Art museum · Founded 1937 · Washington, D.C., USA

National Gallery of Art

The National Gallery of Art is a major art museum in Washington, D.C., located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW. Established in 1937 through a joint resolution of the United States Congress, the museum was founded with a donation of artworks and construction funds from financier Andrew W. Mellon. Admission is permanently free to the public, and the gallery’s two buildings — the neoclassical West Building and the modernist East Building designed by I. M. Pei — together house one of the finest collections of Western art in the world.

At a glance

Type: National art museum
Period: Founded 1937; West Building opened 1941; East Building opened 1978
Style: West Building: neoclassical (John Russell Pope); East Building: modernist (I. M. Pei)
Location: National Mall, Washington, D.C., USA
Coordinates: 38.8913° N, 77.0200° W

Overview

The National Gallery of Art occupies a privileged position on the National Mall, flanked by the Capitol to the east and the Washington Monument to the west, and holds a collection spanning from the Middle Ages to the present day. Its permanent collection includes masterworks by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Monet, Picasso, and many other canonical Western artists. Entry is free of charge, a reflection of Andrew Mellon’s original condition that the federal government maintain open and free public access in perpetuity.

History

Andrew Mellon, former Secretary of the Treasury, conceived the gallery in the early 1930s as a gift to the American people, donating both his personal collection — which included works acquired from the Soviet Hermitage — and funds for a building. Congress accepted Mellon’s offer in 1937, and the neoclassical West Building designed by John Russell Pope opened in 1941. Subsequent gifts from the Kress, Widener, and Dale families dramatically expanded the collection. The angular East Building, designed by I. M. Pei and opened in 1978, was added to accommodate the growing modern and contemporary collection and provide additional exhibition and study space.

What you see

The West Building presents a grand neoclassical rotunda and a sequence of naturally lit galleries containing European paintings and sculpture from the 13th to the early 20th century, including the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Americas — the Ginevra de’ Benci. The East Building, connected by an underground concourse, offers a dramatically different spatial experience of soaring triangular atria and flexible exhibition halls suited to large-scale modern and contemporary works. The Sculpture Garden between the two buildings features major 20th-century sculptures around a central fountain and skating rink.

Cultural significance

The National Gallery of Art is widely regarded as one of the great encyclopedic museums of the world and a central institution in American cultural life. Its permanent free admission policy has made it a model for public access to art, and its dual-building campus represents a compelling architectural dialogue between neoclassicism and modernism spanning four decades of American museum design.

Practical information

Address: Constitution Avenue NW, between 3rd and 9th Streets, Washington, D.C. 20565, USA
Opening hours: Daily 10:00–17:00; closed December 25 and January 1. Check the official website for extended hours during special exhibitions.
Admission: Free of charge
Website: nga.gov

Getting there

The National Gallery of Art is served by the Smithsonian (Blue/Orange/Silver Lines) and Archives–Navy Memorial–Penn Quarter (Green/Yellow Lines) Metro stations, both within a short walk. Multiple bus routes run along Constitution Avenue and the National Mall. By car, parking on the Mall is limited; the museum recommends public transport. Bicycle parking is available nearby, and the Capital Bikeshare network serves the area well.

Sources & resources

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