National Gallery of Art
 National Gallery of Art |
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| Data | |
|---|---|
| place |
Washington, DC 
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| opening | March 17, 1941 |
| Number of visitors (annually) | 4.6 million |
The National Gallery of Art (NGA; German National Art Gallery ) is an American art museum in Washington, DC
The museum consists of two buildings, the east building and the west building. Both are located on the National Mall and are connected by an underground tunnel. The National Gallery of Art is not part of the Smithsonian Institution , which includes the other state museums in Washington, DC.
history
The National Gallery of Art was commissioned by Congress in 1937 to house Andrew W. Mellon's donated art collection . The museum opened on March 17, 1941.
In 2009, the National Gallery of Art had 4.6 million visitors.
Directors
- 1938–1956: David E. Finley, Jr.
- 1956-1969: John Walker
- 1969-1992: J. Carter Brown
- 1992-2019: Earl A. Powell III
- since March 2019: Kaywin Feldman
West building
The neoclassical design of the West Building comes from the architect John Russell Pope and is based on the Pantheon in Rome with its floor plan, portico and open dome .
In the west building (West Wing) there is an extensive collection of pictures and sculptures by great European artists from the Middle Ages to the late 19th century and American artists from the 18th century to the early 20th century . The highlights of the collection are paintings by Jan van Eyck , Raffael , Tizian , Vermeer , Rembrandt , Monet , Van Gogh and the only widely recognized painting by Leonardo da Vinci on the American continent, the portrait of Ginevra Benci .
East building
The geometrical design of the East Building comes from Ieoh Ming Pei . This was opened in 1978. In 1999, an adjacent sculpture garden was opened.
The collection in the east building focuses on modern and contemporary art. These include works by Picasso , Matisse , Jackson Pollock , Andy Warhol , Max Beckmann , Barnett Newman and Alexander Calder . The main office of the museum is also located in the east building.
The sculptures exhibited in the sculpture garden include a. Works by Joan Miró , Louise Bourgeois and Roy Lichtenstein .
The east building received the Twenty-five Year Award in 2004 from the American Institute of Architects .
Exhibition hall of the west building with European art
The east building of the IM Pei Museum
Detail view of the east building
Interior view of the east building with modern art
literature
- Eugen Külborn (editor): Galeria Mundi. A trip through the museums . Frankfurt am Main: Hoechst AG, 1981, without ISBN (pp. 54–79 National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC )
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ American Institute of Architects : list of winners