1000 Museums

The National Gallery of Art, founded as a gift to the nation, serves as a center of visual art, education, and culture. Its collection of more than 150,000 paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, photographs, prints, and drawings spans the history of Western art and showcases some of the triumphs of human creativity. Across 363 days a year, the National Gallery offers a full spectrum of special exhibitions and public programs free of charge.

Located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets along Constitution Avenue NW, the National Gallery of Art campus includes the West Building, East Building, and Sculpture Garden. The West Building, the National Gallery’s first building, opened in 1941, was John Russell Pope’s last design. It houses works from the 11th through the 19th centuries. The East Building is widely considered I. M. Pei’s most ambitious architectural design. It 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.