National Gallery of Art Constitution Avenue

National Gallery of Art has numerous paintings, sculptures, works on paper, photographs and numerous art works on display. It houses only American and European art works from the Renaissance period to the present. It also provides the opportunity to buy different things from the gallery, assuring their authenticity.

Located between 3rd and 7th streets, at Constitution Avenue NW, on the National mall, the National Gallery of Art, is open from Monday to Saturday, from 10am to 5pm. Entry is free. It has an East and West Building. The ground floor of the West Building has galleries of prints, drawings, temporary exhibitions from the medieval to the late 19th and pre-20th century. The main floor has European paintings and sculptures along with American art and temporary exhibitions.

The East Building of the National Gallery of Art focuses mainly on modern and contemporary art and includes works by Pablo Picaso, Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol etc. The Sculpture Garden is another area offering 17 collections from the gallerys growing collection. Flowering plants, shrubs and other native American species of canopy tree adorns the garden which also has a fountain in the middle. Sitting areas are also provided for the visitors.

Famous works of Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet and sculptures of Joan Miro, Louis Bourgeois etc are also found at the National gallery of Art. It has one of the finest collections of art in the world. The current exhibitions of the gallery consist of The Baroque Woodcut, British Picturesque Landscapes etc. Italian Cabinet galleries, Dutch Cabinet galleries, Sculpture Galleries:Permanent collection are some of the Permanent Installations of the gallery.

Based on the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art, printed reproductions, stationery and jewelry are on sale at the online store of the gallery. They also have the largest collection of books on art and provide educational material for children as well. Through annual appropriations, the Federal Government of America provides funds to the gallery which is supported through a private-public partnership. Private donations are also made to the gallery.

Andrew W. Mellon, started collecting old master paintings and sculptures, in the beginning of the 1920s with the hope of starting a national gallery. After his death a joint resolution of the Congress accepted his collections and sanctioned the building of the gallery. On March 17, 1941, the building was completed. Designed by architect John Russell Pope, it was the largest marble structure at that time. Paul Mellon, Samuel H. Kress, Rush H. Kress, Alisa Mellon Bruce were some of its founding benefactors. The East Building was constructed in the 1970s, while the Sculpture Garden was completed in 1999. David Edward Finley, John Walker, J. Carter Brown were some of the noted directors of National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art