Washington DC – National Gallery of Art

Washington DC’s National Gallery of Art is just one of the many art galleries here in the city. It’s located a couple of blocks from the Capitol and the White House and is a great place to visit, especially because there is no cost associated with the visit.  There are two buildings, the east and the west, the west building opened in 1941 and the east building opened in 1978.  Oh – did I mention that it is free?

So the CPA and I made our way down Constitution Ave. where the two buildings sit.  We were going to see the Pompeii Exhibition, a temporary exhibit featuring artifacts that were found in the famous city of Pompeii which had been destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 79 AD.

(Image Wikipedia)

We were excited to see the exhibit, but unfortunately, we weren’t able to take pictures inside.  That left me to concentrate my efforts on the building itself and the permanent exhibits.  I wasn’t disappointed. 

Let’s start with the building itself.  It is massive.  The East Wing alone is over 110,000 sq. feet and is situationed on 8.8 acres of land. 

The main entrance opens up to this wide expanse of space with free-hanging mobiles (by artist Alexandar Calder),

life-size sculptures,

and modern wall-decor.

The exhibits are located on four different floors: the ground floor (pictured above), the mezzanine, the upper level and the tower.  We spent most of our time on the upper level where they had an interesting mix of modern and traditional art.  At the entrance of the exhibit were these two pieces:

Painting with the Statue of Liberty, by Roy Lichtenstein, 1983,

 and La Scienza Della Fiacca (The Science of Laziness) by Frank Stella, 1984.

 Then there was this amazing piece, La Ronde des Images by Jean Dubuffet, 1977.  It is beautiful.

(Here’s a close up for you.)

Inside the exhibition hall, there were beautiful paintings from the masters Matisse, Marquet and Derain.  I was also very surprised and impressed to see that the museum has quite a large collection of work by Picasso.  There’s the Pedro Mañach, 1901,

the Still Life, 1918,

and my personal favorite,

Nude Woman, 1910.

Now here is a surprise.  Did you know that Picasso did sculpture work?  I didn’t.  But he did – in fact he created this beautiful piece appropriately named Head of a Woman, 1940.

Amazing, isn’t it?

The exhibit hall itself was quite large and was divided into several rooms like this one.

While it was mostly full of paintings, there was some sculpture work including these beautiful pieces, (I do not know the artist)

and the Walking Man, by Alberto Giacometti, 1960.

There were at least a hundred pieces in this exhibit, so it was a lot to take in.  I’ll leave you with a few of my favorites.  This scene painted by Albert Marquet,

named the Posters at Trouville, 1906.

Then there was the Tugboat on the Seine, Chatou, painted by Maurice Vlaminck, 1906.

And last, but certainly not least, this sculpture named Seated Youth, 

created by Wilhelm Lehmbruck, 1917. 

It’s just one more example of the beauty that is found here in the National Gallery of Art, East Building.  And all of this was just one exhibit!  There are three other floors to visit as well as the West building across the street.  So if you’re in the area or planning a trip to the east coast, I recommend that you make time in your sight-seeing schedule to swing by for an hour or two.  You won’t be sorry. 

Ps - did I mention that it is free? 

Resources:

Great Buildings.com

National Gallery of Art, Washington

Wikipedia