National Gallery of Art facts for kids

This page is about the United States art museum. For other national art galleries, see List of national galleries.

Quick facts for kids
National Gallery of Art

The West Building facade of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
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Established	1937; 88 years ago (1937)
Location	National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C., U.S.
Collection size	75,000 prints
Visitors	3,936,543 (2024) – ranked second among U.S. art museums, seventh globally
Public transit access	Washington Metro: Judiciary Square Archives Smithsonian L'Enfant Metrobus: 4th Street and 7th Street NW DC Circulator: 4th Street and Madison Drive; 9th Street and Constitution Avenue NW

The National Gallery of Art is a famous art museum located in Washington, D.C., United States. You can find it on the National Mall, a large open area in the city. It's special because it's free to visit and was created for all Americans.

A man named Andrew W. Mellon started the museum in 1937. He gave a huge collection of art and money to build it. Many other generous people also donated their art over the years. The museum's collection includes paintings, drawings, sculptures, and more. It shows how Western art has changed from the Middle Ages to today. You can even see the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Americas here!

The museum has two main buildings: the older West Building and the modern East Building. They are connected underground. There's also a beautiful Sculpture Garden outside. The National Gallery of Art is one of the biggest museums in North America. In 2024, nearly 4 million people visited, making it the second most-visited art museum in the U.S. It's the only top art museum in the country that doesn't charge an entry fee.

History of the National Gallery of Art
- How the Museum Started
- Building the Museum and Its Growth
How the Museum Works
- Learning and Research at CASVA
Museum Architecture
- Building Updates and Renovations
Art Collection Highlights
Famous Artworks You Can See
- Cool American Artworks
Images for kids
See also

History of the National Gallery of Art

How the Museum Started

Andrew W. Mellon, a banker from Pittsburgh and a government official, began collecting old master paintings and sculptures during World War I. By the late 1920s, he decided he wanted to create a new national art gallery for the United States.

In 1930, Mellon bought 21 paintings from the Hermitage Museum in Russia. These included famous works like Raphael's Alba Madonna and Titian's Venus with a Mirror. He planned for these artworks to be part of his new gallery.

In January 1937, Mellon officially offered his art collection and money to build the new gallery. On March 24, 1937, the U.S. Congress accepted his amazing gift. They approved building the museum on the National Mall.

The new gallery was given the name "National Gallery of Art." Another gallery, which was part of the Smithsonian Institution, changed its name to the "National Collection of Fine Arts" (now called the Smithsonian American Art Museum).

Building the Museum and Its Growth

The land where the museum stands used to be a train station. In 1881, President James Garfield was shot there. The station was later taken down.

The West Building was designed by architect John Russell Pope. It was finished in 1941 and was the largest marble building in the world at the time. Sadly, neither Mellon nor Pope lived to see the museum completed.

Many other people were inspired by Mellon's gift and donated their own art collections. This helped the National Gallery grow even bigger.

Later, in the 1970s, Mellon's children, Paul Mellon and Ailsa Mellon Bruce, paid for the East Building. This modern building was designed by architect I. M. Pei and opened in 1978. It was built to hold the museum's collection of modern art, as well as research centers.

The last part added to the museum complex was the Sculpture Garden. It opened in 1999 and provides a beautiful outdoor space for large sculptures.

How the Museum Works

The National Gallery of Art is a partnership between the government and private donors. The U.S. government helps pay for the museum's daily operations and upkeep. All the artwork and special programs are paid for by private donations.

The museum has had several important directors over the years. Since March 2019, Kaywin Feldman has been the director. She was the director of the Minneapolis Institute of Art before coming here.

Visiting both buildings of the National Gallery of Art is completely free. The museum is open every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., except on December 25 and January 1.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the museum was mostly closed. But visitors could still make appointments to see parts of the West Building in small groups.

Learning and Research at CASVA

The Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (CASVA) is the museum's research center. It was started in 1979. CASVA offers special programs for visiting professors, fellowships for researchers, and internships for college students. It also publishes books and studies about art.

