National Gallery of Art

COLLECTIONS, CURATORIAL AND ACQUISITIONS OF ARTThe National Gallery's collection is at the heart of the National Gallery's mission, following founder Andrew W. Mellon's gift and mandate to establish a national gallery with works of the highest quality. The collection of paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts traces the development of European achievements from the thirteenth century to the present and American art from colonial times to the present. It comprises a comprehensive study of Italian Renaissance art, including the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci outside Europe, as well as strong holdings of the French Impressionists, the Dutch and Flemish masters, one of the country's most distinguished American collections, and twentieth-century art. The collection also includes prints, drawings, rare books and photographs. Major post-World War II sculpture is installed in a dynamic and richly landscaped setting in the National Gallery Sculpture Garden.Nearly 160,000 paintings, sculpture, prints, drawings, and photographs comprise the National Gallery's collection.AcquisitionsOver the past year our Curatorial and Collections departments brought over 2,000 new artworks, by purchase or gift, to the National Gallery. Select highlights include a large-scale oil painting, "Christ Gathering His Garments after the Flagellation" by the Spanish-American artist Juan Correa (active 1645-d. 1716). The painting is a large and exquisite example of Correa's mature style. Signed and dated, it would have been created as an object of public devotion for a cathedral or church chapel. The National Gallery also acquired an exceedingly rare coral-handled spoon from around 1570, a highly treasured object in 16th-century Europe for its exoticism as a natural material originating in distant lands. Additionally, the National Gallery acquired a landscape painting by the Cherokee artist Kay Walkingstick, who pictured the North Rim of the Grand Canyon overlaid with patterns based on Southwest American Indian rugs and pottery.ConservationThe Conservation Division continued to protect, preserve and steward our collections through 1,431 treatments of works of art and another 2,281 object examinations, on top of 2,650 examinations of objects arriving from other museums and institutions to go on display in special exhibitions. In addition, the Conservation Division is continuously engaged in long-term research projects about the collection.

EDUCATION AND PUBLIC PROGRAMSThe National Gallery's public programs provided visitors with unique art-based experiences created in collaboration with artists, musicians, film makers, and community partners. 51,895 guests attended our 91 musical concerts including our popular Jazz in the Garden series. We served 8,514 participants through 71 film screenings showcasing rare, international, and art films across a variety of genres. 42,146 visitors participated in ongoing series of in-person public tours and gallery talks and an additional 12,995 participated in online programs. Our onsite and online multigenerational programs engaged over 15,000 people of all ages in family-oriented activities including artmaking, story time, and online sketchbook club. In FY24, the National Gallery served over 23,000 K-12 students from across the nation in guided tour experiences with specially trained docents and museum educators. Additionally, the National Gallery provided professional development for 6,797 teachers through curated workshops, courses, trainings, and our Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) "Teaching Critical Thinking Through Art with the National Gallery of Art". The affiliate loan program, which broadcasts resources on TV stations, classrooms, and organizations across the United States, reached an annual estimated (reported) viewership/audience of 54,170,637. Approximately 37,337 print resources (including Posters, Art Tales booklets, flyers, and bookmarks) were distributed to educators in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Armed Forces (AE), and Guam. Additionally, 852 teaching packets and DVDs have been shared with educators, complementing our robust schedule of in-person and virtual tours for K-12 students. The National Gallery Library continued to expand access, acquire significant materials, and enhance research services. This year, 13,000 new images were added, 4,223 books were acquired, and 1,250 electronic resources were added. The Digital Content Strategy and Experience Division continued to grow our digital audiences, delivering engaging content across multiple platforms. Website visits surpassed 15 million, while social media impressions reached 66.9 million. Our original videos engaged viewers nationwide, achieving a record 21.9 million views across all 50 states. The National Gallery also won 5 Webby Awards - more than any museum in a single year of Webby history. The Imaging Department catalogued 14,385 images in the Digital Asset Management System (DAMS) and continued to produce authoritative images, adding 5,992 collection images, representing 3,752 unique collections objects. Over 3,300 object images were created as part of our move to a new collections storage facility. And, for the second consecutive year, our Open Access Imaging program saw nearly half a million image downloads. The Center, founded in 1979, for advanced study in the visual arts, continued to foster the study of the production, use, and cultural meaning of art, artifacts, architecture, urbanism, photography, and film from all places and periods. In fiscal year 2024, the Center organized 43 scholarly programs, supported more than 50 fellows, and spearheaded hundreds of scholarly collaborations with researchers from around the world through its events, publications, and research initiatives. Highlights from the Center's programs included "Women in Art and Music: An Early Modern Global Conference," a collaboration with the Juilliard School with programming in Washington and New York; the 73rd A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts "Chasing That Which Is Not Me / Chasing That Which Is Me" by actress and playwright Anna Deavere Smith; the Sydney J. Freedberg Lecture on Italian Art presented by Michael Cole; and the Wyeth Lecture in American Art delivered by Roberto Tejada. During the fiscal year the Center published "Contact: Art and the Pull of Print" by Jennifer L. Roberts with Princeton University Press, as part of the A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts series.