NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, MAIN BUILDING

The Smithsonian's National Gallery of Art is world class.  It is actually housed in two separate buildings, one that includes traditional art and the other that focuses on contemporary art.  The architecture of the buildings reflect their respective collections.  The main building is very traditional both on the exterior and the interior, and the works of art are laid out in a logical progression.  The contemporary building--the East Building--has sharp angles and the interior spaces vary greatly in size and arrangement of art.  I am dividing the posts into the traditional and contemporary components.

The entrance rotunda for the main building is dominated by a sculpture of Mercury.

I took several shots of the piece, trying to capture it as well as its setting.  Difficult.

We spent much of the time in the main building in the Renaissance section.  I liked the following two pieces, which were done in typical religious style.  Check out the mature face of the child in the first piece.

Note the texture in this latter piece, which I have cropped to emphasize detail.

The Renaissance section also featured a lot of portraiture, which I found myself liking for the subjects' personalities that the artists were able to capture.  Here are some of those.

More recent was this bust of Louis XIV.  Note the locks.  What a fop he must have been.

Next, a few pieces from the French Impressionist period.

The middle one of this group was a self-portrait of Paul Gauguin, and the last a more familiar self-portrait of Van Gogh.

Finally, a black & white of a reclining nude that I thought was well done and well positioned.

John