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- James Conaway
- “ The Alba Madonna,” by Raphael (Gallery 20) “Several of the [National Gallery’s] paintings were acquired from the Hermitage [Russia’s premier art museum] back in the 1930s by Andrew Mellon,” Denker says, “including ‘The Alba Madonna,’ by Raphael, which belonged Czar Nicholas I.”
- “ The Annunciation,” by Jan van Eyck (Gallery 39) Another priceless Hermitage acquisition, “The Annunciation” was painted by the Dutch master van Eyck in the 15th century on panel and transferred to canvas while still in Russia.
- “ Self-Portrait,” by Rembrandt van Rijn (Gallery 48) Rembrandt produced this masterpiece in 1659 in Amsterdam, where he was the leading artist of his time.
- “ Ginevra de’ Benci,” by Leonardo da Vinci (Gallery 6) The same feeling comes over anyone looking at another of Denker’s picks, “Ginevra de Benci,” painted by Leonardo da Vinci between 1474 and 1478, yet another hot wax transfer from wood panel.
The masterworks highlighted here represent only a small part of the more than 150,000 sculptures, decorative arts, prints, drawings, photographs, and paintings in the National Gallery’s permanent collection. Taken together, they offer a vibrant picture of the power and range of human creativity. Like the collection itself, this selection of ...
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Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction. Now on view. Open daily 10:00 to 5:00. Plan your visit. Admission is always free. 6th and Constitution Ave NW. Washington, DC 20565.
- Overview
- Woman Holding a Balance (c. 1664)
- The Skater (1782)
- Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1785–87)
- La condition humaine (1933)
- The Adoration of the Shepherds (1505/10)
- Girl with the Red Hat (c. 1665/66)
- Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist) (1950)
- Saint John in the Desert (c. 1445/50)
Andrew Mellon donated more than 150 artworks that would become the core of the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; he also donated money that would be used to build the museum’s first home, today called the West Building. The formal acceptance of his gifts by the U.S. Congress in 1937 marks the founding of the National Gallery. Its collection has since grown to more than 150,000 works. This list highlights just eight noteworthy paintings.
Earlier versions of the descriptions of these paintings first appeared in 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die, edited by Stephen Farthing (2018). Writers’ names appear in parentheses.
Held lightly between a woman’s slim fingers, a delicate balance forms the central focus of this painting. Behind the woman hangs a painting of Christ’s Last Judgment. Here, Johannes Vermeer uses symbolism so that he can tell a lofty story through an ordinary scene. Woman Holding a Balance employs a carefully planned composition to express one of Ve...
The perfectly poised and polished composition with its wash of vibrant surfaces tell of an artist totally at ease with his subject matter. Gilbert Stuart was primarily a painter of head and shoulders, so his full-length skater was something of a rarity. Painted in Edinburgh, this eye-catching picture by Stuart of his friend William Grant combines c...
In this bewitching portrait, Thomas Gainsborough captured a compelling likeness of the sitter while also creating an air of melancholy. This emphasis on mood was rare in the portraiture of the day, but it became an important concern for the Romantics in the following century. Gainsborough had known the sitter since she was a child and had painted h...
René Magritte was born in Lessines, Belgium. After studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, he worked in a wallpaper factory and was a poster and advertisement designer until 1926. Magritte settled in Paris at the end of the 1920s, where he met members of the Surrealist movement, and he soon became one of the most significant artists of th...
Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco, known as Giorgione, commanded enormous respect and influence given that his productive period lasted only 15 years. Very little is known about him, although it is believed that he was familiar with Leonardo da Vinci’s art. He began his training in the workshop of Giovanni Bellini in Venice, and he would later cla...
This painting belongs to the period when Jan Vermeer produced the tranquil interior scenes for which he is famed. For such a small painting, Girl with the Red Hat has great visual impact. Like his Girl with a Pearl Earring, a girl with sensuously parted lips looks over her shoulder at the viewer while highlights glint off her face and earrings. Her...
Jackson Pollock is a 20th-century cultural icon. After studying at the Art Students’ League in 1929 under Regionalist painter Thomas Hart Benton, he became influenced by the work of the Mexican Social Realist muralists. He studied at David Alfaro Siqueiros’s experimental workshop in New York, where he began painting with enamel. He later used comme...
Saint John in the Desert is part of an altarpiece painted for the Church of Santa Lucia dei Magnoli, in Florence. This is the masterwork of one of the leading artists of the early Italian Renaissance, Domenico Veneziano. Here is art at a crossroads, mixing medieval and emerging Renaissance styles with a new appreciation of light, color, and space. ...
Sep 28, 2023 · Here's my guide to visiting the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. I give you an overview of the museum's history and extensive collections. I identify and analyze 30 of the top masterpieces you can't miss, from both the East Wing and the West Wing.
From a 17th Century selfie to a shark attack. The third biggest museum in the United States, The National Gallery of Art in the nation's capital is home to some stunning works by European and American masters, including Johannes Vermeer, Rembrandt and Monet. Here are five highlights from the collection: Self-Portrait- Rembrandt van Rijn ...
We probably don’t need to tell you that DC has a great lineup of art museums, including the National Gallery of Art, the Phillips Collection and more. We’ve laid out where you can find famous paintings and iconic works of art from some of the greatest painters around the world, from da Vinci and O’Keeffe to van Gogh and Picasso.
