The National Gallery of Art was created for the people of the US by a joint resolution of Congress, accepting the gift of financier and art collector Andrew W. Mellon. The gallery consists of two buildings along Constitution Avenue between Third and Seventh Streets. The classical West Building, designed by John Russell Pope, and the contemporary East Building, designed by I.M. Pei are linked by a paved plaza and an underground concourse.
The gallery contains one of the world's finest collections of western European painting and sculpture, spanning the 13th century to the present as well as American art from Colonial to contemporary times. The gallery's conservation department restores and analyzes paintings, sculpture and works on paper. Major traveling exhibitions are also presented, featuring such artists as Edouard Vuillard, M.C. Escher, and Henri Matisse.