Museum Architecture

The East Building

Exhibitions in the West Building

Exhibitions in the East Building

Underground walkway connecting the East and West buildings

The National Gallery of Art has two main buildings: the West Building (built in 1941) and the East Building (built in 1978). An underground passage connects them.

The West Building is made of pink Tennessee marble. It was designed in a neoclassical style, which means it looks like ancient Greek and Roman buildings. It has a large dome in the center, similar to the Pantheon in Rome. Inside, there are long halls with skylights and bright garden courts.

Dome of West Building, an entrance to permanent Renaissance Art collections

Indoor garden court with Tuscan columns and symmetrical planting beds. August 2021.

The West Building holds a huge collection of paintings and sculptures by European artists from the Middle Ages to the late 1800s. It also has American art from before the 20th century. Some famous artists whose works you can see here include Jan Vermeer, Rembrandt van Rijn, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, and Leonardo da Vinci.

The East Building looks very different. It was designed by I. M. Pei in a modern, geometric style. It uses triangles in its design, which you can see everywhere in the building.

The most striking part of the East Building is its tall, open central area called the atrium. It's also made of the same Tennessee marble as the West Building.

In 2005, some of the marble panels on the East Building started to show wear. They were carefully removed and reinstalled to make sure they were safe. The renovation was finished in 2016.

The East Building focuses on modern and contemporary art. It has works by artists like Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, and Alexander Calder. This building also has the main offices and a large research center.

The two buildings are connected by an underground walkway called "the Concourse." In 2008, artist Leo Villareal created an amazing light sculpture here called Multiverse. It uses about 41,000 computer-controlled LED lights to create a dazzling display. The Concourse also has a food court and a gift shop.

The Sculpture Garden is the final part of the museum complex. It's located west of the West Building. This 6.1-acre garden was designed as an outdoor gallery for large modern sculptures.

The Sculpture Garden has many native plants and trees. A circular reflecting pool and fountain are at its center. In winter, the pool becomes an ice-skating rink! You can see sculptures by artists like Marc Chagall, Roy Lichtenstein, and Joan Miró here.

Taken at the exterior wall of National gallery of Art East Building

Building Updates and Renovations

The West Building was updated between 2007 and 2009. Some parts closed for a while, but others stayed open.

The East Building also needed major renovations. In 2011, work began to fix the outside of the building. The pink marble panels on the walls were carefully removed and reinstalled with new, stronger anchors. This work was completed in 2014.

In 2013, the National Gallery announced a large renovation for the inside of the East Building. This included updating the building's systems and creating new exhibition spaces. Because of the work, most of the East Building closed in December 2013 and reopened three years later. Generous donors helped pay for this big project.

Art Collection Highlights

Gerard van Honthorst's 1623 painting, The Concert, was acquired by the NGA in 2013.

The National Gallery of Art's collection includes European and American paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, and decorative arts. The paintings cover art from the Middle Ages to today.

The Italian Renaissance collection has famous works like two panels from Duccio's Maesta, Giorgione's Allendale Nativity, and Giovanni Bellini's The Feast of the Gods. A very special piece is Ginevra de' Benci, the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Americas! There are also many works by Titian and Raphael.

The museum also has paintings by other European masters, such as El Greco, Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt, Johannes Vermeer, and Francisco Goya. The sculpture collection includes works by Auguste Rodin and Edgar Degas.

The National Gallery has a huge collection of 75,000 prints. These include works by Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt, William Blake, and Mary Cassatt. This collection started with just 400 prints in 1941 and has grown thanks to many donors.

In 2013, the museum bought a painting called The Concert by Gerard van Honthorst. This 1623 painting had not been seen by the public since 1795! It is now on permanent display in the museum's Dutch and Flemish galleries.

