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The Gallery has just opened a new, on-site space for thinking, learning, dialogue, and art-making activities. The Education Studio, a multipurpose classroom with sophisticated audio-visual capabilities, will serve as the museum's primary location for hands-on workshops and educational events. The studio's first public program is Beach Views, a family workshop for children 8-12 related to the museum's exhibition Richard Misrach: On the Beach. Advance registration required for sessions July 24–26 and August 7–9.
Martin Puryear
Through September 28, 2008
A native Washingtonian who has achieved international acclaim, Martin Puryear has created a distinctive body of sculpture that defies categorization. In conjunction with the retrospective currently on view in the East and West Buildings, the Gallery has launched a new Web feature and family guide to further explore his poetic body of work. Our site has detailed information about the exhibition, Martin Puryear, and resources—as well as photographs of works in place at the Gallery and a video of his Ladder for Booker T. Washington being installed in the Rotunda. Our richly illustrated family guide helps visitors navigate the exhibition, with background information about specific works, questions for further discussion, and a map of the places Puryear has lived and explored.
New Video Podcasts
Empire of the Eye: The Magic of Illusion
Hi-Res | Lo-Res | iTunes The Trinity—Masaccio, Part 2
The Magic of Illusion—presented here in a seven-part podcast series—is a film about how we see, what we see, or what it is we think we see. Al Roker guides us on a journey into the secrets of illusion, utilizing special effects to illustrate the artistic and visionary discoveries of the Renaissance. While Copernicus and Columbus were changing our understanding of the world, the Renaissance masters were dramatically changing the way we see that world. The film uses recent technology to look at old works in new ways. Each segment of this podcast presentation unlocks new secrets of illusion and perspective as seen in the works of old masters.
Richard Misrach: On the Beach
Through September 1, 2008
In tandem with the opening of the exhibition, the Gallery Web site features an up-close look at the work of American photographer Richard Misrach. In the days immediately following September 11, 2001, Misrach took a series of large-scale, lushly colored photographs of swimmers and sunbathers in Hawaii. In this series, On the Beach, Misrach eliminated all references to the horizon and sky to record people immersed in the idyllic environment, yet a strange sense of disquietude pervades. Preview these 19 provocative images before viewing the oversized photographs, some nearly 10 feet wide, in person at the Gallery.
Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul
Through September 7, 2008
In anticipation of the May opening of the exhibition Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul, the Gallery has launched a new Web feature taking an in-depth look at some of these extraordinary objects. The exhibition will feature 228 artifacts dating back some 2,000 years and unearthed from four archaeological sites in modern-day Afghanistan. An online video trailer presents footage of the dramatic 2004 recovery of ancient objects hidden during years of recent turmoil in the country. A "timeline of treasures" includes close-ups of artifacts from the Bronze Age (2500 BC) through the rise of trade along the Silk Road in the first century AD. Additionally, information about special events and programs can be accessed online, as well as further resources from the National Geographic Society, the Embassy of Afghanistan, and related online exhibitions.
Visit Our New East Building Information Desk
On your next visit, be sure to consult the new digital screen at the East Building Information Desk, which highlights both temporary exhibitions and works from the permanent collection. A daily calendar reminds visitors when films, lectures, and tours are about to begin.
Subscribe to Our Free E-mail Newsletters
Stay up to date with the National Gallery of Art by subscribing to our free e-mail newsletters: Web, educators, family programs, fellowships/internships, films, gallery talks/lectures, music programs, and teen programs. Select as many updates as you wish to receive. To edit your subscriber information, please go to our subscription
management page.
Complete Survey of Renaissance Medals Collections at the National Gallery of Art
Now Available in the Gallery Shop
The most important public collection of Renaissance-era medals in the United States resides at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and is the focus of a new publication, Renaissance Medals. The first comprehensive catalogue of this collection is available as a two-volume set covering 957 medals acquired through 2003. Of these, 163 are currently on view at the National Gallery of Art in the West Building Ground Floor Sculpture Galleries.
The catalogue, compiled over more than 20 years, offers the most detailed art historical and scientific assessment of the collection available to date, including technical information such as the alloy composition of each medal. Volume one features Italian medals, including dozens of masterworks by Pisanello, who essentially invented the medium of portrait medals. Volume two focuses on French, German, Netherlandish, and English medals, including works by Guillaume Dupré, Albrecht Dürer, and Jacques Jonghelinck, and continues through the baroque and later periods.
