This blog provides a behind-the-scenes look at the National Gallery of Art’s new book, The National Gallery of Art: A Museum and Its Collection.
The book explores the history of the Gallery’s building, exhibitions and collections, and includes a chapter written by Madeleine Albright, former United States Secretary of State, about her experience visiting the Gallery as a child during World War II.
The blog will share information about the book and events associated with its launch.
The National Gallery of Art (NG) has launched the much-anticipated book, The National Gallery of Art: Washington. Published by Yale University Press, The National Gallery of Art: Washington is the first comprehensive and authoritative history of the National Gallery in a single volume.
The book was edited by Gary Tinterow, Director Emeritus and Senior Curator Emeritus at the NG; and co-edited by Anne Higonnet, Curator at Large at the NG. It is also available as an e-book.
The NG team worked closely with Yale to bring this project to fruition. “Both Yale’s long experience in publishing books about art museums and their more recent forays into art eBooks makes them ideal collaborators for us,” said Anne Higonnet, who led the project from its inception. “We are very proud of the final product.”
The Gallery’s first book is scheduled for release on September 30, 2010. The book will be published by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and distributed nationally by Yale University Press.
The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., is the nation’s premier encyclopedic art museum and one of the most-visited museums in the world. The Gallery has an unrivaled collection of more than 130,000 works that represent more than a thousand years of artistic achievement from throughout the world.
The book is a lavishly illustrated monograph about the Gallery’s building and its architecture, as well as its collection, conservation program and exhibition practices. It features all 393 works from the collection currently on view in the East Building through May 2010, including masterpieces by Van Gogh, Monet, Degas and Renoir; Impressionist paintings by Mary Cassatt; American paintings by John Singer Sargent; modern masterpieces by Georgia O’Keeffe; contemporary art from Jasper Johns to Ed Ruscha; and a selection of works of sculpture and photography.
The publication follows on the heels of a major exhibition at the Gallery that will run from September 23 to December 19, 2010: “French Post-Imp
The National Gallery of Art has a new book out: National Gallery of Art: America’s Treasure Chest. I’ve been doing some blogging about it, to help promote the book and make the National Gallery look good. This is easy to do because the National Gallery is one of the coolest museums in the world. They have a blog, too.
We’ve been running some contests on their blog, like “Name that Painting!” where they show you a painting in the museum and ask you to guess who painted it. They give you clues, like it was painted in England around 1660 and there are three people in it but not many more than that. You have to figure out who painted it before you can win the prize (a book). I played this game with my son and we almost won, because we got really close. But even if I had won, I would have given him half the prize anyway.*
I also wrote a post about how to get into art history without going to college (something I just did). And now I’m writing another post about how to get a job at a museum without going to college (something else I just did). These posts are pretty different from what most people write on blogs, but they are right next door to what
The book is available for sale at the National Gallery of Art Store and on Amazon.com.
The book will be available to purchase at the Gallery beginning November 6, 2013.
When people think of the Smithsonian museums, they typically envision exhibits that showcase the works of past masters. To be sure, many of these national treasures are on display at the Smithsonian. But with its focus on contemporary art, and in particular American art, the National Gallery of Art is a place where visitors can experience modern and contemporary art first-hand.
The National Gallery of Art was established by Congress in 1937 “for the creation, preservation and display within the District of Columbia of a collection of paintings, sculptures, and works of art of outstanding quality … for the purpose of encouraging and assisting in the development of the arts in the United States.” Under this mandate, the Gallery acquired more than 100 works by such 20th century masters as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Marc Chagall and Roy Lichtenstein.
The new book “Treasures from The National Gallery Of Art” celebrates nearly 60 years of collecting at the Gallery by showcasing some 40 works from its collection. The book also includes essays about individual artists as well as a history of Washington’s dynamic cultural scene from 1937 to 1948 and an overview of efforts to establish a national gallery for American art.
The National Gallery of Art is pleased to announce the publication of The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.: Architecture and Design, by Hugh Newell Jacobsen and John L. Ward (published by Yale University Press). This lavishly illustrated book offers an introduction to the history of the Gallery’s architecture and design, beginning with its origins in the early 20th century.
