West Building

The National Gallery’s first building, which opened in 1941, was John Russell Pope’s last design and houses works from the 11th through the 19th centuries. Galleries on the Main Floor showcase the only Leonardo da Vinci painting in the Americas, as well as works by Monet, Rembrandt, El Greco, and thousands more. Works are exhibited by period and national origin, and this context also informs each gallery’s design. The Rotunda was modeled on the Pantheon in Rome and is a central meeting place for daily tours and thousands of visitors each day. On the Ground Floor, visitors will find the Kaufman Collection of American furniture; rotating installations of prints, drawings, and photographs; decorative arts and sculpture from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century; the elegant, full-service Garden Café; and the West Building Shop.

Explore an interactive map of the West Building and see what’s on view today.

East Building

Widely considered I. M. Pei’s most ambitious architectural design, the East Building opened in 1978 to house the National Gallery’s collection of modern and contemporary art and temporary exhibitions. A renovation completed in 2016 added 12,250 square feet of new exhibition space, including two soaring tower galleries and a rooftop terrace for outdoor sculpture that overlooks Pennsylvania Avenue. A large triangular atrium is home to Alexander Calder’s monumental mobile, while the largest public installation of his work in the world resides in Tower 2. Across five floors, visitors can enjoy paintings, sculpture, photography, works on paper, and media arts organized in chronological and thematic arrangements; the Terrace Café; and the East Building Shop. On the Concourse, Leo Villareal’s Multiverse (2008) surrounds visitors in a tunnel of lights as they pass under 4th Street NW. The Concourse, which connects the East and West Buildings, also houses the National Gallery’s Education Studio, Cascade Café, Espresso & Gelato Bar, and Concourse Shop.

Explore an interactive map of the East Building and see what’s on view today.

Sculpture Garden

A 6.1-acre oasis in the heart of the city, the Sculpture Garden features large-scale works of modern sculpture by Roy Lichtenstein, Marc Chagall, Louise Bourgeois, and others. The space was designed by landscape architect Laurie D. Olin in association with National Gallery staff Mark Leithauser, chief of design; Gordon Anson, chief lighting designer; James M. Grupe, senior architect; Carl Campioli, assistant senior architect; and former curators of twentieth-century art, Mark Rosenthal and Marla Prather. The space is home to Concerts in the Sculpture Garden—a series of free Thursday concerts—in the summer and an ice-skating rink in the winter. The Pavilion Café offers indoor and outdoor dining with a panoramic view of the garden.

The National Gallery Sculpture Garden is given to the nation by The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation.

Explore the Sculpture Garden's tour of sculptures currently on view.