http://www.nga.gov en-us National Gallery of Art Washington, DC National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, one of the world's preeminent museums, was created for the people of the United States of America by a joint resolution of Congress accepting the gift of financier, public servant, and art collector Andrew W. Mellon in 1937, the year of his death. The Gallery's collection of some 106,000 paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculpture, and decorative arts traces the development of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present. The National Gallery of Art was created in 1937 for the people of the United States of America by a joint resolution of Congress, accepting the gift of financier and art collector Andrew W. Mellon. During the 1920s, Mr. Mellon began collecting with the intention of forming a gallery of art for the nation in Washington. In 1937, the year of his death, he promised his collection to the United States. Funds for the construction of the West Building were provided by The A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust. On March 17, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt accepted the completed building and the collections on behalf of the people of the United States of America. National Gallery of Art webfeedback@nga.gov National Gallery of Art Edward Hopper Film at the National Gallery of Art This excerpt is from a new documentary produced by the National Gallery of Art that includes archival footage of Edward Hopper (1882-1967), new footage of places that inspired him in New York and New England, including his boyhood home in Nyack and his studio on Washington Square, where he lived and worked for more than fifty years. From their New York studios, artists Red Grooms and Eric Fischl discuss Hopper's influence on their careers. Co-curators of the exhibition, Carol Troyen, John Moors Cabot curator of American paintings, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Judith Barter, The Field-McCormick Chair of American Art at the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as independent scholar Avis Berman, author of the book, Hopper's New York, discuss recent and diverse perspectives on Hopper's art. The Edward Hooper exhibition will be at the National Gallery of Art beginning September 16, 2007, through January 21, 2008. The 30-minute version of the film is on view and for sale in Washington at the National Gallery of Art. The film is made possible by the HRH Foundation. http://luxmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o10/clients/nationalgallery/hopper/hopper.m4v Mon, 18 Jun 2007 19:00:00 EST 3:26 art, hopper, edward, landscapes, noir, gallery, washington John Musto "Out my one window," an Aria from Later the Same Evening: an opera inspired by five paintings of Edward Hopper "Out my one window," an Aria from Later the Same Evening: an opera inspired by five paintings of Edward Hopper,commissioned to coincide with the Edward Hopper exhibition at the Gallery—September 16, 2007 through January 21, 2008—the opera will be performed this fall at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. To learn more, visit the Edward Hopper exhibition information page, or the University of Maryland Clarice Smith Center. "Out my one window," music by John Musto and lyrics by Mark Campbell, is used by kind permission of Peermusic Classical, New York. http://luxmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o10/clients/nationalgallery/audio/0707window.mp3 Tue, 24 Jul 2007 19:00:00 EST 9:07 art, hopper, edward, landscapes, noir, gallery, washington National Gallery of Art, Mel Bochner Mel Bochner Installation: Theory of Boundaries (1969-1970) at the National Gallery of Art Over the course of three days, from February 14 to 16, 2007, Mel Bochner and his assistant Nicholas Knight installed Theory of Boundariesat the National Gallery of Art. The work, whose size is determined by the length of the wall on which it is installed, consists of four squares of equal size, each separated by a space equal to one-third of the width of a single square. Following the principles determined by the "language fraction" of each square (hence the work's title, Theory of Boundaries), dry pigment is applied directly to the wall, with each of the four squares demonstrating a different relationship of the color surface to its border and state of enclosure. http://luxmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o10/clients/nationalgallery/bochner.mov Fri, 3 Aug 2007 19:00:00 EST 2:01 art, mel, bochner,time, lapse, installation, gallery, washington National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art Celebrates Paul Mellon The centenary of the birth of Paul Mellon (1907–1999), philanthropist, art collector, founding benefactor, and trustee of the National Gallery of Art, is celebrated throughout 2007 with exhibitions, gallery talks, lectures, concerts, and a new documentary. Paul Mellon's visionary leadership of the National Gallery of Art spanned more than six decades, from 1938, when he was first elected to the Board of Trustees, to his death in 1999. During that time he watched over and nurtured the museum's growth from a single grand building to a mature institution with two monumental structures, a sculpture garden, and a world-class collection. More than 1,000 works of art given by Paul Mellon and his wife Bunny form an extraordinary legacy. In addition, he generously contributed funds for acquisitions, education, archives, and the Gallery's Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts. http://luxmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o10/clients/nationalgallery/mellon/mellon.m4v Fri, 17 Aug 2007 11:00:00 EST 48:00 art, mellon, paul, horses, gallery, washington National Gallery of Art Edward Hopper at the National Gallery The National Gallery of Art has released a new video podcast about the artist and his work and influence. In the podcast, which features more than 50 of Hopper's paintings and watercolors, Senior Curator Franklin Kelly discusses New York City, New England, and the cinema as Hopper saw and portrayed them—and as we view them today through his work. The filming of the pod cast was made possible by Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. Music composed and performed by Scott Silbert of the US Navy Band. Music engineered by David Morse of the US Navy Band. http://luxmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o10/clients/nationalgallery/hopper_new/hopper1.mov Mon, 01 Oct 2007 11:00:00 EST 8:47 art, hopper, nighthawks, gallery, washington National Gallery of Art, Alexander Nemerov Wyeth Lecture in American Art: Ground Swell: Edward Hopper in 1939 Edward Hopper's paintings often show people and places in states of enigmatic isolation, loneliness, and contemplation.  