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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John Singleton Copley in England
Closed January 7, 1996
A knight in armor strides toward two women wearing long gowns in a balustraded terrace in this horizontal painting. The three people all have smooth, pale skin with flushed cheeks. To our left, the man’s entire body is covered in armor except for his face under a raised visor. He has blue eyes, and his rose-red lips are slightly parted. His helmet is topped with a plume of white feathers. There is a red cross on his chest and red fabric wraps over his far shoulder and billows down his back to his shins. He holds a round shield edged in red up over his head with his far arm, and holds a lance down by his side with the hand closer to us. A sword hangs from his far hip, and he strides forward onto his other leg. He gazes to our right. In the right half of the composition, the two women stand facing each other. Both have long, curly gray hair, delicate noses, gray eyes under arched brows, and their coral-pink lips are parted. At the center of the painting, one woman, Fidelia, wears a long-sleeved, floor-length white gown tied at the waist with a butter-yellow sash. White cloth wraps around her head and through her hair, and it flutters behind her. She turns her head to look up and to our left, and her head is surrounded by a vibrant, yellow glow. In her right hand, closer to us, she holds up a gold chalice with a snake curling from the cup, its mouth open and tongue flicking out near her hair. She holds a brown book in her other hand, down in front of her hips. The second woman, Speranza, faces Fidelia but she looks up and to our left. Speranza’s topaz-blue, satin dress has a gauzy white collar and cuffs, and the skirt pools around her feet. A sky-blue ribbon wraps through Speranza’s hair. With her far hand, Speranza touches Fidelia’s wrist near the book. With her other hand, closer to us, Fidelia gathers her dress and braces the curving prongs of a silver anchor across that arm. The trio is framed by tall trees on the left and columns swathed with burgundy-red curtains on the right. A balustrade between the man in armor and woman in white is silhouetted against a salmon-pink sky along the horizon. A screen of white clouds float against the aquamarine-blue sky above.
A Great Heritage
Closed December 31, 1995
The Touch of the Artist
Closed January 28, 1996
This drawing is a sketch of several people facing the left, depicted from the chest up. The individuals are standing together in a group. Their hair is in a variety of styles, and they are dressed in draped garments. The person at the front of the group has their hands clasped together in front of their chest. The background is plain beige paper, and the lines of the drawing have been done in red.
Adriaen Brouwer
Closed February 11, 1996
The First Century of Photography
Closed December 31, 1995
Marc Chagall's Early Prints and Drawings
Closed December 31, 1995
This painting features a series of angular and curved lines that create an abstract representation of a village scene. In the left part of the painting, dark, triangular and rectangular shapes form what appear to be a collection of houses, one with a bright yellow roof, and an industrial area with chimneys in the background. The red and beige hues cover the majority of the painting with vibrant, swirling lines adding texture. Behind the buildings, a person appears to ride on horseback against a bright blue section. Closer to us are three people depicted with flat, abstract features. Near the bottom-left corner, a woman in a patterned dress with a dark headscarf appears to carry a tray or bowl. In the center, a person in pale gray clothing is walking to the left, holding an indistinct white object. Behind them, on the right, a person sits on a chair, wrapped in white clothing. Their chair appears to be held up by another person.
Recent Acquisitions of Works of Art on Paper
Closed December 31, 1995
The image shows an array of shapes and lines in an abstract scene. In the foreground, there are dark angular shapes resembling hat silhouettes with faintly sketched faces. The background consists of a pattern of scattered green brushstrokes on a light backdrop. A rich blue border at the top hints at a sky or horizon. The composition blends familiar objects like hats, leaves, and faces with an abstract quality.
Prints by James McNeill Whistler and His Contemporaries
Closed December 31, 1995
The image shows a view of a calm body of water with a horizon line approximately one third from the bottom. Along the horizon, there are ships with tall masts, including a large ship slightly left of center. To the right, there are buildings, possibly a cityscape, with a tall structure resembling a lighthouse or tower. The image features soft, blur-like brushstrokes, creating a dreamlike quality. The color palette consists of monochromatic tones of gray, enhancing the serene atmosphere of the scene.
Piet Mondrian: 1872-1944
Closed September 4, 1995
This abstract, geometric painting has been tipped on one corner to create a diamond form rather than a square. The surface of the canvas is crisscrossed by an irregular grid of black lines running vertically and horizontally like offset ladders. The black lines create squares and rectangles of different sizes, and the width of the lines vary slightly. One complete square sits at the center of the composition and is painted white. Other rectangles are incomplete, their corners sliced by the edge of the canvas, and each is a different shade of white with hints of pale blue and gray. The black grid creates triangular forms where it meets the angled edge of the canvas in some places, and some of these are filled with flat areas of color. A tomato-red triangle is placed to the left of the top center point, and a vibrant yellow triangle is to the left of the lower center point. A black triangle is next to it at the bottom center, and a cobalt-blue triangle is situated just below the right point. The painting is signed with the artist’s initials at the lower center: “PM.”
James McNeill Whistler
Closed August 20, 1995
The image shows an aerial view of a sandy terrain with a horizon line separating the sky from a strip of water where there is a dark shape resembling a ship. The brushstrokes are soft, creating a blurred effect. The color palette is mainly sandy beiges and taupes with darker spots indicating people and structures dispersed across the area. Human figures are mostly silhouettes. In the distance, there is a suggestion of a building and clusters of people. The tones of the building blend with the surroundings, directing focus towards the distant clusters of activity.
French Drawings from the Armand Hammer Collection
Closed November 13, 1995
The image shows a group of figures engaged in a scene. Two women are seated on the floor in the foreground, one reaching out with her hand, while a child or baby lies in front of them. The faces of the individuals are illuminated, showcasing delicate facial features and soft expressions. The women have loosely styled hair and wear draped garments. Another figure, a small child, stands with arms outstretched on a surface, while one of the women nearby leans on the surface and gazes upward. The background is nondescript, emphasizing the interaction among the characters in the foreground. Loose objects such as a plate are scattered on the floor, adding to the lively nature of the composition.
Arshile Gorky
Closed September 17, 1995
Abstracted forms are painted in grass green, black, pepper red, butter yellow, tawny beige, rose pink, and a few touches of ocean blue in this horizontal composition. The paint is applied thinly, almost like watercolor wash. Translucent layers of paint drip down the canvas and knit the colors and shapes together. Most of the forms create a roughly pyramidal shape at the center. Some are vaguely square-shaped while others are oval, circular, or triangular. Many of the forms are outlined in black, and some have spots of color at their centers. For instance, a cluster of shapes near the lower right includes two canted parallelograms outlined with black. One has an emerald-green oval at its center and the other a black oval. Other shapes in that area include a rust-red triangle, a solid black anvil-shaped form, and a butternut-orange circle surrounded by vibrant yellow. A caramel-brown area spans the bottom edge of the canvas. The artist signed and dated the lower left corner, “A. Gorky 44.”

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