National Gallery of Art facts for kids

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	3,256,433 (2022) – ranked First 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 in Washington, D.C., USA. It is located on the National Mall. The museum is free to visit and open to everyone. It was created in 1937 by the US Congress.

A man named Andrew W. Mellon gave a huge art collection and money to build the museum. Other important people also donated art. These include Paul Mellon, Ailsa Mellon Bruce, Lessing J. Rosenwald, and Samuel Henry Kress. The museum's collection shows the history of Western art. It has paintings, drawings, sculptures, and more from the Middle Ages until today. You can see the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Americas here!

The museum has two main buildings: the West Building and the East Building. The West Building has a classic design, while the East Building looks more modern. They are connected by an underground walkway. Next to the buildings is a beautiful Sculpture Garden. The National Gallery of Art is one of the largest museums in North America. In 2022, nearly 3.3 million people visited. It was the most visited art museum in the US that year.

Discover the National Gallery's History

How the Museum Started

Andrew W. Mellon was a banker from Pittsburgh and a US Treasury Secretary. He started collecting old master paintings and sculptures during World War I. In the late 1920s, Mellon decided he wanted to create a new national art gallery for the United States.

In 1930, Mellon set up a trust called the A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust. This trust would own the artworks meant for the gallery. In 1930–1931, the trust 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.

Mellon officially offered to create the new gallery in January 1937. On his birthday, March 24, 1937, the US Congress accepted his art collection and the money to build the museum. The new gallery was given the name "National Gallery of Art."

Building the Museum

The museum was built on the spot where the old Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station once stood. This station was torn down in 1908. The new museum was designed by architect John Russell Pope. It was finished and opened on March 17, 1941, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. At that time, it was the largest marble building in the world. Sadly, neither Mellon nor Pope lived to see the museum completed.

After the National Gallery was built, many other people donated their art collections. These generous donors included Paul Mellon, Samuel H. Kress, and Chester Dale.

The museum's East Building was built in the 1970s. Andrew Mellon's children, Paul Mellon and Ailsa Mellon Bruce, paid for this building. Architect I. M. Pei designed it in a modern style. It opened on June 1, 1978, with President Jimmy Carter attending. The East Building holds the museum's collection of modern art. It also has research centers and offices.

The newest part of the museum is the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden. It opened on May 23, 1999. This garden is an outdoor space for showing large modern sculptures.

How the Museum Works

The National Gallery of Art gets support from both private donations and the US government. The government provides money each year for the museum's daily operations and upkeep. All the artworks and special programs are paid for by private donations. The museum is not part of the Smithsonian Institution.

Some important directors have led the National Gallery. These include David E. Finley, Jr., John Walker, and J. Carter Brown. In 2019, Kaywin Feldman became the director. She was the director of the Minneapolis Institute of Art before this. In 2021, the museum hired Evelyn Carmen Ramos. She is the first woman and first person of color to be the chief curator.

The museum's president is Mitchell Rales, a billionaire businessman. The chairperson is Sharon Rockefeller.

It is free to enter both buildings of the National Gallery of Art. The museum is open every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed on December 25 and January 1. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the museum was mostly closed. However, visitors could make appointments to see the West Building in small groups.

Exploring the Museum's Architecture

The East Building

Exhibitions in the West Building

Exhibitions in the East Building

Underground walkway connecting the East and West buildings.

The museum has two main buildings. These are the West Building (built in 1941) and the East Building (built in 1978). An underground passage connects them.

The West Building

The West Building is made of pink Tennessee marble. It was designed in 1937 by architect John Russell Pope. Its style is neoclassical, which means it looks like ancient Greek and Roman buildings. The building is shaped like a long "H." In the center is a round room with a dome, much like the Pantheon in Rome.

Long halls with skylights extend from this central room. Bright garden courts balance the long main hallways. The West Building holds a large collection of paintings and sculptures. These are by European masters from the Middle Ages to the late 1800s. It also has American art from before the 1900s. You can see famous paintings by Jan Vermeer, Rembrandt van Rijn, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, and Leonardo da Vinci.

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

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

The East Building

The East Building was designed by architect I. M. Pei. Its design is very geometric. The building's shape is like a trapezoid, which is divided into two triangles. One triangle holds the public art galleries. The other has a library, offices, and study areas. The triangle shape is repeated throughout the building.

The main part of the East Building is a tall, open central court called an atrium. This atrium is made of the same Tennessee marble as the West Building. The East Building focuses on modern and contemporary art. Its collection includes works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, and Alexander Calder. It also has the main offices and a large research center for art.

The Concourse and Sculpture Garden

The two buildings are connected by an underground walkway called "the Concourse." In 2008, artist Leo Villareal created a light sculpture for this walkway. It's called Multiverse. It has about 41,000 computer-controlled LED lights. This makes it Villareal's largest and most complex light sculpture. The Concourse also has a food court and a gift shop.

