National Gallery of Art (My Experience)

The national gallery of Art, is simply the most enchanting museum I have ever been too. It is in Washington D.C. for those who don't know. The main gallery (The West Building) was built in the 1937, the (East Building) and the addition of the sculpture garden went up in 1978. The architecture is absolutely amazing, the marble work inside is extravagant, with gigantic columns 4 foot wide, stretching 40 plus feet too the ceiling. Not only are there marble columns huge, 90% of the floor is made of marble with intricate designs laid out that are jaw dropping. The craftsmanship of the marble is worth the trip alone.

As for the art, the collection that the National Gallery has in my opinion is the best in the entire country, or at least the east coast, for i have never been to the pacific. They have everything from 13th century italian art too 20th century sculpture. To be specific, in the main building they have paintings from 13th-15th century Italian, 16th century Italian and Spanish, 17th century Italian, French and Spanish, 18th century italian, 15th -16th century Neverlandish and German, 17th Century Dutch and Flemish, 18th-19th century Spanish, 18th-19th century French, 19th century French. the Armand Hammer Galleries include prints and drawings. They also have 16th -20th century sculpture. The sculpture included everything from porcelain to solid copper sculptures. I noticed that the national gallery has a lot of private collections, where photography was prohibited. ( I took some pics and the security guard made me erase them off my camera, i should have been more inconspicuous).

My favorite exhibit aside from the countless Rembrandt paintings they had, was the Chester Dale Collection, "From Impressionism to Modernism" The artists and their work consisted of: George Bellows: (Maud Dale, 1919, oil on wood) William Merrit Chase: (A Friendly Call, 1895, oil on canvas) Henri Matisse (The Plumed Hat, 1919, oil on canvas) Mary Casset: (The Boating Party, 1894/94, oil on canvas) Amedeo Modigliani: (Gypsy Woman with baby, 1919, oil on canvas) Edgar Degas: (Edmondo and Therese Morbilli, 1865, oil on canvas) Paul Cezanne: (The Peppermint Bottle, 1893/95, oil on canvas) Claude Monet: (The Houses of Parliament 'Sunset', 1903, oil on canvas).

The Sculpture Garden out side the National Gallery, was outstanding. There were some very unique sculptures there, Look to the top for a few of my personal favorites.

Another thing that amazed me was the amount of Rembrandt paintings they had. This has to be the largest collection in the United States. There were many there that i had studied in art history classes at Albertus. A few of my favorites were: Gentlemen with a Hat, Lucretia, The Circumcision, Joseph Accused by Potiphai's Wife, The Girl with a Broom, A Polish Nobleman, Man in Oriental Costume, Man With a Tall Hat, A self Portrait from 1659, An Old Lady With a Book, The decent from a cross and a young man seated at a table.

Overall this was an experience of a lifetime, and i am most certain i will be visiting the National Gallery again.