View source for National Gallery of Art

{{Short description|National art museum in the United States}}
{{Organization 
|OrganizationName= National Gallery of Art
|OrganizationType= Independent Agencies
|Mission=To serve the nation by welcoming all people to explore and experience art, creativity, and our shared humanity. It aims to preserve, collect, exhibit, and foster understanding of works of art at the highest museum and scholarly standards.
|OrganizationExecutive= Director
|Employees= 1000
|Budget= $168.9 million (Fiscal Year 2022)
|Website=https://www.nga.gov/
|Services= Art exhibitions; Educational programs; Research; Public tours; Lectures; Films; Concerts
|ParentOrganization=
|CreationLegislation= Public Resolution No. 14 (March 24, 1937)
|Regulations=
|HeadquartersLocation= 38.892097, -77.019904
|HeadquartersAddress= Constitution Ave NW, Washington, DC 20565, USA
}}
The '''National Gallery of Art''' is an [[art museum]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], United States, located on the [[National Mall]], between 3rd and 9th Streets, at [[Constitution Avenue]] NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in 1937 for the American people by a joint resolution of the [[United States Congress]].{{efn|Founded under a different bequest and legal structure, unlike the other museums on the National Mall, the National Gallery is separate from the [[Smithsonian Institution]].}} [[Andrew W. Mellon]] donated a substantial art collection and funds for construction. The core collection includes major works of art donated by [[Paul Mellon]], [[Ailsa Mellon Bruce]], [[Lessing J. Rosenwald]], [[Samuel Henry Kress]], [[Samuel Henry Kress#Biography|Rush Harrison Kress]], [[Peter Arrell Browne Widener]], [[Joseph E. Widener]], and [[Chester Dale]]. The Gallery's collection of paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculpture, medals, and decorative arts traces the development of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present, including the only painting by [[Leonardo da Vinci]] in the Americas and the largest mobile created by [[Alexander Calder]].

The Gallery's campus includes the original [[neoclassical architecture|neoclassical]] West Building designed by [[John Russell Pope]], which is linked underground to the [[modern architecture|modernist]] East Building, designed by [[I. M. Pei]], and is next to the {{cvt|6.1|acre|m2|adj=on}} [[National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden|Sculpture Garden]]. The Gallery often presents temporary special exhibitions spanning the world and the history of art. It is one of the [[list of largest art museums|largest museums]] in North America. 
Attendance rose to nearly 3.3 million visitors in 2022, making it first among U.S. art museums, and third on the [[list of most-visited museums in the United States]].<ref name="Art Newspaper data">{{cite web |last1=Cheshire |first1=Lee |last2=da Silva |first2=José |title=The 100 most popular art museums in the world—who has recovered and who is still struggling? |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/03/27/the-100-most-popular-art-museums-in-the-worldwho-has-recovered-and-who-is-still-struggling |website=[[The Art Newspaper]] |access-date=28 March 2023 |date=27 March 2023}}</ref> Of the top three art museums in the United States by annual visitors, it is the only one that has no admission fee.