National Gallery of Art
Washington, D.C.
202-737-4215
(above: View of the West Building of the National Gallery of Art Looking West along Constitution Avenue, NW, photo © 2014 John Hazeltine)
(above photos from left to right: After Dark: View of the East Building from the West Building, Fourth Street Entrance, Opened 1978, Architect: I. M. Pei & Partners, photo by Dennis Brack / Black Star; Interior of East Building atrium of National Gallery of Art, featuring Alexander Calder mobile; photo ©1987 John Hazeltine)
Resource Library articles and essays honoring the American experience through its art:
In the Tower: Barbara Kruger (10/3/16)
Three Centuries of American Prints from the National Gallery of Art (5/3/16)
The Gothic Spirit of John Taylor Arms (7/1/11)
Jasper Johns: An Allegory of Painting, 1955-1965 (11/9/06)
The Streets of New York: American Photographs from the Collection, 1938-1958 (8/26/06)
Charles Sheeler: Across Media (3/28/06)
Nicholas Nixon: The Brown Sisters (10/25/05)
Audubon's Dream Realized: Selections from "The Birds of America" (9/6/05)
Winslow Homer in the National Gallery of Art (7/14/05)
Irving Penn: Platinum Prints (5/23/05)
Cotton Puffs, Q- tips®, Smoke and Mirrors: The Drawings of Ed Ruscha (1/20/05)
American Masters from Bingham to Eakins: The John Wilmerding Collection (4/20/04)
The Art of Romare Bearden (9/23/03, rev. 12/20/03)
Modern Art and America: Alfred Stieglitz and His New York Galleries (2/7/01)
Lee Friedlander Accession at National Gallery in Washington D.C. (2/7/01)
Alfred Stieglitz: New Perspectives (3/10/00)
Martin Johnson Heade at the National Gallery of Art (3/10/00)
Carleton Watkins Exhibit Provides New Technology for Visitors (3/10/00)
Twentieth-Century American Art: The Ebsworth Collection (3/10/00)
Mary Cassatt at National Gallery of Art (8/6/99)
Photographs from the Collection at the National Gallery of Art (5/26/99)
American Impressionism and Realism: The Margaret and Raymond Horowitz Collection (2/2/99)
First Retrospective of Landscapes by Thomas Moran (1997)
National Gallery Acquires Important Early Homer Painting (1997)
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture
Garden are located on the National Mall between Third and Ninth Streets
at Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C.
The Gallery was created for the people of the United States of America by a joint resolution of Congress accepting the gift of financier, public servant, and art collector Andrew W. Mellon in 1937, the year of his death. The Gallery's collection of some 106,000 paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculpture, and decorative arts traces the development of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present
Special exhibitions are presented throughout the year. The Gallery also offers a free concert series, lectures, tours, film screenings, and a wide range of educational programs and materials for loan
The original (West) building opened to the public in 1941, and includes European (13th-early 20th century) and American (18th-early 20th century) works. Rich in Dutch masters and French impressionists, the collection offers superb surveys of American, British, Flemish, Spanish, and 15th- and 16th-century German art. Visitors are also invited to explore the Micro Gallery, a comprehensive interactive multimedia computer system. (left: West Building entrance. Photo credit: Mark Hazeltine)
See the Gallery's website for hours and other general information.
The National Gallery of Art offers on its web site
the audio tour "The Director's Tour" by
Director Earl A. Powell III.
O'Keeffe on Paper. Barbara Buhler Lynes,
co-curator of the exhibition, author of Georgia O'Keeffe: Catalogue
Raisonné, curator of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe,
and Emily Fisher Landau Director of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum Research
Center, discuss new insights on the stunning watercolors, charcoals, and
pastels presented in the exhibition of O'Keeffe's most innovative works
on paper. Aired May 6, 2000. (description courtesy NGA)
Carleton Watkins: The Art of Perception. Sarah
Greenough, curator of photographs, talks about works by celebrated nineteenth-century
photographer Carleton Watkins, on view in the first major exhibition of
Watkin's work in 20 years. Aired March 11, 2000. (description courtesy
NGA)
Martin Johnson Heade, Part Two. Franklin Kelly,
curator of British and American painting, continues the discussion of the
exhibition, Martin Johnson Heade. Aired March 4, 2000. (description
courtesy NGA)
Martin Johnson Heade, Part One. Franklin Kelly,
curator of British and American painting, presents an overview of the work
of Martin Johnson Heade, one of the most innovative and creative artists
of the nineteenth century. Aired February 26, 2000. (description courtesy
NGA)
From PBS:
Artist Romare Bearden drew on his interests in religious
ritual and classic literature to create beyond what the camera could capture
in his depictions of urban African-American life in the 20th century. Jeffrey
Brown reviews the artistic achievements of Bearden, which are celebrated
in an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Gallery of Art in Washington,
D.C. This 8-minute audio clip is from a 1988 NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
segment. Another 10-minute NewsHour segment includes a 1986 Charlayne
Hunter-Gault interview with Romare Bearden.
TFAO also suggests these DVD or VHS videos:
Awareness Series: American Art. John Singleton Copley,
George Catlin, and Mary Cassatt: A Nation of Painters is a 25 minute
video produced by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, in cooperation
with WETA-TV. "Short, evocative studies of the works of major artists
represented in the collections of the National Gallery of Art: Copley,
Catlin, Cassatt, and American Naive painters. Programs are not intended
as definitive studies of these artists; rather, each is designed as a starting
point for group discussion of the art and artist. Segments may be used
independently, in any order or combination." This video is lent free
of charge through the National Gallery of Art's Division of Education (go
to NGA Loan Materials Finder)
Awareness Series: Modern Masters is a 40 minute
video produced by the National Gallery of Art. "Short, evocative studies
of the works of major artists represented in the collections of the National
Gallery of Art: Monet, Renoir, Degas, Cassatt, Gauguin, Cézanne,
and Picasso. Programs are not intended as definitive studies of these artists;
rather, each is designed as a starting point for group discussion of the
art and artist. Segments may be used independently, in any order or combination."
This video is lent free of charge through the National Gallery of Art's
Division of Education (go to NGA Loan Materials Finder) Image courtesy
NGA.
Why was this sub-index page prepared?
When Resource Library publishes over time more than one article concerning an institution, there is created as an additional resource for readers a sub-index page containing links to each Resource Library article or essay concerning that institution, plus available information on its location and other descriptive information.
See TFAO's Museums Explained to learn about the "inner workings" of art museums and the functions of staff members. In the exhibitions section find out how to get the most out of a museum visit. See definitions for a glossary of museum-related words used in articles.
To help you plan visits to institutions exhibiting American art when traveling see Sources of Articles Indexed by State within the United States.
Unless otherwise noted, all text and image materials relating to the above institutional source were provided by that source. Before reproducing or transmitting text or images please read Resource Library's user agreement.
Traditional Fine Arts Organization's catalogues provide many more useful resources:
American Representational Art links to dozens of topics in American Representational Art
Audio Online a catalogue of online streaming audio recordings
Collections of Historic American Art notable private collections
Distinguished Artists a national registry of historic artists
Geographic Tour of American Representational Art History a catalogue of articles and essays that describe the evolution of American art from the inception of the United States to WWII.
Illustrated Audio Online streaming online narrated slide shows
Articles and Essays Online substantive texts published outside of Resource Library
Videos Online a comprehensive catalogue of online full motion videos streamed free to viewers
Videos an authoritative guide to videos in VHS and DVD format
Books general reference books published on paper
Interactive media media in CD-ROM format
Magazines paper-published magazines and journals
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