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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Claude Lorrain - The Painter as Draftsman
Closed August 12, 2007
Paul Mellon and the National Gallery of Art
Closed December 31, 2007
Rembrandt's "Titus" from the Norton Simon Museum
Closed September 4, 2007
Fabulous Journeys and Faraway Places
Closed September 16, 2007
Private Treasures
Closed September 16, 2007
The image depicts two individuals shown from the waist up. The person on the left is seated, leaning slightly towards the other person, who is on their right. This person has an elegantly styled hairstyle, with curls framing their face and gathered at the back. They are wearing a voluminous, ruffled garment that appears to be a dress. The other person to the right is slightly leaning in, appearing to speak closely to the first person. This individual also has wavy, slightly longer hair swept back and is dressed in a loose-fitting, billowy shirt. Both individuals are sharing the seat of an ornately carved chair with floral patterns on its backrest. The first person has a gentle, serene expression while the second person's face is partially obscured. In the surroundings, soft edges and muted tones suggest an intimate atmosphere.
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

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