These are among the fabled Hopper themes-so fabled it would hardly seem possible to go beyond them to give another account of his art. Focusing on one Hopper painting, Ground Swell of 1939, this lecture tries to provide a thicker, denser, more surprising story of what it meant for Hopper to make a painting, especially in the year 1939. Produced in conjunction with the exhibition Edward Hopper. http://luxmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o10/clients/nationalgallery/final_nem.m4v Sat, 17 Nov 2007 19:00:00 EST 52:13 art, hopper, edward, landscapes, noir, gallery, washington National Gallery of Art J.M.W. Turner Film at the National Gallery of Art This excerpt is from a new documentary chronicling the rise of one of the greatest landscape painters of all time, Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), who rendered the subtle effects of light and atmosphere in revolutionary ways. A barber's son, he entered the Royal Academy art school at age fourteen and became, over the course of six decades, the leading British artist of his era. This overview of Turner's career and influences includes footage of locations important to him in Wales, Switzerland, and England, and readings from writers and artists of the era, including John Ruskin and Lord Byron. A 30-minute version of the film may be purchased at the National Gallery of Art. Narrated by Jeremy Irons and produced by the Gallery in conjunction with the exhibition J.M.W. Turner, the film is made possible by the HRH Foundation. http://luxmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o10/clients/nationalgallery/turner/turner640.m4v Tue, 08 Jan 2008 08:00:00 EST 12:00 j.m.w. turner, jeremy irons, britain, painting, royal academy art school National Gallery of Art Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul This two-minute trailer of the new documentary produced by Blue Bear Films for the National Geographic Society on the occasion of the traveling exhibition Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul features footage of the 2003 rediscovery of the collections from the National Museum, Kabul, which had been hidden in the vaults of the Central Bank in the Presidential Palace in 1988. National Geographic archaeologist Fredrik T. Hiebert and museum director Omara Massoudi give their personal accounts of this dramatic story. A ten-minute version will be shown in the exhibition and the full-length 28-minute film will be available in the Gallery Shops this summer. The exhibition begins a 17-month tour of the United States at the National Gallery of Art, on view May 25–September 7, 2008. http://luxmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o10/clients/nationalgallery/afghanistan/afghanistan-new.m4v Tue, 01 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EST 2:00 afghanistan, treasures, gold, national geographic, kabul National Gallery of Art Empire of the Eye: The Magic of Illusion-Introduction, Part 1 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. http://luxmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o10/clients/nationalgallery/illusion/01_introduction.m4v Tue, 03 Jun 2008 08:00:00 EST 3:11 renaissance, Copernicus National Gallery of Art Empire of the Eye: The Magic of Illusion-The Trinity—Masaccio, Part 2 In 1427 inside Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Masaccio created the masterpiece The Trinity using linear perspective for the first time. This segment explains how he was able to make the wall behind the work seem to disappear so that the painting becomes an extension of the room the viewer is in. http://luxmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o10/clients/nationalgallery/illusion/02_trinity.m4v Tue, 03 Jun 2008 08:00:00 EST 7:57 renaissance, Copernicus National Gallery of Art Empire of the Eye: The Magic of Illusion-The Church of Santa Maria presso San Satiro, Part 3 Using forced perspective in the apse of the small Church of Santa Maria presso San Satiro in Milan, Bramante created the illusion of a much larger space. http://luxmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o10/clients/nationalgallery/illusion/03_satiro.m4v Tue, 01 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EST 1:15 renaissance, Copernicus National Gallery of Art Empire of the Eye: The Magic of Illusion-Sant'Ignazio's Ceiling, Part 4 Sant'Ignazio's Ceiling in Rome is an amazing demonstration of illusionism on a monumental scale. This segment demonstrates that when the viewpoint of the fresco changes, the illusion is destroyed. http://luxmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o10/clients/nationalgallery/illusion/04_ignatio.m4v Tue, 01 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EST 3:17 renaissance, Copernicus National Gallery of Art Empire of the Eye: The Magic of Illusion-Palazzo Spada's Corridor, Part 5 Palazzo Spada's Corridor in Rome demonstrates the use of forced perspective. Special effects reveal how Borromini used an optical trick to create the illusion of depth. http://luxmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o10/clients/nationalgallery/illusion/05_borromini.m4v Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:00:00 EST 2:17 renaissance, Copernicus National Gallery of Art Empire of the Eye: The Magic of Illusion-St. Francis of Paola, Performer of Miracles, Part 6 St. Francis of Paola, Performer of Miracles, one of the largest anamorphic paintings in existence today, is located in Santa Maria dei Monti at the top of the Spanish Steps in Rome. Computer animation illustrates how this extraordinary use of foreshortening creates an image that fools the eye. http://luxmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o10/clients/nationalgallery/illusion/06_miracles.m4v Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:00:00 EST 1:46 renaissance, Copernicus clean