East Building Permanent Collection

Three galleries bring together works from the circles of two progenitors of American modernism rarely considered together, Robert Henri and Alfred Stieglitz. One of the most influential teachers of his era, Henri urged students George Bellows and Edward Hopper to abandon traditional subjects and instead depict urban life, creating “art for life’s sake.” On view with Henri’s Snow in New York (1902) are Hopper’s Cape Cod Evening (1939) and his Ground Swell (1939) from the Corcoran Collection, as well as four works by Bellows including Both Members of this Club (1909) and the recent Corcoran Collection acquisition Forty-two Kids (1907).

Following three years of renovation, the East Building galleries of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, reopen with a presentation of more than 500 works from the collection of modern art. Some 362,250 square feet of galleries showcase the reinstalled permanent collection, arranged around a new narrative that tells a more expansive history of modern art. Renovated galleries as well as two new Tower galleries and a Roof Terrace provide an additional 12,250 square feet of display space. The Ground Level galleries highlight two pillars of the Gallery’s collection of modern art: American art from 1900 to 1945 and French painting from 1890 to 1940. A chronological presentation of art from the early 20th century onward begins on the Mezzanine, continues on the Upper Level and concludes with thematic presentations on the Concourse. Comparisons across generations, such as Claude Monet with André Derain and Marcel Duchamp with Joseph Cornell, illustrate the evolution of modernism. Two new skylit Tower galleries with works by three of the modernists most closely associated with the Gallery—Alexander Calder, Mark Rothko, and Barnett Newman—are connected by an outdoor Roof Terrace that features sculptures by artists including Katharina Fritsch and Nam June Paik. Other new additions throughout the East Building galleries are the integration of some 70 prints, drawings, photographs, and videos, as well as more than 40 works from the Corcoran Collection (acquired since 2014).