National Gallery of Art

Beautiful building with magnificent collection and excellent docent tours. And its free!
Lovely gift shop and more than decent café.

It would take a few full days to explore everything in the National Gallery of Art, the collection is that massive. I personally love the American oil paintings gallery on the upper floor. The National Gallery has a wonderful collection of pieces by Winslow Homer. The great thing about the National Gallery (and all Federal museums on the National Mall) is that it is free to the public. This really allows you to leisurely wander the halls and not feel like you need to see everything in order to get your money’s worth. The museum is big, so definitely take a map and ask security for direction upon exiting since there are multiple entrances and exits. If you’re looking to see some of the world’s finest pieces of art, check out the National Gallery.

Fantastic museum! Absolute must see if you are in the downtown DC area. It took me 2.5 hours to go through the whole thing and that was at a fast pace. They have the only da Vinci painting present in North America which was a must see. They also had several pieces by Rembrandt, Monet, and Manet. Seriously loved it. May not be the best museum for kids though. And their gift shop is amazing! Make sure to check it out before leaving. They have some very cool stuff in there.

This is a beautiful and easy to navigate (with the help of a map, especially) art gallery in our Nation’s capitol.
As with all of the other Smithsonian run buildings, it is free to enter and spend an hour, or five, perusing the fabulous art in the museum. There are paintings, statues, tapestries, and other pieces of art from all places around the World and all periods of time. My favorite period of art is the French impressionist period and there are lots of great pieces to see from this time. My faves being anything from Monet and of course, the famous Self Portrait from Van Gogh.
Just a warning, security is very tight, and they wouldn’t even allow me to walk around with a sealed bottle of water and a mini America flag (it was Memorial Day). They do search bags and are pretty strict about their policies. You may want to read up on what they do and don’t allow before visiting. It’s a great place to spend some time and a great break from the heat in the Summer.

This is pretty much my favorite Smithsonian Museum that I try to visit weekly.
I love their event calendar and have watched and listened to (for FREE!) various pieces of work here, whether it be at the East Building Auditorium or the West Garden Court. Such a special resource in the nation’s capital to experience a wide range of talent that come into DC.
The exhibits are wonderful and there are strategically placed couches in various corridors to admire the great pieces of art. If you can’t get to the Mona Lisa, no worries, because the Ginevra de’ Benci, the only other Da Vinci piece for public view in the Americas is located here. I always find something new to discover and learn here.
I recently discovered there is a $ 20 lunch buffet in the Garden Café that I have yet to try, but they actually rotate their menu, and sometimes even based on the visiting exhibit! I peered over to see what was on people’s plate that day since they were seated literally right in the middle of the gallery, and it looked quite good! Can’t wait to try.
I love wandering through their spacious halls filled with great pieces of art, and often go out their guided tours by superb docents which always teach me something new. Although the collection is nowhere is big as The National Gallery in London or the Louvre in Paris, it is quite a special place for Washington!
Lastly, there is a neat lit up underground moving walkway that connects the East and West building, and after seeing a friend’s engagement picture, the NGA is also great place for wedding photography (esp in East building). You’ll also pass through several gift shops that have a beautiful collection of jewelry, scarves, and great books. Perfect for gift-​giving.

4 stars for the art Scavenger Hunt! I highly recommend this for groups /​couples. On Valentine’s Day the museum had organized a hunt themed on naked art (the objective being to follow clues and seek out the nude paintings). Some of the nudes were also statues.
This was edutainment for sure — we learned a lot and and enjoyed ourselves, giggling over the pantings and trying to throw off other players who were flowing us and trying to hear us deciphering the clues. I have never spent so much time in a museum — it took us almost 2 hours to complete this hunt!

Many collection of arts from Europe. Small rooms are organized to view in the order, that is very helpful. If you have back packs, you need to carry them on the side.

