Must-Sees at the National Gallery

Welcome! Visiting for the first time? Only have an hour to spend? That's enough time to connect with intimate portraits, discover "action painting," and meet a 14-foot-tall rooster.

The National Gallery is the museum of the nation—your museum! Come inside to explore and experience art, creativity, and our shared humanity.

These must-see artworks offer a glimpse of the incredible variety of artists, materials, and spaces across our campus. So grab a map and visit them in any order you choose.

West Building Must-Sees

Here you'll find works from the 11th through the early 20th century. Opened in 1941, this first National Gallery building was architect John Russell Pope's last design. The domed rotunda in its center is based on the interior of the Pantheon in Rome.

Leonardo da Vinci, Ginevra de' Benci

This square portrait shows the head and shoulders of a young woman in front of a spiky bush that fills much of the background except for a landscape view that extends into the deep distance to our right. The woman's body is angled to our right but her face turns to us. She has chalk-white, smooth skin with heavily lidded, light brown eyes, and her pale pink lips are closed. Pale blush highlights her cheeks, and she looks either at us or very slightly away from our eyes. Her brown hair is parted down the middle and pulled back, but tight, lively curls frame her face. Her hair turns gold where the light shines on it. She wears a brown dress, trimmed along the square neckline with gold. The front of the bodice is tied with a blue ribbon, and the lacing holes are also edged with gold. A sheer white veil covers her chest and is pinned at the center with a small gold ball. The bush fills the space around her head with copper-brown, spiky leaves. A river winds between trees and rolling hills in the distance to our right. Trees and a town along the horizon, which comes about halfway up the painting, is pale blue under an ice-blue sky. — Leonardo da Vinci, *Ginevra de' Benci [obverse]*, c. 1474/1478, oil on panel, 1967.6.1.a

This is the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Americas, one of the only three of his surviving portraits of women. Likely painted at the time of her engagement at 16, it depicts an intelligent and confident Ginevra de' Benci. Wealthy women were often isolated at home, but she is outside, surrounded by juniper leaves—a play on her name in Italian. On the back of the painting the artist included a laurel branch, a symbolic reference to the young woman being a poet.

Main Floor, Gallery 6

Giovanni Bellini and Titian, The Feast of the Gods

Six women, eight men, two satyrs, and one child gather in pairs and trios in a loose row that spans the width of this nearly square painting. They are set within a landscape with craggy rocks, cliffs, and trees. Most of the people face us, and the men, women, and child have pale skin. The two satyrs have men’s torsos and furry goat’s legs, and they have darker, olive complexions. Most of the men wear voluminous, knee-length togas wrapped in short robes in shades of white, topaz blue, grass green, coral orange, or rose pink. Most of the women wear long, dress-like garments in tones of shell pink, apricot orange, or lapis blue over white sleeves. For all but one woman, their garments have fallen off one shoulder to reveal a round, firm breast. Several objects are strewn on the rocky, dirt ground in front of the group, including a wide, wooden bucket with a piece of paper affixed to its front to our right, a glass goblet, a pitchfork, a large blue and white ceramic dish filled with grapes and small yellow fruits, and an overturned cup near the center. Cliff-like, craggy rocks rise steeply behind the group to our left, filling much of the sky opposite a tall grove of leafy, dark green trees to our right. A few puffy white clouds float across the vivid blue sky. The slip of paper on the barrel has been inscribed, “joannes bellinus venetus p MDXIIII.” — Giovanni Bellini and Titian, *The Feast of the Gods*, 1514/1529, oil on canvas, 1942.9.1

No one parties like the gods—at least not like the mythological ones in this painting, a collaboration by the Renaissance artists Giovanni Bellini and Titian. The picture was the first in a series of bacchanals commissioned by Duke Alfonso d’Este to decorate the camerino d’alabastro (alabaster study) of his castle in Ferrara. It’s based on a scene from Ovid’s Fasti, a poem in Latin. At this banquet, Jupiter, Neptune, and Apollo feast in the woods as nymphs and satyrs attend to their every desire. Priapus, the god of fertility, inappropriately lifts the dress of the sleeping nymph Lotis. Dark trees provide both privacy to the scandalous affair and depth to the composition.

