Updated: July 10, 2008

National Gallery of Art
Advance Exhibition Schedule

Oceans, Rivers, and Skies: Ansel Adams, Robert Adams, and Alfred Stieglitz
National Gallery of Art—October 12, 2008–March 15, 2009

American photographers Alfred Stieglitz (1864–1946), Ansel Adams (1902–1984), and Robert Adams (b. 1937) each created series of photographs of natural environments they knew well that explore the ways in which sequences of images can address the relationship of time to photography. Made decades apart, the three series in the exhibition—photographs of clouds at Stieglitz’s summer home in Lake George, New York; the surf south of Ansel Adams’ home in San Francisco; and the point where the Columbia River empties into the Pacific near Robert Adams’ home in Oregon—comprise 21 works that have never before been exhibited together. Stieglitz’s series, Music: A Sequence of Ten Cloud Photographs, which is unique to the National Gallery of Art, has not been shown in its entirety since a 1923 exhibition that he organized.
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Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art and Culture around the Bay of Naples
National Gallery of Art—October 19, 2008–March 22, 2009
Los Angeles County Museum of Art—May 3–October 4, 2009
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Jan Lievens: A Dutch Master Rediscovered
National Gallery of Art—October 26, 2008–January 11, 2009
Milwaukee Art Museum—February 7–April 28, 2009
Rembrandthuis, Amsterdam—May 17–August 9, 2009
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Looking In: Robert Frank's "The Americans"
National Gallery of Art—January 18–April 26, 2009
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art—May 17–August 23, 2009
Metropolitan Museum of Art—September 20–December 27, 2009
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Pride of Place: Dutch Cityscapes of the Golden Age
Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague—October 11, 2008–January 11, 2009
National Gallery of Art—February 1–May 3, 2009

In the 17th century the booming economy of the Dutch Republic and its affluent urbanites fostered a new genre of painting—the cityscape—in which images of towns and cities expressed enormous civic pride. This exhibition of some 45 paintings, as well as maps, atlases, and illustrated books, offers a comprehensive survey of the Dutch cityscape, from wide-angle panoramas depicting the urban skyline, with fortifications, windmills, and church steeples, to renderings of daily life along canals, in streets, and in town squares. Joining Jacob van Ruisdael’s celebrated View of Haarlem with Bleaching Grounds (c. 1635) are works by important artists primarily active in Amsterdam, Delft, and Haarlem, such as Gerrit Berckheyde, Aelbert Cuyp, Jan van Goyen, Jan van der Heyden, Pieter de Hooch, Pieter Saenredam, and Jan Steen.

The exhibition coincides with the 400th anniversary of the Dutch exploration and settlement of the Hudson River Valley.

The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague.

This exhibition is made possible through the generous support of Greg and Candy Fazakerley and Eijk and Rose-Marie van Otterloo.

Luis Meléndez: Master of the Spanish Still Life
National Gallery of Art—May 17–August 23, 2009
Los Angeles County Museum of Art—September 23, 2009–January 3, 2010
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston—January 31–May 9, 2010

Now recognized as the greatest still-life painter in 18th-century Spain and one of the greatest of the genre in all of Europe, Luis Meléndez (1716–1780) was for centuries eclipsed by the talents of his fellow Spaniard, the prolific Francisco Goya. After a precarious beginning to his career, Meléndez received a royal commission in 1771 from the Prince of Asturias (later King Charles IV) to paint “the four Seasons of the Year, or more properly, the four Elements, with the aim of composing an amusing cabinet with every species of food produced by the Spanish climate.” Meléndez became an inventive and consummate painter of still lifes. In 2000, the National Gallery of Art, Washington, proudly acquired Still Life with Figs and Bread (1760s), the first work by Meléndez to enter the collection. This exhibition of some 29 paintings and six objects will showcase many elements characteristic of the master’s greatest canvases, such as his talent for rendering everyday objects with exacting detail, marvelous effects of color and light, and subtle variations of texture.

The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art.

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General Information

The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden are at all times free to the public. They are located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, and are open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Gallery is closed on December 25 and January 1. For information call (202) 737-4215 or the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) at (202) 842-6176, or visit the Gallery's Web site at www.nga.gov.

Visitors will be asked to present all carried items for inspection upon entering the East and West Buildings. Checkrooms are free of charge and located at each entrance. Luggage and other oversized bags must be presented at the 4th Street entrances to the East or West Building to permit x-ray screening and must be deposited in the checkrooms at those entrances. For the safety of visitors and the works of art, nothing may be carried into the Gallery on a visitor's back. Any bag or other items that cannot be carried reasonably and safely in some other manner must be left in the checkrooms. Items larger than 17 x 26 inches cannot be accepted by the Gallery or its checkrooms.

For additional press information please call or send inquiries to:

Press Office
National Gallery of Art
2000B South Club Drive
Landover, MD 20785
phone: (202) 842-6353 e-mail: pressinfo@nga.gov

Deborah Ziska
Chief of Press and Public Information
(202) 842-6353
ds-ziska@nga.gov

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National Gallery of Art Advance Exhibition Schedule

National Gallery of Art
Advance Exhibition Schedule