This is a great Art Gallery to visit. I wish I lived in the area so I may visit these galleries more often and truly learn more and more with each visit. That is one of the things I appreciate a great deal with the Smithsonian Institute, is that most of their exhibits are free and allows for multiple visits and for free. I hope that I may live in the area when I have children so I may educate them in arts, sciences and history while raising them.
The gallery is quite large and you’ll have to dedicate a decent amount of time to observe all if that is your intention.

My best friend and I visited this museum on Sunday. I was an art major in junior high school and high school so I have heard about some of these famous painters and artists before. I was a fan of the museum’s impressionist painting collections (i.e Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro). The portraits of the US presidents were pretty cool to see as well.
I loved that the museum had comfy sofa throughout each exhibit room. I took a break from time to time since I did a lot of walking around DC prior. Definitely drop by the museum for a an hour or so to take a look. Plus, it’s FREE admission too! :)

What can you say about a place that has masterpiece after masterpiece other than awesome. Our 2^nd visit and better than the first cause we had more time. Definitely plan at least 4 hours here cause there is lots to see. The couches in different rooms are a great feature to just relax and take it all in. Great experience

This is the Smithsonian where people lounge and take their time looking at the artwork. You’ll find comfy couches located in every single room along with paintings of Napoleon and Marie Antoinette. There are also several sculptures.
The entrance is jaw dropping. It is filled with flowers, a fountain and has huge marble pillars with high ceilings. The staff here were the friendliest of all that we encountered at the other Smithsonian’s, even joking with the security guard throughout our short visit. This Smithsonian was not as crowded as some of the others which made browsing the artwork a little easier.

I had to go here for an art project for school and I was not happy about it. Art museums give me a hoity toity feeling and this one had that feeling… HOWEVER…one tour guide saved the day as he creepily came up to me and my friend and gave us a brief tour of art works looking like Donald Trump, Danny Davito, and John Travolta.
I would love to come back when I am more relaxed and not worried about checking the boxes for my project’s needs. The place was beautiful and felt like I was in a maze.

If you’re hoping to see the famous painting CAKES, you will be disappointed. This painting and many other more modern ones are housed in the side of the building that is completely closed for renovation.
However, that said, it is a real treat and a total pleasure to view the beautiful art on the open side. The grand hall is amazing with it’s splendid flowers and lush fountains.
There is a free audio tour available, be prepared to SURRENDER your drivers license.

National Gallery of Art was truly mesmerizing. I’ve seen Monet, Renoir & Da Vinci in Europe but this was my first time seeing such extensive galleries in North America.
In fact, the National Gallery of Art is the only one that houses any Da Vinci work of art in North America!
The museum itself is very spacious but very approachable and easy to navigate. There’s so many people that work here and can easily help point you to the right Gallery or answer any questions. Often times I found myself wondering and maybe I seemed aloof but there were people/​attendants that offered their help.
Overall, this is such a really cool place to spend a good hour or even a half day –depending how much time you want to dedicate to beautiful, classical art.
It’s free– so it’s really a win win. Stop by, even if you’re not a huge art enthusiast and just want to kill some time and see something new!

I am blown away by all of the amazing museums that are available to the public for free in Washington DC. I visited the National Gallery this afternoon and was wowed by the sheer number of paintings by famous artists that were in the collection. I have no background in art history, but the thoughtful manner in which the paintings were grouped together and the collection was presented as a whole really allowed me to enjoy the individual works of art. For example, there is a room that presents five Monet paintings together — two of the same cathedral and three of the same bridge, all painted at different times of the day. Seeing them side by side was very powerful in highlighting the differences in mood and atmosphere that light and shadow alone can make.
Besides galleries of art, the museum also had some beautiful courtyards with benches where you can sit and enjoy the fountains and flowers.