The National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden is the last part of the museum complex. It was finished in 1999. It is west of the West Building. This 6.1-acre garden was designed by landscape architect Laurie Olin. It's an outdoor gallery for large modern sculptures. The garden has native trees, shrubs, and flowers. A round reflecting pool and fountain are at its center. In winter, the pool becomes an ice-skating rink! The garden displays sculptures by artists like Marc Chagall, Roy Lichtenstein, and Joan Miró.

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

Amazing Art Collection

Gerard van Honthorst's monumental 1623 masterwork, The Concert, was acquired by the NGA in 2013 and went on display for the first time in 218 years.

The National Gallery of Art's collection includes European and American paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, and decorative arts. The paintings go all the way back to the Middle Ages.

European Masterpieces

The museum has many famous Italian Renaissance paintings. These include works by Duccio, Fra Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, and Giorgione. You can also see Ginevra de' Benci, which is the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Americas. There are also many works by Titian and Raphael.

The collection also features paintings by other European masters. These include El Greco, Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt, Johannes Vermeer, Francisco Goya, and Claude Monet. The sculpture collection has works by Auguste Rodin and Edgar Degas.

Prints and Drawings

The National Gallery has 75,000 prints and rare illustrated books. This collection started with 400 prints donated in 1941. Over the years, many more works were added. Important artists in the print collection include Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt, William Blake, and Mary Cassatt.

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

Highlights of the Collection

Leonardo da Vinci, Ginevra de' Benci, c. 1474

El Greco, Saint Martin and the Beggar, c. 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

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  Giorgione, Adoration of the Shepherds, c. 1500

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  Raphael, Cowper Madonna, 1504–05

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  Raphael, Saint George and the Dragon, 1506

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  Giorgione and Titian, Portrait of a Venetian Nobleman, c. 1507

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  Giovanni Bellini and Titian, The Feast of the Gods, c. 1514

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  Nicolas Poussin, The Assumption of the Virgin, c. 1626

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  Rembrandt van Rijn, The Mill, 1648

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  Rembrandt van Rijn, Self Portrait with Beret and Turned-Up Collar, 1659

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  Johannes Vermeer, A Lady Writing a Letter, 1665–1666

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  Jean-Honoré Fragonard, A Young Girl Reading, c. 1776

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  Thomas Gainsborough, Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, 1787

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  Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Marcotte d'Argenteuil, 1810

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  John Constable, Wivenhoe Park, 1816

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  Eugène Delacroix, Columbus and His Son at La Rábida, 1838

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  Italian, The Veiled Nun, c. 1863

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  Édouard Manet, The Old Musician, 1862

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  Claude Monet, Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son, 1875

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  Édouard Manet, The Plum, 1878

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  Claude Monet, The Artist's Garden at Vétheuil, 1880

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  Vincent van Gogh, Self-portrait, August 1889

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  Paul Gauguin, Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake, 1889

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  Paul Cézanne, Boy in a Red Waistcoat, 1888–1890

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  Vincent van Gogh, Girl in White, 1890

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  Claude Monet, Rouen Cathedral, West Facade, Sunlight, 1894

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  Henri Matisse, Open Window, Collioure, 1905

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  Pablo Picasso, Family of Saltimbanques, 1905

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  Henri Rousseau, The Equatorial Jungle, 1909

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  Francis Picabia, The Procession, Seville, 1912

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  Albert Gleizes, Les Joueurs de football (Football Players), 1912–13

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  Pablo Picasso, Still Life, 1918

Selected Highlights from the American Collection

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

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  John Singleton Copley, Watson and the Shark, (original version), 1778

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  Gilbert Stuart, The Skater, 1782

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  Edward Savage, The Washington Family, 1789–1796

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  Edward Hicks, Peaceable Kingdom, c. 1834

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  Thomas Cole, The Voyage of Life: Childhood

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  Thomas Cole, The Voyage of Life: Youth

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  Thomas Cole, The Voyage of Life: Manhood

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  Thomas Cole, The Voyage of Life: Old Age

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  Thomas Cole, A View of the Mountain Pass Called the Notch of the White Mountains (Crawford Notch), 1839

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  George Inness, The Lackawanna Valley, 1855

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  Thomas Eakins, The Biglin Brothers Racing, 1873

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  Winslow Homer, Breezing Up (A Fair Wind), 1873–1876

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  Frederic Edwin Church, Morning in The Tropics, (1877)

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  Mary Cassatt, The Loge, 1882

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  Mary Cassatt, Woman with a Sunflower, 1905

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  John Singer Sargent, Street in Venice, 1889

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  William Merritt Chase, A Friendly Call, 1895

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  Robert Henri, Snow in New York, 1902

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  George Bellows, Both Members of This Club 1909

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  Childe Hassam, Allies Day, May 1917, 1917

See also

In Spanish: Galería Nacional de Arte para niños