In Memoriam I. M. Pei (1917–2019)

Architect I.M. Pei in the East Building of the National Gallery of Art on opening day, June 1, 1978. Photo © Dennis Brack/Black Star. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gallery Archives.

National Gallery of Art former director David Finley (left), his wife, Margaret, and Mr. and Mrs. I. M. Pei (right) at the East Building ground-breaking ceremony, May 6, 1971. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gallery Archives.

I. M. Pei and Leonard Jacobson, partner architect with I. M. Pei & Partners, at work on East Building original construction project, circa 1972. © Dennis Brack/Black Star. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gallery Archives

The East Building of the National Gallery of Art and Fourth Street Plaza, designed by I. M. Pei.

Architect I. M. Pei (left) and Gallery director J. Carter Brown (right) with sculptor Henry Moore for the installation of Knife Edge Mirror Two Piece, 1978. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gallery Archives.

Paul Mellon (left), J. Carter Brown (Center), and I.M. Pei in the East Building, January 20, 1978, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gallery Archives. Photograph by Bill Sumits.  

J. Carter Brown (left),  Paul Mellon (Center), and I.M. Pei in the East Building, January 20, 1978, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gallery Archives. Photograph by Bill Sumits.  

I.M. Pei (left), J. Carter Brown (center), and Paul Mellon in the East Building, 1978. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gallery Archives. Photograph by Dennis Brack/Black Star.

I. M. Pei in the East Building Atrium, 1978. © Dennis Brack/Black Star. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gallery Archives

Designed by I. M. Pei, the East Building of the National Gallery of Art has a dramatic glow at sunset due to its Tennessee pink marble, taken from the same quarries that provided stone for the West Building. Photo © Dennis Brack/Black Star. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gallery Archives.

Left to right: Jean Dubuffet, I.M. Pei, J. Carter Brown, and Doug Lewis with East Building Model, 1973. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Gallery Archives.

Alexander Calder's giant mobile gracefully presides over the atrium of the East Building, shown here in 1993 during the exhibition Great French Paintings from the Barnes Foundation: Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and Early Modern, May 2–August 15, 1993. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gallery Archives.