Bottom Line: A variety of world class art situated in two large buildings and a sculpture garden for which there is no admission charge.
Thanks to Andrew Mellon, a very prominent financier, art lover and philanthropist, the National Gallery of Art was founded in 1937 with the support of FDR and Congress. Initially, the museum consisted of what is today the classical West Building which was designed by the famous architect John Russell Pope who also designed the National Archives and Jefferson Memorial. The walls of the museum consisted of Mellon’s private collection which he donated to the United States so that we could have an art museum that rivaled those of other countries. Many other generous donors followed suit. Fast forward to the 1960s and the East Building opened which features modern architecture that is perfectly fitting for its modern art. Thirty more years later, in the 1990s the Sculpture Garden opened.
Given the three parts of the museum (West Building, East Building & Sculpture Garde) there is a lot to see at NGA. If you love art, you will probably want to spend a full day here. But if you only have a few hours, it is probably best to hone in on what you want to see. If you are really not sure what kind of art you like, I advise hitting the gift shop first. That may sound crazy but the generously sized gift shop features prints and gifts that are an excellent representation of the famous works housed within the museum walls. Based on what catches your eye in the gift shop you can then hone in on what you want to see in the galleries.
I’m traditional in many ways including art so for me it’s the West Building where I want to spend most of my time. Admittedly, I’m not an avid art enthusiast so the collection can be a bit hard to navigate for me. Per the benefactor’s request, the art is arranged by period and national origin. The individual galleries are decorated accordingly. Some of my favorite works here are John Constable’s English Countryside landscape of Wivenhoe Park, Essex and Edgar Degas oil-​on-​canvas paintings of ballerinas such as Before the Ballet. Other famous artists featured here include Cassatt, Manet, Monet, da Vinci, and Van Gogh. Some of the most famous artists featured in the East Building include Picasso and Dali.
In addition to beautiful world class art, there are a few other things I appreciate about this museum. In the West Building, the fountains, sculptures and flora situated in the atriums are beautiful. In the winter you can ice skate in the sculpture garden. Also, I do really enjoy the impressively large and well displayed gift shop.
The closest Metro stop is Archives on the Green and Yellow lines.

Everything a National gallery should be.
Impressive, quiet, well staffed and offer one the opportunity to roam from room to room in contemplative thought.
I was on a slightly tight time frame and thus only spent an hour here but could have spent 3 times that and still not scratched the surface, I would have liked to have taken the (free) guides that were offered but again didn’t have the time so I sought out the ‘big guns’ and spent many minutes transfixed in front of each of these ‘masters’ works.
What was interesting for me, is the main Turner, Constable, Monet, Renoir and Goyet works are shown elsewhere in the world but this gave the chance to view some of their lesser known pieces which was fascinating.
A really great gallery, I just wish I’d had more time!

I’m withholding a star because they have been renovating the east building for freaking evvvvver. I don’t live in the area anymore and the last two times I’ve tried to go here there is almost nothing to see in the modern wing. and the security at the front is just a pleasure!
I’ve been to many museums in many major cities. DC has a plethora of great museums that are totally free. That alone sets this place apart from some of the other major museums. But for me it is a little underwhelming. The positives are that they seem to rotate exhibits pretty often so you can come back on a rotating sort of schedule to see something different, they also have some unique/​famous works of art, but as a whole it doesn’t have the same striking resonance as AIC, PMA, Met, etc. Obviously worth a visit if you’re in DC.

A wonderful collection. Be sure to check their website for current exhibits and closings. Ex: the Modern (East) wing is entirely closed for construction through Fall 2016, and proviso government shut downs for weather and budget gridlock have impacted the NGA’s being open, or not.
Amazingly this place is FREE.
Monday-​Saturday: 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Sunday: 11:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
While it may seem to be dominated by paintings, mostly European artists (perhaps understandably) and by portraits (they are one of the most popular subject matters), the collection is vast and contains many, many of the best known pieces of Art in the World. There is plenty of sculpture, decorative arts, and two nice bookstores, so please don’t be put off by the previous statement.
In the West building, the Rotunda and sculpture gardens can be nice retreats from the tourist hustle or the weather, if you need a calm moment.
The Garden Café in the basement has really good food. (and it is reasonably priced for both Washington and National museums). Also, the Cascade Café — Espresso and Gelato shop (in the basement between the East and West Buildings) can make for a nice snack and relaxing recharge.