Main Floor, Gallery 17

Jan van Eyck, The Annunciation

A woman and winged angel, both with pale, peach skin, are situated in a church interior in this tall, narrow painting. To our left, the angel has long, blond, curly hair, smooth skin, and is smiling. The wings are outlined in royal blue, and they blend from blue to green to yellow to crimson. The angel holds one hand, closer to us, up at chest height with the index finger subtly pointing upward. Holding a long scepter in the other hand, the angel angles their body toward the woman to our right. The angel wears a gold jewel and pearl-encrusted crown and a jeweled long, voluminous robe in scarlet-red and shimmering gold brocade. The neck and along the opening down the front are lined with pearls and jewels. The angel looks toward the woman, who wears a royal-blue dress tied with a red belt at the high waist. Her long brown hair is tied back but one tendril falls over her left shoulder, to our right. She kneels facing us with her raised hands facing outward. Her head is tipped a bit to our left, and she looks up and into the distance to our right with lips slightly parted. She kneels behind a book lying open on a low table. A vase of white lilies and a red cushion lies on the floor in front of the table, close to us. The floor is decorated with people and scenes outlined in black and set into square panels, as if inlaid with wood. The church behind and above the people has a row of tall, narrow arches with bull’s-eye glass windows. A walkway lined with columns runs above the arches, and sunlight comes in through arched windows under the flat wood ceiling. A white dove flies toward the woman on gold lines from a window at the upper left of the painting. Latin words painted in gold capital letters are exchanged between the people. The angel says, “AVE GRA PLENA.” The letters of the woman’s response are painted upside down and backward: “ECCE ANCILLA DNI.” — Jan van Eyck, *The Annunciation*, c. 1434/1436, oil on canvas transferred from panel, 1937.1.39

In a scene from the Bible, the angel Gabriel delivers a message from God: that Mary will bear his son, Jesus. Van Eyck included Gabriel's words (in Latin) in the painting. He shows Mary's reply too, but her words are upside down, intended to be read from above. The dove represents the Holy Spirit, and white lilies symbolize Mary's purity. In the floor tiles, scenes from the Hebrew bible foreshadow Jesus's life.

Main Floor, Gallery 39

Augustus Saint-Gaudens, The Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial

Augustus Saint-Gaudens, The Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial, 1900, patinated plaster, X.15233

Commissioned from the celebrated American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens in the early 1880s and dedicated as a monument in 1897, The Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial has been acclaimed as the greatest American sculpture of the 19th century. The memorial commemorates the valiant efforts of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the men of the 54th Massachusetts, one of the first Civil War regiments of African Americans enlisted in the North.

Main Floor, Gallery 66

Archibald John Motley Jr., Portrait of My Grandmother

Shown from the knees up, a woman with brown, wrinkled skin, wearing a white blouse, apron, and black skirt is shown in front of a pale gray background in this vertical portrait painting. Straight-backed, she faces and looks at us with her hands resting in her lap. Her wavy, iron-gray hair is parted in the center and pulled back from her face. Her eyebrows are slightly raised, and her face is deeply lined down her cheeks and around her mouth. She wears a heart-shaped brooch with a red stone at its center at her neck and a gold band on her left ring finger. The light coming from our left casts a shadow against the wall to our right. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower right corner: “A.J. MOTLEY. JR. 1922.” — Archibald John Motley Jr., *Portrait of My Grandmother*, 1922, oil on canvas, 2018.2.1

This intimate portrait of Emily Sims Motley, the artist's 80-year-old grandmother, captures her powerful presence. Born enslaved in Louisiana, she lived through the Civil War and eventually settled in Chicago. The different textures in her blouse, its sheer sleeves and detailed buttons, show the artist's skill with color. Motley depicts Emily's creased face and age-worn hands with compassion and honesty, suggesting his deep love for her.

