National Gallery of Art

Frommer's Review

This museum is such a treasure. Housing one of the world's foremost collections of Western paintings, sculpture, and graphic arts, from the Middle Ages into the 21st century, the National Gallery has a dual personality. The original West Building, designed by John Russell Pope (architect of the Jefferson Memorial and the National Archives), is a neoclassic marble masterpiece with a domed rotunda over a colonnaded fountain and high-ceilinged corridors leading to delightful garden courts. At its completion in 1941, the building was the largest marble structure in the world. It was a gift to the nation from financier/philanthropist Andrew W. Mellon, who also contributed the nucleus of the collection, including 21 masterpieces from the Hermitage, two Raphaels among them. The modern East Building, designed by I. M. Pei and opened in 1978, is composed of two adjoining triangles with glass walls and lofty tetrahedron skylights. The pink Tennessee marble from which both buildings were constructed was taken from the same quarry; it forms an architectural link between the two structures. Only a small percentage of the National Gallery's collection of 109,000 works is on display at one time. The Gallery's permanent collection offers reason enough to visit, but its mounted exhibitions make this museum a further must -- they're always fantastic; see the box "Museum Exhibits Scheduled for 2008," earlier in this chapter, for a taste of what's happening at the Gallery.

The West Building: From the Mall entrance, you can stop first at the Art Information Room to design your own tour on a computer, if you like. But don't spend too much time here. Step into the gorgeous Rotunda, which leads right and left of you to light-filled halls punctuated with sculpture; off these long corridors stem intimate painting galleries organized by age and nationality. To your left, as you face away from the Mall, are works by the older Masters, from 13th-century Italians to 16th-century Germans. To your right are their younger counterparts, from 18th- and 19th-century French and Spanish artists to later works by British and American artists. These are creations by El Greco, Bruegel, Poussin, Vermeer, Van Dyck, Rubens, Fra Angelico, Gilbert Stuart, Winslow Homer, Constable, Turner, Mary Cassatt, you name it. The only Leonardo da Vinci painting in the Western Hemisphere hangs here, his Ginevra de' Benci, just another masterpiece among this bevy of masterpieces.

Descend the grand marble staircase to the ground floor, where the museum's newly renovated sculpture galleries are columned, vaulted, and filled with light. Highlights here range from Chinese porcelain, to Renaissance decorative arts, to 46 wax statuettes by Degas, to Honoré Daumier's entire series of bronze sculptures, including all 36 of his caricatured portrait busts of French government officials.

The National Gallery Sculpture Garden, just across 7th Street from the West Wing, opened to the public in May 1999. The park takes up 2 city blocks and features open lawns; a central pool with a spouting fountain (the pool turns into an ice rink in winter); an exquisite glassed-in pavilion housing an excellent cafe; 17 sculptures by renowned artists like Roy Lichtenstein and Ellsworth Kelly (and Scott Burton, whose Six-Part Seating you're welcome to sit upon) and, the latest installment, a Paris Metro sign; and informally landscaped shrubs, trees, and plants. It continues to be a hit, especially in warm weather, when people sit on the wide rim of the pool and dangle their feet in the water while they eat their lunch. Friday evenings in summer, the gallery stages live jazz performances here.

The East Building: This wing is a showcase for the museum's collection of 20th-century art, including works by Picasso, Miró, Matisse, Pollock, and Rothko; for an exhibit called Small French Paintings, which I love; and for the gallery's special exhibitions. But chances are, the first thing you'll notice in this wing is the famous, massive aluminum Alexander Calder mobile dangling in the seven-story sky-lit atrium. And here's a tip that lots of people don't know: If you make your way to the tippy-top of the East Wing, whether by elevator or stairs, you reach a level that's actually named the "Tower," where you are rewarded with the sight of four Matisse cutouts, swirls of colorful paper creations framed against a background of white.

Altogether, you should allow a leisurely 2 hours to see everything here.

Pick up a floor plan and calendar of events at an information desk to find out about National Gallery exhibits, films, tours, lectures, and concerts. Immensely popular is the gallery's Sunday concert series, now in its 66th year, with concerts performed most Sunday evenings, October through June, at 6:30pm in the beautiful garden court of the West Building. Admission is free and seating is on a first-come basis; my suggestion is to tour the gallery in late afternoon, lingering until 6pm, when the galleries close and the queuing begins, in the Rotunda. The concerts feature chamber music, string quartets, pianists, and other forms of classical music performances. Call tel. 202/842-6941.

The gallery offers school tours, wide-ranging introductory tours, and tours in several languages. The gift shop is a favorite. You'll also find several pleasing dining options -- among them the concourse-level Cascade Café, which has multiple food stations; the Garden Café, on the ground floor of the West Building; and the sculpture garden's Pavilion Café.

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.

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