National Gallery of Art
Washington, D.C. · founded 1937 · free, no ticket needed
America’s national collection, free to enter, on the National Mall.
Independent visitor guide by Momentable. Artworks credited to the museum that holds them.
LIVENow streaming · Coverlet- works the museum holds · per nga.gov
- 150,000+works the museum holds · per nga.gov
- in the Momentable archive
- 28,680in the Momentable archive
- admission
- Freeadmission
- confirm on nga.gov
- 10–5confirm on nga.gov
About National Gallery of Art
Andrew W. Mellon began buying old masters during the First World War, and in 1937 gave the collection and the money to build it a home to the nation, on the condition that it carry no man’s name. John Russell Pope’s neoclassical West Building opened in 1941; I. M. Pei’s East Building followed in 1978 for modern and contemporary art, and the Sculpture Garden in 1999. Entry has been free every day since it opened, and close to four million people come each year.
What to see
If you have one hour, spend it on these.
Leonardo da Vinci
Ginevra de’ Benci
Leonardo da Vinci, and the only Leonardo painting in the Americas.
George Catlin
The American galleries
Catlin, Stuart, Whistler, Homer, in the West Building.
From the collection
The Sculpture Garden
Free, outdoors, and open late through the summer.
How the collection is divided
National Gallery of Art groups its holdings this way. Use it to choose which rooms you walk.
Anonymous Artist
European paintings
The Middle Ages through the nineteenth century, including the Leonardo and Raphael’s Alba Madonna.
Jeremiah Pearson Hardy
American art
Copley’s Watson and the Shark through the twentieth century.
James Jebusa Shannon
Modern and contemporary art
The East Building, designed by I. M. Pei and opened in 1978.
Moderno
Sculpture
From Renaissance bronzes to the Sculpture Garden, added in 1999.
Giovanni di Domenico
Decorative arts
Furniture, ceramics, medals, and metalwork.
Fritz Stoltenberg
Prints
Around 75,000 of them, one of the largest holdings anywhere.
Drawings
Works on paper shown in rotation to limit light exposure. None of these are in the Momentable archive yet.
Platt D. Babbitt
Photographs
The nineteenth century to the present day.
Artists in the archive from this museum
Each name opens their work, and the museums that hold it.
Alphonse Legros
561 in the archive
Albrecht Dürer
287 in the archive
Eadweard Muybridge
259 in the archive
Jean-Louis Forain
259 in the archive
Rembrandt van Rijn
252 in the archive
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
242 in the archive
George Catlin
223 in the archive
William Blake
173 in the archive
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
147 in the archive
Majel G. Claflin
135 in the archive
Mina Lowry
124 in the archive
Yolande Delasser
118 in the archive
From the collection
A selection of 40 works from National Gallery of Art, free to stream.
![Orpheus with a Lyre and a Long Scroll [reverse]](https://art.momentable.art/momentable/nga/44567_w640.jpg)
![Niccolo Todini of Ancona, Captain of Castel Sant'Angelo, 1585-1591 [obverse]](https://art.momentable.art/momentable/nga/44935_w640.jpg)
![Inscription in a Wreath [reverse]](https://art.momentable.art/momentable/nga/44723_w640.jpg)
Plan your visit
Hours
Daily 10:00–17:00, closed December 25 and January 1. Confirm on nga.gov.
Where
Constitution Avenue NW, between 3rd and 9th Streets. Metro: Archives–Navy Memorial or Smithsonian.
On their site
Open-access images sit under nga.gov/open-access; floor plans and current exhibitions are on the visit pages.
Leaving? Stream one on your wall tonight.
National Gallery of Art works on your TV, phone, or tablet. Free to start.
View on MomentableIndependent guide by Momentable · not affiliated with National Gallery of Art · images credited to the museum