Main Floor, Gallery 66

Mary Cassatt, Woman with a Sunflower

We look slightly down onto a woman dressed in golden yellows, sitting in a pale green chair, with a nude child sitting in her lap as they both gaze into a mirror in this vertical portrait painting. Both the people have pale, peachy skin. The chair is angled to our left so the woman’s knees and child cant down toward the lower left corner of the composition, and the woman leans onto the arm closer to us. The chair is painted mint green and the rose-pink upholstery is visible on the seat and a corner behind the woman’s shoulder. To our right, the woman’s vibrant, copper-colored hair is pulled loosely to the back of her head. She has a rounded nose, flushed cheeks, and her full, coral-pink lips are closed. Her long dress has a low, U-shaped neckline. The fabric shimmers from pale, cucumber green to light sunshine yellow. The sleeves of the dress split over the shoulder and a second long, goldenrod-yellow sleeve falls from her elbow off the bottom edge of the canvas. An oversized sunflower, larger than the woman’s face, is affixed to her dress near her left shoulder, closer to us. She looks with dark eyes down toward the small, gold-rimmed mirror she holds in her right hand, farther from us. The child also holds the handle of the mirror with both hands, and in the reflection, the child looks back at us with dark eyes, a button nose, and pink lips. The child’s hair in the reflection is the same copper color as the woman’s, but the child on her lap has blond, shoulder-length hair. The woman rests one hand on the child’s left shoulder, closer to us. The child has a rounded belly and smooth, rosy limbs. The woman and child are reflected in a second mirror hanging on the wall alongside them, opposite us. Their reflections are very loosely painted. The wall behind the pair is sage green across the top and it shifts to fawn brown across the bottom. Brushstrokes are visible throughout, especially in the woman’s dress and hair, and are more blended in the bodies and faces. The artist signed the painting in the lower right corner, “Mary Cassatt.” — Mary Cassatt, *Woman with a Sunflower*, c. 1905, oil on canvas, 1963.10.98

Impressionist artist Mary Cassatt is best known for her images of women and children, like this intimate scene. Cassatt was also a strong advocate for women’s rights. The sunflower in this painting is likely a statement of support for women’s voting rights. At the time, the sunflower was recognized as a symbol of the suffrage movement in the United States.

Main Floor, Gallery 86

East Building Must-Sees

Discover our collection of modern and contemporary art. Opened in 1978, the light-filled building is widely considered I. M. Pei's most ambitious design. Look for the many triangles in its architecture.

Leo Villareal, Multiverse

Leo Villareal, Multiverse, 2008, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), computer, and electronic circuitry, 2009.115.1

To enliven the underground walkway between the East and West Buildings, artist Leo Villareal installed strings of energy-efficient LED lights in the curved wall and ceiling slats. He programmed the thousands of lights in Multiverse to mimic wind, water, and other natural forces. The patterns are unlikely to ever repeat. At times, the lights race through the tunnel, seeming to take on a hyperspace effect.

Concourse, Moving Walkway Tunnel

Pablo Picasso, Family of Saltimbanques

Pablo Picasso, Family of Saltimbanques, 1905, oil on canvas, 1963.10.190

As a young artist, Piccaso searched for recognition and belonging. He captured his sense of unease in this painting of wandering performers (saltimbanques). Picasso identified with these lonely-looking entertainers and included himself among the group, in the diamond-printed costume.

Mezzanine, Gallery 217

Jackson Pollock, Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist)

Densely spaced lines and splatters in black, white, pale salmon pink, teal, and steel gray crisscross a rectangular cream-colored canvas in this abstract horizontal painting. The lines move in every direction. Most are straight but some curve slightly. The density eases a bit near the edges. Two sets of ghostly white handprints are visible at the upper corners. The artist signed and dated the painting in black paint in the lower left corner: “Jackson Pollock ’50.” — Jackson Pollock, *Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist)*, 1950, oil, enamel, and aluminum on canvas, 1976.37.1

Pollock laid this large canvas on the floor of his studio barn in Long Island, and walked around it dripping, pouring, and flinging paint from brushes and sticks. This practice, which we now know as "action painting," was his way of being in his work, actively becoming part of the creative process. Look for Pollock's "signature" at the top of the canvas—his handprints.

