National+Gallery+of+Art

Monica Salazar: **National Gallery of Art** The National Gallery of Art is an art museum sporting an impressive collection of world art. It preserves, collects, exhibits and fosters works of art at the highest possible museum and scholarly standards. The museum collects very extensive collections of paintings, sculptures, decorative arts and graphic works from the 12th to the 20th century.

It is located in Washington D.C., at the west end of the Mall and is part of the Smithsonian Institution. It was founded in 1937 when financier and philanthropist Andrew W. Mellon donated a large sum of money plus a collection of paintings to construct the gallery and was created for the people of the United States of America when Congress accepted the donation. On March 17, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt accepted the gallery publicly and its grand opening was on that day. Since then, the United States federal government provides funds to support the museum and all its operations and maintenance. All the works of art that the gallery keeps in its collection are donations by other art collectors and private donors.

The National Gallery of Art’s building received a National Honor Award from the American Institution of Architects in 1981. The museum started out as one building called the West Building, but in 1978 another part was added on and was called the East Building, connected by an underground passage. The West Building, designed by John Russell Pope, depicts a neoclassical style and is composed of pink Tennessee marble and it takes the form of a stretched H. A domed rotunda modeled on the interior of the Pantheon in Rome centers the building, and sculpture halls provide its main circulation spine. The West Building centers around an extensive collection of works of art from the 19th century (paintings and sculptures by European masters from the medieval times) as well as pre-20th century (works by American artists). Highlights of the collection include Jan Vermeer, Rembrandt van Rijn, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh and Leonardo da Vinci.

The East Building was designed by architect I.M. Pei. It was opened on June 1 of 1978 by President Jimmy Carter. This building has a geometrical design composed of two triangles. It has a high atrium designed as an open interior court constructed in the same Tennessee marble as the West Building. In 2008 officials stated that because of signs of strain in the joints attaching the panels to the walls it would be necessary to remove and reinstall all the panels. The project is scheduled to finish in 2013. The East Building focuses on modern and contemporary art. Highlights such as Pablo Picasso, Hneri Matisse, Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Alexander Calder. This building contains main offices of the NGA and a research facility, Venter for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (CASVA).

As a final addition to the museum, the Sculpture Garden, to the west of the West Building, was completed in 1999. It was designed by architect Laurie Olin as an outdoor gallery for sculptures. A circular reflecting pool and fountain are at its center. The exhibition of sculptures include pieces by Roxy Paine, Joan Miro, Louse Bourgeois and Hector Guimard. In 2008, the gallery authorized Leo Villareal, American artist, to make an artistic installation. Multiverse, Villareal’s work, is the largest and most complex light sculpture by him.

The gallery’s principal duty is to keep its collections intact for future generations and to pass these on in excellent condition. Its mission is to serve in a national role by preserving, collecting, exhibits, and fostering the works of art. The gallery also collects materials for researching related to its collections, as well as the history and appreciation of art in general.

When I researched about the National Gallery of Art I was impressed. The idea of collecting the world’s most beautiful works of art by the world’s most famous and talented artists all under one roof was amazing. //

I would love to visit it someday and be able to tour the museum to be able to explore and presence all the unique paintings and sculptures the National Gallery offers in display. Also, to learn all there is to about the works of arts the gallery fosters and about how they were done and why and what the artist was thinking when he created it. Before this project I had only heard vague things about the museum and conducting this research essay gave me the opportunity to know more. ** Works Cited ** //"About the NGA." //National Gallery of Art//. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., 2011. Web. 17 Mar. 2011. < http://www.nga.gov/ginfo/aboutnga.shtm>.//

//"National Gallery of Art." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. 16 Mar. 2011. Web. 17 Mar. 2011. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Gallery_of_Art>.//

//"National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. - Things to Do - VirtualTourist." //Travel Guides, Hotel Reviews, Photos, Forums, Deals - VirtualTourist.com//. VirtualTurist.com, Inc., 2011. Web. 17 Mar. 2011. < http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/North_America/United_States_of_America/Washington_DC/Things_To_Do-Washington_DC-National_Gallery_of_Art-BR-1.html>.// //"National Gallery of Art, Washington." //Web Gallery of Art, Image Collection, Virtual Museum, Searchable Database of European Fine Arts (1000-1850)//. Web. 17 Mar. 2011. < http://www.wga.hu/database/museums/nga.html>.// //"National Gallery of Art, Washington | ArtBabble." //ArtBabble | ArtBabble//. Web. 17 Mar. 2011. < http://www.artbabble.org/partner/national-gallery-art-washington>.

  National Gallery of Art   Located in the East end of the mall, Washington D.C. The National Gallery of Art is a building that has the purpose to exhibit many different kinds of art from many different kinds of places. It’s an impressive collection of world art because it collects and exhibits works of art at the highest possible museum and scholarly standards; it also honors the pieces of art it shelters and its owners. The U.S. honors this pieces of art to remark how different and unique all arts are.  One of the materials that stand out used to create the National Gallery of Art was pink Tennessee marble, it not only gives the building the Neoclassical style that John Russel Pope designed for it but it also makes the exhibitions within it stand out. The building started its construction in 1937 it was completely built in 1941, but to make more space for more incoming peaces of art in 1995 a garden was added, The Sculptural Garden, it was finished in 1999 though it took four years to end its construction it allowed more proyects to enter the exhibition. The last modification added was intended to expand the diversity of art with open air salon. It was ordered by Andrew W. Mellon because he paid for it, and planned by John Russel Pope, but it was carried out by a resolution of congress.  As metioned before it honors the diversities of art that are around the world and its creators. They are honored because there is so much talent around the world and the National Gallery of Art was created to honor all of that art. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> In my opinion what more called my attention was the sculptural garden that had many different and beautiful sculptures, but above all what marked more my memory was the west building which has art exported from Europe. I learned that there is an East building and a West building and a Sculpture Garden. I already knew that the main foundator was Andrew W. Mellon among others. Though I was surprised to find out about the West building that contained the European art. If I´d visited the place I would´ve felt really inspired because I love art and this place would´ve been an odyssey for me. I think of this place as one of the defenit places I´m going to visit when I grow up. In my opinion I think, because of the pictures I saw, that Russel made a great job planning the structure because it seems to make the peaces of art Stand out. <span style="color: #ff4c00; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 190%;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="color: #ff4c00; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 190%;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Bibliography: <span style="color: #ff4c00; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 190%;"><span style="color: #ff4c00; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 190%;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 31.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · //<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">National Gallery of Art //<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">. Web. 17 Mar. 2011. []. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 31.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">"National Gallery of Art - Washington DC - Reviews of National Gallery of Art - TripAdvisor." //Reviews of Hotels, Flights and Vacation Rentals - TripAdvisor//. Web. 17 Mar. 2011. []>. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 31.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">"The Collection." //National Gallery of Art//. Web. 17 Mar. 2011. []>. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 31.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">"Van Gogh's Van Goghs: Virtual Tour." //National Gallery of Art//. Web. 17 Mar. 2011. []>. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 31.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">"National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. - Things to Do - VirtualTourist." //Travel Guides, Hotel Reviews, Photos, Forums, Deals - VirtualTourist.com//. Web. 17 Mar. 2011. 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