Published on the occasion of the opening of the East Building at the National Gallery of Art, this book provides a history of the building, the reasons for its construction, and an overview of the art and exhibitions it contained upon its unveiling. Andrew Mellon stipulated as part of his original gift to found the Gallery that the adjoining trapezoidal plot to the east be reserved for a future addition. Due to the growing need for exhibition and office space, in the 1970s the Gallery launched a plan for the East Building, designed by architect I. M. Pei. The book includes descriptions and illustrations of the exhibitions planned for the East Building’s inaugural year, a section with facts about the East Building project, and an afterword by Pei.