National Gallery of Art Seeks Drawings, Watercolors, and Paintings on Paper by Mark Rothko for Essential Reference Volumes
As part of a worldwide initiative, the National Gallery of Art is seeking information about drawings, watercolors, and paintings on paper in public and private collections by the American artist Mark Rothko (1903–1970). The National Gallery of Art is publishing a multivolume catalogue raisonné, Mark Rothko: The Works on Paper, which will document more than 2,700 objects that are largely unknown to both art specialists and the public. Demonstrating the range of Rothko's creative achievements, these volumes will be the definitive historical record of Rothko's oeuvre on paper for decades to come.
Anyone with information regarding works on paper by Mark Rothko should contact Laili Nasr, Rothko Catalogue Raisonné Project. Mailing address: National Gallery of Art, 2000B South Club Drive, Landover, MD 20785; phone: (202) 842-6779; fax: 202-789-3204; e-mail: l-nasr@nga.gov.
Volunteer at the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden
The Sculpture Garden plantings are maintained by the National Gallery of Art horticulture staff. The division of horticulture is currently accepting applications for volunteers. For more information on volunteer opportunities, candidates should submit a letter of interest including all vital contact information to gardens@nga.gov.
We would like to hear from you. Please tell us about your visit to the National Gallery of Art. If you would like a reply, please be sure to include your e-mail address.
New Interactive: NGAkids Still Life
The new NGAkids Still Life interactive encourages young artists to explore the world around them by arranging artistic elements and everyday objects into multi-dimensional works that mirror those of the old masters. But there are surprises in store, as some of the objects unexpectedly spring to life! Experiment with spatial arrangements, size variables, and perspective angles, then switch modes and add layers of textured "brushstrokes" to create a more painterly, abstract image. This Art Zone activity is suitable for all ages.
Andy Goldsworthy: Roof
East Building, Ground Level
British sculptor Andy Goldsworthy (b. 1956) was invited by the
National Gallery of Art in January 2003 to create a work for
the Gallery on site or elsewhere in the region. Impressed with
the abundance and character of Washington's stone structures,
Goldsworthy conceived a project reflecting his interest in local
building stones and their geological origins. The resulting project
comprises two phases: ephemeral work completed on Government
Island in Stafford County, Virginia, and a permanent sculpture
located on the Ground Level of the Gallery's East Building. Goldsworthy,
along with his assistant and a team of workers including four
dry-stone wallers from Britain, installed the sculpture entitled
Roof over the course of nine weeks in the winter of
2004/2005. The site specific sculpture comprises nine hollow,
low-profile domes of stacked slate, each with a centered oculus.
View panoramas of Roof in progress.
Support
the Gallery:
Make a Gift Online
The National Gallery of Art relies on a partnership of public
support and private philanthropy to carry out its mission of
service to the nation. You can learn more about giving to the
Gallery through a Web site feature, "Support
the Gallery."
This feature includes information about the many important Gallery programs that benefit from private funding and the various ways to make a gift. We invite you to explore how you can help the Gallery fulfill its mission through a charitable gift.
Visitor Guides
Less Than an Hour? West Building Highlights
(PDF 158k) (Download Acrobat Reader)
Less Than an Hour? East Building Highlights
(PDF 462k) (Download Acrobat Reader)
Sculpture Garden
(PDF 528k) (Download Acrobat Reader)
For Children: The Great Picture Hunt
(PDF 184k) (Download Acrobat Reader)
Plan your
visit to the National Gallery with these maps of must-see works.
Calendar of Events
Find out what's happening this month at
the National Gallery of Art. To obtain a free bimonthly calendar of events by mail, call (202) 842-6662, or contact us by e-mail at calendar@nga.gov.The current bimonthly Calendar of Events is available in PDF format. (Download Acrobat Reader)
Film Calendar
To obtain a free quarterly film calendar by mail,
contact us by e-mail at film-department@nga.gov.
Please include your mailing address. The current bimonthly Film Calendar is available in PDF format. (Download Acrobat Reader)