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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The Poetry of Light
Closed October 1, 2006
Shown from the chest up, a young woman with pale, smooth skin and dressed in a light blue gown holds a paint brush and palette in this vertical pastel drawing. The woman’s body is angled to our right. She turns her head back to our left but then looks back off to our right from the corners of her eyes under faint brows. Her wide-set eyes are gray, her nose long and straight, and her delicate pink lips are closed in a slight smile. Her curly, ash-blond hair sweeps back from her forehead to gather in a braid across the crown of her head. Soft, loose tendrils frame her round face, which has touches of ice-blue shadows at the corners of her mouth and eyes. Sky-blue and white flowers with mint-green leaves adorn her hair to our left, and two touches of royal blue near her ear on our right suggests a ribbon. Gleaming white pearl earrings hang from her ears. Her dress is created with filmy layers of arctic blue, taupe, white, and pale pink. The gown has a deep, V-shaped neckline, and a long sleeve is turned back from the wrist we can see. In that hand, she holds the wooden paintbrush at about chest height, and it extends off the right edge of the sheet. In the lower right corner of the composition, the thumb of her other hand hooks through a hole in the palette, which has daubs of pink and white. The corner of a blank easel is visible over her shoulder to our right. The background is mouse gray tinged with the blue of the paper on which it is drawn.
Master Drawings from the Woodner Collections
Closed January 2, 2007
This painting depicts a busy scene on a frozen river or lake, filled with a crowd of people. The horizon is in the center, showing boats and low buildings in the distance. Closer to us, many people are engaged in different activities on the ice. Some ride in a horse-drawn sled, while others play a game with long sticks and small round balls. The people wear colorful clothing in shades of red, blue, yellow, green, and black. Some of the women wear elaborate gowns with ruffled collars, while the men wear colorful suits and wide-brimmed hats. Other people wear simpler jackets and trousers. A few dogs run on the ice among the crowds. Aside from the colorful clothing, the color palette is mostly shades of cream, light gray, and pale blue.
Photographic Discoveries
Closed July 30, 2006
Amorous Intrigues and Painterly Refinement
Closed May 21, 2006
Dada
Closed May 14, 2006

A multimedia installation that traced the history of the Dada movement. Organized around the movement's major city centers of Zurich, Berlin, Hannover, Cologne, New York, and Paris, 448 works were presented such as collages, photographs, prints, drawings, paintings, posters, films, and more.

Cézanne in Provence
Closed May 7, 2006
Renaissance to Rococo
Closed May 7, 2006
Nicholas Nixon
Closed February 20, 2006
Four women are standing on a beach. They are dressed in various casual outfits and are positioned closely together. The women's features and clothing are described against the backdrop of a clear beach with the sea in the background. The shadows of the women are visible on the sand behind them.
Audubon's Dream Realized
Closed March 26, 2006
Masterpieces in Miniature
Closed March 26, 2006
Pieter Claesz
Closed December 31, 2005
A jumble of pewter plates and a pitcher, glass goblets, a gold chalice, a brass candlestick, and other vessels along with lemons, olives, and the remains of a mince pie are arranged on a cream-white tablecloth bunched on a dark green tabletop in this square still life painting. The scene is painted almost entirely in shades of cool grays, gold, brown, and white against a deep beige background. The objects span width of the canvas across its center. At the left edge of the painting, a vibrant yellow lemon has been cut so its rind curls in a spiral that hangs over the front edge of the table. Behind the lemon, a scissor-like candle snuffer is propped against the wide ledge of the tall brass candlestick, its white candle nearly burned down. A few glistening olives sit in a small pewter plate, and one olive sits on the tabletop near the lemon and candlestick. A glass goblet with a wide stem with textured knubs rests upended on an elaborately chased, gold, footed vessel that has been tipped over so its wide shallow bowl faces away from us. The tall pewter pitcher behind this is dented on its rounded body. The lidded gold chalice next to the jug is the tallest object in the painting. Next to the chalice, along the right half of the painting, is a glass oil cruet with a long, curving spout, a tall, cylindrical vessel holding a small pile of salt, and a straight-sided, low glass holding beer. In front of these objects, an untouched bread roll and knife sit on a pewter plate at the center of the composition. The remains of the mince pie with its pastry crust sit on a large pewter plate to our right. In front of it is a smaller plate holding a broken goblet and a piece of black and white paper rolled into a cone. A few empty oyster shells sit on the table to the left and right, near the lemons and mince pie. The artist signed and dated the painting along the edge of the white cloth near the lower right corner: “HEDA 1635.”
Monumental Sculpture from Renaissance Florence
Closed February 26, 2006

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