A wonderful collection. Be sure to check their website for current exhibits and closings. Ex: the Modern (East) wing is entirely closed for construction through Fall 2016, and possible government shut downs for weather and budget gridlock have impacted the NGA’s being open, or not.
Amazingly this place is FREE.
Monday-​Saturday: 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Sunday: 11:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
While it may seem to be dominated by paintings, mostly European artists (perhaps understandably) and by portraits (they are one of the most popular subject matters), the collection is vast and contains many, many of the best known pieces of Art in the World. There is plenty of sculpture, decorative arts, and two nice bookstores, so please don’t be put off by the previous statement.
In the West building, the Rotunda and sculpture gardens can be nice retreats from the tourist hustle or the weather, if you need a calm moment.
The Garden Café in the basement has really good food. (and it is reasonably priced for both Washington and National museums). Also, the Cascade Café — Espresso and Gelato shop (in the basement between the East and West Buildings) can make for a nice snack and relaxing recharge.

New York and Paris may be regarded as the art capitals of the world, and rightly so, but the nation’s capital deserves an art museum worthy of its stature as the center of power in the western world. The National Gallery may not be the Louvre or the Met but it is still an impressive home for some of the world’s finest art.
The main building has the grandeur of some ancient temple, and the central rotunda inside is a glorious space to set the mood when you enter. The wings housing the permanent collection are vast and spacious so you don’t have to get constantly jostled by throngs of tourists. The collection has some of the all-​time greats, including a splendid selection of Impressionism and Post-​Impressionism by the big names like Monet, Toulouse-​Lautrec, Van Gogh, Seurat, and more.
The modern wing is equally impressive, an angular geometric structure housing classics by Calder, Jasper Johns, as well as some truly bizarre works that stretch the definition of modern art. They’ve put on some superbly curated exhibits over the years, including retrospectives on Edward Hopper, Roy Lichtenstein, and Andy Warhol.
For such a wonderful collection of art to be made available to the public for free (take that, New York and Paris museums charging $ 20 a pop!) makes this truly a national treasure. I could spend hours on end here, and you should too.

Just a beautiful museum. I can be in it for hours. What’s nice is that they have a dining area in the basement called the Garden Café where they offer an all you can eat buffet for $ 20. Check out the menu:
I would love to sneak away and treat myself here. It seems others had the same idea.

If I had to list some of the coolest things about living in the District, the National Gallery of art would certainly be in my top 3.
I feel very lucky to live in a city that has such amazing display of art works at the amazing price of FREE! Ok maybe a train/​bus/​car ride’s price, but still.
Before I get into the details on why I think the Gallery is so amazing, I’d like to point out one that might be obvious but not often highlighted or appreciated – The kindness of the museum employees. From security to coat check, I’ve always encountered pleasant attitudes at the NGA.
I think I become a different, artsy, imaginative version of myself when I walk in here. Not an art expert or anything but I love looking at the details of every painting, imagining the story behind them and admiring the work that the artist put behind.
My favorite part of the museum is the impressionist section. Huge fan of Van Gogh and Monet, not so much of Renoir after learning more about him. Also a huge fan of knowing that Degas Little Dancer of Fourteen Years ORIGINAL sculpture is here as well. And, of course can’t forget about Ginevra, the only Da Vinci original in the Americas.
What’s best is that while these works are some of the most iconic highlights of the museum, it has so much more to offer. From a couple of peaceful water fountains to countless sculptures throughout, a day is simply not enough to appreciate all the beauty.
The outside gardens deserve a whole other review, because just like its inside, the surroundings are marvelous. Oh and the gift shops! Because after falling in love with the Gallery you might need a bright Van-​Gogh themed umbrella or Japanese Footbridge theme coasters.
Whether you’re a resident of the District or a tourist looking for a fun/​cultured/​artsy experience, the National Gallery of Art will not dissapoint.

