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institution1941–present

National Gallery of Art

Disciplines:
art/art museum
fashion/washington dc
art collecting/national collection

Summary

American art museum on the National Mall in Washington DC — founded with Andrew Mellon's art collection (much of it purchased through Duveen) and a $10M gift — which is free to the public and holds one of the world's great art collections.

Core Contribution

Demonstrates Andrew Mellon's philanthropic legacy — Mellon donated his collection and funded the building without his name being on it (at FDR's suggestion) — creating an institution that embodies both American ambition and the Gilded Age industrialist's desire for permanence through public institutions.

Historical Influences

Andrew Mellon

Intellectual Lineage

Andrew Mellon Collection Joseph Duveen SalesPaul Mellon

Contemporaries & Peers

Metropolitan Museum of ArtArt Institute of Chicago

Minds Influenced

American museum cultureWashington DC cultural landscape

Intellectual Posterity

National Gallery of Art Andrew Mellon Collection East Building by I.M. Pei

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National Gallery of Art

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