitions going back as far as 1941 when the National Gallery of Art first opened to the public.

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Homer, Eakins, and Bellows
Closed July 28, 2008
Close to us, a young man and three boys sit or recline in a small sailboat that tips to our left on a choppy dark green sea in this horizontal painting. The billowing sail extends off the top left corner of the canvas and is echoed in the background to our right by the tall sails of another ship in the distance. The horizon line comes about a third of the way up the composition, and puffy gray and white clouds sweep across the turquoise sky. The sun lights the scene from our right so the boys’ ruddy faces are in shadow under their hats. The young man and boys all face our left so they lean against and into the boat as it cants up to our right. The boy nearest the sail to our left reclines across the bow. Next to him to our right, a younger boy perches on the edge of the boat and holds on with both hands. The oldest, in a red shirt, sits on the floor of the boat as he maneuvers the sail with a rope. Closer to us and to our right, a younger boy sits with his bare feet pressed together in front of his bent knees on the back edge of the boat, gazing into the distance over his right shoulder as he handles the tiller. The artist signed and dated the painting in dark letters in the lower right corner: “HOMER 1876.”
Eugene Boudin at the National Gallery of Art
Closed September 3, 2007
About two dozen men and women sit in straight-backed, wooden chairs gathered along a sandy beach near low, gently breaking waves with sailboats floating in the ocean beyond in this horizontal landscape painting. The scene is loosely painted throughout, making much of the detail indistinct. Most of the people sit with their backs to us but the faces we can see suggest they all have light skin. The people gather in a loose crowd that crosses the right two-thirds of the composition. The women wear long dresses with full skirts, their shoulders wrapped in matching shawls in black, smoke gray, royal or arctic blue, rust red, or cream white. Some wear straw-colored hats with black or baby-blue bands, and others wear scarves over their hair. The men also wear hats, most of them black top hats, and suits in black or pecan brown. Some people hold up parasols in harvest gold, slate blue, teal, or gray. A few straight-backed, wooden chairs with rushed seats sit empty or are tipped over to our left of the group. Two children, one wearing marigold orange and the other topaz blue, and both wearing straw hats, kneel or squat and bend over the sand at the center of the group. Two dark brown or black dogs, one small and one large, stand to our right. Two tall, wooden poles rise high above the crowd near the right edge of the composition. A thin banner with blue, white, and red stripes flutters from the pole closer to us, and a red banner lifts in the breeze on the one farther away. Painted with thick, visible brushstrokes, low waves with white crests lap against the shore in bands of pale lilac purple, light turquoise, and aquamarine blue just beyond the crowd. Two people sit in a rowboat in the ocean to our left, and several sailboats with tan sails move into the distance to the horizon, which comes about a quarter of the way up the composition. Bright white strokes to our right could be sails in bright sunlight, deep in the distance. One boat amid the sailboats puffs a plume of gray smoke. Pale, almost translucent white clouds drift across the light blue sky above. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower left corner: “E. Boudin 63.”
Crosscurrents
Closed January 1, 2009
States and Variations
Closed October 28, 2007
The image displays vertical red and off-white stripes interrupted by blue rectangles with white stars. The design of the flags seems loosely painted with brush strokes and textures conveying movement or depth. Bold colors and irregular edges mimic the American flag design with an abstract touch. Drips of paint at the bottom border enhance the abstract quality, akin to modern art.
Undisturbed by Color
Closed September 16, 2007
Paris in Transition
Closed May 6, 2007
Jasper Johns
Closed April 29, 2007
Italian Drawings from the Armand Hammer Collection
Closed May 6, 2007
Drawn with brown ink and shaded with tan washes on cream-white paper, two bearded men wearing robes, with a smaller, nude, winged boy between them, fill this vertical drawing. At the center top of the paper, the angel faces us, gazing down to our left with open mouth and eyebrows drawn together. He has curly hair and lifts his muscular right arm, on our left, with his index finger pointed upward. Crosshatched lines define his body, and quick, curved lines shade his outstretched wings. To our right, one man stands with his body facing the center of the sheet but he turns his head to look up off the top right corner. He has curling hair, a wide mustache, and perhaps a goatee, though his chin is partially hidden by a dark spot on the paper. He has broad shoulders, a thick neck, large hands, and a hint of a muscular leg under his flowing, voluminous robes. He holds a flat, oblong object, possibly a stone tablet, perched on his slightly bent left knee. Seated to our left, the other man faces and looks at us. He also grasps a flat, tablet-like object but holds it up, braced on his right thigh, to our left, and points to it with his other hand. This man also is solidly built and swathed in robes, with a hood over his curly hair. He leans forward, knees apart, and stares out with his brows deeply furrowed. His downturned mouth is set in a bushy, curly beard. Near the bottom of the picture, the bare feet of the two men emerge from the folds of their robes. Touches of white washes on the folds of the robes create a sense of light coming from above and to our right, and charcoal lines reinforce the shadows. A grid is lightly drawn in red chalk lines over the composition. A black stamp in the lower left has the letters “E.C” and another at the center reads, “H de T. STAT.”
Strokes of Genius
Closed March 18, 2007
The Artist's Vision
Closed March 18, 2007
The image displays a landscape with a body of water, figures near the water's edge, and hills and mountains in the background. The painting features soft brushstrokes creating a gentle and dreamy quality. The color palette is muted with pastel tones dominating the scene. Clouds fill the sky with sunlight breaking through, illuminating parts of the landscape.
Prayers and Portraits
Closed February 4, 2007
Shown from the chest up, a clean-shaven, pale-skinned man holds one hand to his chest and rests the other on a rug-covered ledge with the other in this vertical portrait painting. The man’s body is angled to our left, and he looks down in that direction with dark eyes under thick brows. Crow’s feet crinkle at the corners of his eyes, and there are dark hollows underneath. Soft jowls hang to create a slight double chin. His thin lips are set in a line over a wide, round chin, which is darkened with a five o’clock shadow. He has chin-length, reddish-blond hair, and straight, wispy bangs sweep loosely across his high forehead. He wears a white chemise under a gold, brocade garment, which is mostly hidden by a slate-blue cloak. The cloak is lined with spotted fur, which is turned over to create a wide collar across his shoulders. The sleeve on his left arm, to our right and closer to us, splits over a dusky-pink sleeve. Two gold buttons on the cloak there are decorated with thistle plants and blossoms. The fingers of his right hand, to our left, are gathered like a closed rose bud at his chest. He wears a gold ring on the index finger of the other hand, which rests on the end of the gray stone ledge so his fingertips brush the tapestry draped there. The man is lit from our left against a black background.
Constable's Great Landscapes
Closed January 2, 2007

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