Great gallery with the largest collection of Raphael’s paintings. The map is color coded & numbered as the doors are linked & it’s easy to get lost.

We had a couple of hours to kill between events we were going to this past Saturday, and decided to kill those two hours at the National Gallery of Art. It was a tad crowded, as should be expected at nearly any of the Smithsonian museums, when we popped in around 3pm. I’d recommend, if you have limited time and are looking for specific periods of art, to grab a handy dandy map. There is not a whole lot for me to add without being repetitive so the important notes currently are:
1. They say they close at 5:30 but, in my experience (twice now), they start herding you out at 5.
2. One of the best gift shops is located on the lower level between the East and West wings. Check it out as they have a lot of unique items in addition to frequent sales.
3. The café has pretty good gelato for a museum.
4. It’s free… as if you didn’t already know that
5. You can relive (sort of) elementary school art class and see the paintings your 5^th grade teacher had you try to replicate thinking you were Cezanne or something
6. You can also finally see (and up close no less) those paintings from that Early French Impressionism art history class you repeatedly slept through during sophomore year of college
7. The East Wing is (mostly) closed but still take time to take the walkway between the two wings to experience the tunnel.
My preferences lean more towards the modern than the classic, so I will absolutely return once the Modern Wing reopens, if not sooner.

I’m not much into art, so I’m surprising myself by giving the Gallery of Art a five star rating. There’s some amazing pieces of art here, but what I love the most are all the different chambers some with cafes and some with gardens. The basement houses one of the biggest and best gift shops in any of the Smithsonians. There’s a very cool tunnel connecting the main gallery to the sculpture gallery that’s worth seeing and snapping a photo.

The National Gallery of Art (NGA) is one of the world’s great collections of paintings in the Western tradition from the Renaissance to the present. Established through the foresight of long-​time U.S. Treasurer Secretary Andrew W. Mellon, building began in 1937, the year that Mellon and its original building’s architect, John Russell Pope, died: they left the nation a brilliant legacy. Mellon declined to have the museum bare his name, despite his leadership which included donating 21 masterpieces formerly in the collection of the Hermitage Museum which he secretly purchased from a Soviet government desperate for hard currency in 1930 – 31. Prominent among these purchases and among the treasures of the NGA are Van Eyck’s Annunciation (1436) and Raphael’s Alba Madonna (1510).
The NGA’s collection also grew enormously thanks to the donations from others, most notably Samuel H. Kress (1863 – 1955) and his family, whose wisdom and generosity has expanded the holdings of European fine art in so many American museums. No doubt their most famous single acquisition was the only oil by Leonardo da Vinci in the America’s, his Ginevra de’ Benci (1478) acquired in 1967 with funding in part from Alisa Mellon Bruce (Andrew’s daughter). The NGA has developed an outstanding collection of Italian painting from a Madonna and Child (ca 1315) by Giotto (thanks to Kress) onward. Like many American collections, it also has an extensive representation of Netherlandish paintings (including a room full of Rembrandt’s), although its holdings in some other areas, notably Spanish painting, are much weaker.
The NGA continues to collect, and saw significant additions in 2015 when it officially accessioned 1,000’s of artworks from the once proud and tragically mismanaged (and now defunct) Corcoran Gallery of Art, among them Frederic Edwin Church’s magisterial painting, Niagara (1857). The NGA has long had holdings of American art from colonial times onward. Sculpture, furniture and decorative arts have been inconsistently collected and displayed, although it does have pieces from medieval times onward, perhaps most notably the Chalice of the Abbot Suger of Saint Denis (cup 2^nd/​1^st century BCE with a 12^th century mounting). These were joined in 2010 by a large collection of 18^th and 19^th century American high style furniture. In 1978 the NGA opened a modernist «East building» designed by architect I.M. Pei (and currently closed for renovations); its original building accordingly became known as the west building. The East building includes an auditorium; the west building and an underground passage connecting both buildings feature food service and book and gift shops. The NGA is fully accessible; it has an extensive special exhibition and publication program. Like most museums in the Capital admission is free.
Plan ahead, the NGA is a very large institution, even with only one building open! Be sure to pick up a (free) map on entry, and think about the interests and energy level of your party. If you and yours aren’t museum fanatics (as I am!) do consider a free highlights tour covering either the entire collection or a specific theme. If you’re doing it alone, think critically about energy level and interests, because very few of us have the endurance to see «everything,» even on repeated visits, and one does far better selecting a culture (e.g., the U.S.) or time period (e.g., Impressionism) and heading there straight-​away after requesting assistance at an information desk.

