This year's theme for my monthly Art Talk posts is Museums. I am highlighting international museums, museums in the United States, and Arizona.
It is time for me to highlight a museum in the US, in the capital in fact, The National Gallery of Art in DC. After living in DC for 6 years and going to the NGA numerous times I am so excited to share one of my favorite museums with you!
There are actually three parts to the National Gallery of Art. The west building, the east building and the sculpture garden.
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Sculpture Garden
The Sculpture Garden is 6.1 acres (25,000 m2) and was completed in 1999. The garden has works of art surrounding the center which changes from fountain in the summer to ice skating rink in the winter. It also has a cafe, if you are hungry after seeing so much great art.
It is a wonderful place!
Here are few works from the sculpture garden.
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| Graft by Roxy Paine | Amor by Rovert Indiana | Thinker on a Rock by Barry Flanagan |
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| Six part seating with the National Treasury building in the back ground | Stele II by Ellsworth Kelly | Chevai Rouge by Alexander Calder |
House I by Roy Lichenstein
West Building
The West building is a stately Neoclassical building by John Russell Pope and completed in 1941 and the East building was designed by I.M. Pei and completed in 1978.
I will be highlighting the West Building as that is the building I spent the most time in and created tours to give to my friends. It feels like home when I go inside.
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Andrew Mellon
One of the great things about the National Gallery of Art, and all the museums on the National Mall- they are free!
the Nation Gallery of Art was made for the people. Andrew Mellon donated a large amount of money and his art collection to start the museum. Since his initial donation there have been other collectors that contributed to the collection, including his children, Alissa and Paul Mellon.
I created a tour called Andrew Mellon and the Hermitage. The room below is a waiting room right outside of the coat check at the Main entrance of the museum, on the south side. It has the benefactors pictures and Andrew Mellon's is above the fireplace.
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If you would like to learn more about Andrew Mellon and or the art he collected from the Hermitage see this post Art Talk: NGA Andrew Mellon and the Hermitage Tour
Domed Rotunda
Walking into the west building from the south entrance you are greet by tons of marble, both the columns and the floor, a beautiful fountain and a great dome! It is a very popular place for photos too.
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Galleries
The West building has works of art from 11th to 19th century western art. I will highlight a few of the galleries and pieces that I especially enjoy.
French Galleries
The National Gallery of Art has a great French collection, here are few of the paintings.
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| Manet | Bazille | Monet |
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| Cezanne | van Gogh | Morisot | Sisley |
The sculptures are downstairs.
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| Degas | Rodin |
For more info about French art see this post Art Talk: NGA French Impressionism Tour
View of the edge of the west building, a view of the east building and the Capital building
Renaissance
The renaissance is from the 1300 to 1500s and is most notably in Italy. There are some really great renaissance artists from north of the Alps. My favorite being Jan van Eyck's 1436 Annunciation. The level of detail in this painting is INCREDIBLE!
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The National Gallery has a great selection of Italian Renaissance art including, Raphael, Titan, Fra Filippo Lippi and the only Leonardo da Vinci in the western hemisphere- Ginevera de' Benci.
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| Raphael | Titan | Fra Filippo Lippi |
Leonardo da Vinci Ginevera de' Benci, 1474/1478. This is a beautiful two sided portrait of a young girl painted before her wedding date. Leondardo painted it when he was 22 years old.
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For more information and photos see my post from 2020 Art Talk: NGA Italian Renaissance Tour
One of my favorite places to rest and think is in the courtyard areas on either side of the museum
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Early American Art
There are a lot of great early America portraits at the National Gallery, including many of the founding fathers, George Washington is below.
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| Gilbert Stewart | Peale | Copley |
Between the West and East Buildings
The Hudson River School
The Hudson River School was a group of American artist painting in the mid 1800s outside, much like the impressionist were doing during that same time in France.
My mom's favorite artist is Albert Bierstadt. Bierstadt, Cole, Church and others painted the American landscape. These paintings are very large. I am also including one of Cole's voyage of life.
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| Bierstadt | Cole | Church |
Art Talk: NGA Hudson River School Tour
Two more great American painters John Singer Sargent and James McNeill Whistler that were also painting in the 1800s.
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Dutch Art
There is a great collection of Dutch art. In my opinion they are the masters of still life!
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| Rembrandt | Willemsz, Heda | Huysum |
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| De Heem | Vermeer | Leyster |
While this post is about 1000 words it is really a very small sampling of all the great art in this fantastic museum. It is one of my favorite places!
I will end with the Henry Moore sculpture at the entrance of the East building.
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If you like Henry Moore as much as I do you will enjoy these posts.
Art Talk: Moore Across America
Art Talk: Moore in America
Sources:
National Gallery of Art
National Gallery of Art- Wikipedia
American Renaissance
Art Talk Series Highlights
2023
Theme: Museums
Art Talk: Rijksmusuem
Art Talk: Armstrong Browning Library and Museum
Art Talk: Musical Instrument Museum
Art Talk: Norsk Folkemuseum
Art Talk: Phoenix Art Museum
Art Talk: 2022 Posts
Art Talk: 2021 Posts
Art Talk: 2020 Posts
Art Talk: 2019 Posts
Art Talk: 2018 Posts