Upper Level, Gallery 407

Alma Thomas, Pansies in Washington

This nearly square, abstract painting is filled with circles within circles, like nested rings, each of a single bright color against the ivory white of the canvas. Each ring is made up of a series of short, rectangular dashes, and some bands are narrower while others are a bit wider. The majority of the rings are crimson and brick red, and they are interspersed with bands of lapis blue, army green, and pale pink. One of two pumpkin-orange bands is the smallest, innermost ring at the center. There is one aqua-blue colored ring just inside a pale, shell-white ring, which is the first to get cropped by the edges of the canvas. A few red, green, and blue rings beyond the white band are only seen at the corners of the canvas. — Alma Thomas, *Pansies in Washington*, 1969, acrylic on canvas, 2015.19.144

In this painting, Alma Thomas imagines how a field of pansies might look from the window of an airplane. Thomas loved nature and often found inspiration for her colorful, patterned paintings in her own garden. Thomas shared her love of art with many students: she was an art teacher in Washington, DC, public schools for over 35 years.

Upper Level, Gallery 407

Georgia O'Keeffe, Shell No. 1

The spiraling whorls of a nearly round, pearl-white shell fills this square painting. The inner edges of the shell’s whorls are shaded with pale spring green, especially to our right, and the innermost spiral is pale pink. The outer lip, that is, the open end of the shell, faces down to our right. The shell sits against a stone-gray background and casts a shadow to our left. — Georgia O'Keeffe, *Shell No. I*, 1928, oil on canvas, 1987.58.7

O'Keeffe is famous for her paintings of nature: plants, flowers, bones, and the New Mexico desert. Picking up seashells along the beach was one of her favorite activities. She displayed her collection at her home in New Mexico and often drew and painted her favorite shells.

Upper Level, Gallery 415

Katharina Fritsch, Hahn / Cock

This bright blue, 14-foot rooster captures attention from any angle. Its title—hahn—is German for rooster or cock, and the artist considers it a playful poke at male vanity. From its perch on the roof of the museum, the sculpture overlooks a city full of monuments and memorials dedicated to famous men.

Tower Level, Roof Terrace

Sculpture Garden Must-Sees

Wander through this 6.1-acre oasis in the heart of the city. It's a peaceful setting for large-scale works of modern sculpture.

Louise Bourgeois, Spider

The spider reminded Bourgeois of her mother, who died when the artist was a young woman. She had been a weaver and restorer of tapestries. While spiders frighten or disgust many people, Bourgeois saw them as clever and protective.

Sculpture Garden

Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, Typewriter Eraser

In the mid-1960s, Claes Oldenburg began to visualize public monuments based on common objects, such as a clothespin or a pair of scissors, instead of historical figures or events. The artist chose the (now obsolete) typewriter eraser as his model for this work based upon childhood memories of playing with the object in his father's office. In the late 1960s and 1970s he used the eraser as a source for drawings, prints, sculpture, and even a never-realized monument for New York City. Here the giant brush arcs back, conveying a sense of motion, as if the wheel-like eraser were rolling down the hill and making its way toward the gate of the garden.

Sculpture Garden

Barry Flanagan, Thinker on a Rock

Barry Flanagan perceived the image of a hare "unveiling" itself before him while working with clay in the early 1980s. The hare motif has appeared in a variety of guises in Flanagan's bronzes. In Thinker on a Rock the artist substitutes the hare for Rodin's Thinker (1880), making an irreverent reference to one of the world's best-known sculptures, a version of which may be seen in the West Building sculpture galleries.

Sculpture Garden