This was my favorite museum out of all the ones we visited .
The building itself was art. The lobby was breath taking .I could have spent all day here. So many paintings, so little time. .
I was in heaven.

I’m not a huge fan of paintings and sculptures, but I enjoy occasional visits to relevant museums, specially in cities I’m visiting for the first time.
I have to say I visited the Gallery with lowered expectations: Having visited several other of the Smithsonian’s, I was neither let down nor amused, as I couldn’t help but get the feeling that these other museums are not very well maintained since they are free. FREE is, of course, a huge plus, but I wouldn’t have cared to pay a few dollars to get a more polished experience (this is the only way I can express it, these other facilities lacked some ‘polishing’).
Among the rest of the Smithsonian’s, the National Gallery of Art stands as the most elegant, best maintained and, in my opinion, the most interesting to visit.
Having a broad variety of beautiful pieces, some of them quite well known, it is a must in DC (even more so than the rest of the museums). And, well, it’s free.

Some of the most beautiful and well-​known works of art, all together under one humongous roof, and it doesn’t cost a dime.
You cannot beat free. And you cannot beat the education and theology that exists in many of the Italian Gothic paintings. Without question, my favorite section being the Italian Gothic period. As a Christian, it has the ability to cause reflection and appreciate the sacrifice made on your behalf.
Possibly my favorite museum in the whole of the city.

A great place to visit and appreciate art.
Be sure to get a map and walk through the galleries (in order, if you can).

So America’s national Gallery of Art. Our Rembrandts and our Monets and even a da Vinci. How amazing that this museum with so many masterpieces is often overlooked as part of the Smithsonian institution. It is hands-​down the best museum on the mall.
If you like Renaissance, they have it. If you like dark ages, they have it. Roman and Greek sculpture, check mark. And of course American furniture and various other pieces of art housed in a very beautiful building with atriums, fountains and beautiful rooms that are works of art in themselves!
There is also a small collection of contemporary Art, which includes Jasper Johns, Jackson Pollock and many others. This museum is a class act!

Huge gallery with lots of art. I enjoyed walking through the atrium which is nice resting place. This place is huge and I don’t know if I would be able to see all it has to offer in one day. I will definitely come back. How can you not take advantage of free attractions?
There is a lot of security but after a while you forget they are there. Just don’t. Touch. The. Art! I also like the fact that there are so many places to sit! I liked the metal, marble or brick benches better than the couches which are fabric. Who knows what people spill or wipe on those things.

It took us 2 hours to go through one floor !
We were just driving through DC and decided to stop. You really need a minimum of a weeks stay to see most of DC.
This building alone is Grand and beautiful, let alone the fine art. Cameras are allowed in most of the museum. But pictures are not allowed when in the special exhibits, unfortunately, it’s not clearly/​obviously posted, but you will be told by the many security guards. The guards are friendly when you ask a question.
They have at least 2 gift shops and 3 restaurants within the building.
Wear comfortable shoes and don’t touch anything. I did notice art students within the special exhibits drawing.

If you’re too poor to visit Europe’s fine art museums, come to the NGA instead… its just as good, less crowded, and its FREE! In fact… we should charge foreigners to visit this fine museum but American citizens continue to visit for free. Italy, Iceland, Norway, Greece, Belgium, Ireland and France and all those other countries make Americans pay to see their museums, so we should return them the favor! Jerks…
But best part? NO SCHOOL GROUPS! They don’t loud, rotten, parent-​less children ruining the experience like DC’s other museums.