Famous Artworks You Can See

Leonardo da Vinci, Ginevra de' Benci, around 1474

El Greco, Saint Martin and the Beggar, around 1597–1599

Peter Paul Rubens, Germanicus and Agrippina, 1614

Jacques-Louis David, The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries, 1812

Édouard Manet, The Railway, 1872

Giorgione, Adoration of the Shepherds, c. 1500
Raphael, Cowper Madonna, 1504–05
Raphael, Saint George and the Dragon, 1506
Giorgione and Titian, Portrait of a Venetian Nobleman, c. 1507
Giovanni Bellini and Titian, The Feast of the Gods, c. 1514
Nicolas Poussin, The Assumption of the Virgin, c. 1626
Rembrandt van Rijn, The Mill, 1648
Rembrandt van Rijn, Self Portrait with Beret and Turned-Up Collar, 1659
Johannes Vermeer, A Lady Writing a Letter, 1665–1666
Jean-Honoré Fragonard, A Young Girl Reading, c. 1776
Thomas Gainsborough, Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, 1787
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Marcotte d'Argenteuil, 1810
John Constable, Wivenhoe Park, 1816
Eugène Delacroix, Columbus and His Son at La Rábida, 1838
Italian, The Veiled Nun, c. 1863
Édouard Manet, The Old Musician, 1862
Claude Monet, Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son, 1875
Édouard Manet, The Plum, 1878
Claude Monet, The Artist's Garden at Vétheuil, 1880
Vincent van Gogh, Self-portrait, August 1889
Paul Gauguin, Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake, 1889
Paul Cézanne, Boy in a Red Waistcoat, 1888–1890
Vincent van Gogh, Girl in White, 1890
Claude Monet, Rouen Cathedral, West Facade, Sunlight, 1894
Henri Matisse, Open Window, Collioure, 1905
Pablo Picasso, Family of Saltimbanques, 1905
Henri Rousseau, The Equatorial Jungle, 1909
Francis Picabia, The Procession, Seville, 1912
Albert Gleizes, Les Joueurs de football (Football Players), 1912–13
Pablo Picasso, Still Life, 1918

Cool American Artworks

Benjamin West, Colonel Guy Johnson and Karonghyontye (Captain David Hill), 1776

James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl, 1862

George Bellows, New York, 1911

John Singleton Copley, Watson and the Shark, (original version), 1778
Gilbert Stuart, The Skater, 1782
Edward Savage, The Washington Family, 1789–1796
Edward Hicks, Peaceable Kingdom, around 1834
Thomas Cole, The Voyage of Life: Childhood
Thomas Cole, The Voyage of Life: Youth
Thomas Cole, The Voyage of Life: Manhood
Thomas Cole, The Voyage of Life: Old Age
Thomas Cole, A View of the Mountain Pass Called the Notch of the White Mountains (Crawford Notch), 1839
George Inness, The Lackawanna Valley, 1855
Thomas Eakins, The Biglin Brothers Racing, 1873
Winslow Homer, Breezing Up (A Fair Wind), 1873–1876
Frederic Edwin Church, Morning in The Tropics, (1877)
Mary Cassatt, The Loge, 1882
Mary Cassatt, Woman with a Sunflower, 1905
John Singer Sargent, Street in Venice, 1889
William Merritt Chase, A Friendly Call, 1895
Robert Henri, Snow in New York, 1902
George Bellows, Both Members of This Club 1909
Childe Hassam, Allies Day, May 1917, 1917

Images for kids

The West Building soon after construction, looking northwest from the National Mall
North face of the West Building, with the west side of the East Building and the United States Capitol in background
South face of the West Building (2014)
Rotunda of the West Building beneath dome (2004)
Oculus of the West Building dome (2008)
West Building sculpture gallery (2007)
West Building garden court (2010)
Satellite image of National Gallery of Art grounds and surrounding streets (2002)
Moving walkway and light sculpture in concourse beneath 4th Street connecting East and West Buildings (2016)
Center of West Building plaza, looking west towards West Building (2010)
Fountain in West Building plaza (2010)
View of fountain from concourse beneath West Building plaza (2013)
Center of West Building plaza, looking east towards entrance of East Building (2000)
South face of East Building, looking northwest from southeast corner (2010)
Southwest corner of East Building, looking east (2007)
Southwest corner of East Building during renovation, looking northeast (2014)
East Building atrium (2007)
East Building atrium (2007)