The National Gallery of Art was conceived and given to the people of the United States by financier and art collector Andrew W. Mellon. In 1936 Mellon wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt offering to donate his superb art collection for a new museum and to use his own funds to construct a building for its use. With the president’s support, Congress accepted Mellon’s gift, which included a sizable endowment, and established the National Gallery of Art in March 1937.
The state-of-the art Imaging and Visual Resources painting studio brings the National Gallery of Art's collection to the world. Using a motorized easel and advanced computer controls, The Department of Visual Imaging captures images of paintings in precise sections – with accuracy within five hundredths of an inch. The image sections are merged into an ultra high resolution digital composite that provides extraordinary detail revealing small brushstrokes and hairline cracks which are hard to see even in our galleries. These images are currently featured in the Google Art project, the Gallery’s website, and NGA Images, a leading museum open access web resource. NGA Images contains more than 35,000 high-resolution publication-ready digital images free of charge for immediate download and any use. The tour will last about 45 minutes after which additional time is allotted for browsing the museum galleries and shops. Visit images.nga.gov for a preview.
Maximum participants: 20
Accessibility: Walking and standing
Transportation: Transportation will be by Metro Bus, P6 route. Fare is $3.20 ($1.60 each way with Smartrip card). Please meet the tour shepherd near the shoe shine stand in the hotel lobby 15 minutes prior to departure.