Want to see some world class art that spans centuries, continents, and classes? You’ve found yourself in the right spot. We stopped in and were offered incredible help from the service desk. Oh, did I mention this gem is free? Yes, yes it is.
The floors of the National Gallery hold beautiful paintings and sculptures galore. Normally, here is where I’d get verbose, but today I’ll limit myself to two words: go already!

WOW! I knew this was going to be a great museum based on other reviews but this place still blew me away. Fantastic art everywhere from Da Vinci, Raphael, Monet, Rembrandt, Van Gogh… I can’t possibly name them all!
The place was not that crowded on a Saturday and you can really walk right up to the paintings and see each brush stroke. Of course do not touch the artwork or sculptures! Saw a lot of stupid people touching and sitting on the art! Couldn’t believe it…
The people who work there are SUPER friendly, informative, and just plain awesome. The first guy I asked about the floors was obvy an art buff and told me where all the big names and interesting stuff were and wrote it down all on the map. And 2 other guys just struck conversations with me and we just chatted. If you have a question they are more than willing to help you out.
They have a tour guide that walked passed us so I listened to a couple of her explanations of some paintings and she was really awesome and really was into it. I think when I go back I will do the tour bc you can learn so much.
They have papers and pamphlets on what to see. I grabbed a «Collection Highlights» paper (in the bathroom stall!) and it tells you what to check out and what gallery it is in and on the back, the history of it.
Follow the the gallery numbers so you go in order b/​c if you go out of order you can get pretty lost and not know what you had already seen/​not seen.
Some of the building is under reconstruction so closed right now but that’s OK bc there is so much to see. Spent a good 4 hours or so in here. You can take as little or as much time as you want.
And it’s FREE!

How can you not appreciate the beauty that is known as the national gallery of art. This is a breathtaking art gallery. The galley houses such beautiful work. The gallery does not house all of the best works from each artist, but it houses so much work from a wide range of art movements from all of the best artists in history.
This gallery is free of admission so it’s worth your time and energy to visit at least once in your lifetime. It’s a relaxing way to spend your days in DC.

Magnifique musée a né manquer sous aucun prétexte

Alles was Rang und Namen hat ist vorhanden. Persönliches Highlight: Da Vinci. Eintritt frei.

Vom 20. Februar bis zum 30. Mai 2011 ist hier die Ausstellung «Venice: Canaletto and his Rivals» zu sehen. Sie wird zuvor vom 13. Oktober 2010 bis zum 16. Januar 2011 in der National Gallery London gezeigt.
Ich bin auf sie durch den Begleitband zur Ausstellung aufmerksam geworden: «Canaletto in Venedig. Der Meister und seine Rivalen» (Brüssel/​Stuttgart 2010) von Charles Beddington und mit einem Beitrag von Amanda Bradley.
Die Ausstellung und der Prachtband dazu seinen mit einer Rezension gelobt:
Der namhafte Londoner Kunstexperte Charles Beddington legt hier einen Bildband vor, der ausführlich in die Venezianische Veduten-​Malerei des 18. Jahrhunderts einführt. Die Werke des Giovanni Antonio Canal, gen. Canaletto (der Ältere; sein Neffe Bernardo Bellotto nannte sich ebenfalls Canaletto und ebenso dessen jüngerer Bruder Pietro Bellotti, die man zur Vermeidung von Verwechslungen besser Canaletto der Mittlere und Canaletto der Jüngere nennen sollte), sind dabei unbestritten der Höhepunkt. In seiner Zeit waren sie das nicht unbedingt und so ist dies ein weiterer schöner Grund, dessen Gemälde — eben im Kontext mit denen der anderen Venezianischen Vedutenmaler — zu präsentieren.
Charles Beddington gibt zunächst einen ausführlichen Überblick zur Entstehung und Entwicklung des vedutismo (Ansichtenmalerei) in Venedig (S. 12 – 52), der Bezüge zu holländischen Stadtbildern (S. 12 – 16), zum Interesse der ausländischen Kundschaft (S. 18 – 24), zu Bildkomposition, Bild-​Standards und Detail-​Übernahmen (S. 20 – 24, 26 – 29, 34 – 52), zu Auftraggebern, Förderern und Propagandisten (S. 16, 24 – 26, 31, 45 – 49), zu Zusammenarbeit und Konkurrenz der Maler (S. 30 – 52). Den zweiten Teil dieses Buches bilden Künstlerbiographien: Caspar von Wittel, gen. Gaspare Vanvitelli (S. 54 – 58), Luca Carlevarijs (S. 59 – 65), Johann Richter (S. 66 – 68), Giovanni Antonio Canal (etto) (S. 69 – 99), Giovanni Battista Cimaroli (S. 100 – 102), Antonio Joli (S. 103 – 107), Michele Marieschi (S. 108 – 115), Bernardo Bellotto (S. 116 – 126), Pietro Bellotti (S. 127 – 129), Francesco Tironi (S. 130f), Francesco Guardi (S. 132 – 147). Den dritten Abschnitt «Stadt und Zeremoniell» (S. 154 – 175) hat die Kunstwissenschaftlerin Amanda Bradley verfaßt. Ich kann mich nicht nicht erinnern, je so eine knappe und doch präzise historische Übersicht «Die Republik Venedig» (S. 154) und «Das Ende der Republik» (S. 155) gelesen zu haben (Und ich habe dazu schon so einiges gelesen. Insgesamt habe ich hier nur zwei kleine Fehler gefunden: S. 154 Die «legitime patrizische Geburt» wurde schon lange vor 1506 in Listen und schließlich ins Goldene Buch eingetragen. S. 167 Der Campanile von Santa Maria della Carità stürzte nicht 1741 ein, sondern am 27. März 1744.). Im Anschluß gibt sie profunde Erläuterungen zu «Örtlichkeiten und Architektur» (S. 156 – 168) und «Zeremonien und Ereignisse» (S. 169 – 175), die auf den Veduten zu sehen sind.
Der Ausstellungskatalog ist hervorragend ausgestattet mit einer Karte (S. 9), auf der die dargestellten Örtlichkeiten markiert sind, mit 64 Farbtafeln und weiteren Farb– und Detailabbildungen (auch alle in Farbe), mit Textanmerkungen insbesondere zu weiterführender Literatur, mit einer Bibliographie (S. 176 – 179), mit einem Werkverzeichnis (S. 180 – 188), das auch die Provenienz der Kunstwerke und Literatur zu ihnen angibt, mit einem Register (S. 181 – 191) und schließlich — wie sich das für einen Ausstellungskatalog gehört — mit einem Verzeichnis der Leihgeber und Bildnachweis (S. 192).
Lassen Sie sich mit diesem Begleitbuch möglichst in die Ausstellung verleiten und vielleicht stimmen Sie mit mir auch in den Ruf ein: Ihr Ausstellungsgestalter der Welt, ihr Direktoren der National Gallery London, der National Gallery of Art Washington! Schaut auf diese Kunst und erkennt, daß sie möglichst von vielen Menschen in der Welt gesehen werden sollte! Man kann nur hoffen, daß es möglich ist, diese Ausstellung um die Welt reisen zu lassen und die schönen, verschönerten, manchmal auch beschönenden und inszenierten Bilder einer einmaligen Stadt in möglichst vielen Städten zu zeigen. Aber verlassen Sie sich nicht darauf, daß man diese Ausstellung zu Ihnen hinschafft, bevor die Werke zu ihren Besitzern zurückkehren! Reisen Sie nach London oder Washington, um sie zu sehen! Und: Kunstliebhaber der Welt, schauen Sie auch auf das Original! Reisen Sie nach Venedig, das in dieser Kunst erscheint! Das ist auf jeden Fall noch ein bißchen länger da.