News Release: 23 November 1999

National Gallery of Art Celebrates the 1999 Holiday Season

Washington, DC -- The National Gallery of Art celebrates the 1999 holiday season with the opening of the National Gallery of Art's Sculpture Garden Ice Skating Rink, the first major survey in almost 70 years of the work of German master sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider, and free holiday programs that include caroling, gallery talks, and Sunday concerts.

The atmosphere is heightened by the Gallery's traditional display of holiday plants and greenery. Beginning Tuesday, 14 December, 400 poinsettia, 200 cyclamen, and eight Christmas trees will decorate the West Building's Rotunda and Garden Courts.

Visitors will enjoy works depicting holiday themes in the exhibition, Tilman Riemenschneider: Master Sculptor of the Late Middle Ages, on view through 9 January in the West Building. This exhibition presents more than 50 virtuoso examples of late Gothic carving in a variety of media, including elements from altarpieces, independent figures, objects for private devotion, and models.

The Gallery Shops offer seasonal items and art-related gifts, and the restaurants provide a selection of holiday delights from around the world. The seasonal activities, open to the public free of charge, are described below. For more information, call (202) 737-4215.

TRADITIONAL HOLIDAY POSTAGE STAMP - This year's U.S. Postal Service's new holiday stamp commemorates a masterwork of art from the Gallery's Samuel H. Kress Collection, with the illustration of a detail of the painting Madonna and Child (c. 1475) by Venetian artist Bartolomeo Vivarini. The tempera on panel painting can be seen in gallery 13 on the main floor of the West Building. The U.S. Postal Service's holiday stamp greeting card is available in the Gallery Shops.

GALLERY TALKS - "The Christmas Story in Art." Join a Gallery lecturer on a 50-minute tour of works with holiday themes in the permanent collection. Gallery talks begin in the Rotunda of the West Building.

9, 10, 11, and 14 December - 1:00 p.m.
6 December - 12 Noon

HOLIDAY CAROLING - Visitors are invited to sing along with holiday caroling by local ensembles, which takes place in the Rotunda of the West Building at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. on December 11, 12, 18, and 19. Guest ensembles for each date are:

11 December
Howard County
Public School System Employee Choir
Columbia, MD

12 December
The Gaithersburg High School
Chamber Singers
Gaithersburg, MD

18 December
The Encore Singers
Potomac, MD

19 December
The Chancel Choir & Bell Choir
Metropolitan Memorial
United Methodist Church
Washington, DC

CONCERTS - Audiences will be admitted on a first-come, first-seated basis, starting at 6:00 p.m. each Sunday. The Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue entrance to the West Building remains open until 7:00 p.m., and the Garden Café is open until 6:30 p.m. for concertgoers. Concerts take place in the West Garden Court, West Building. Performances begin at 7:00 p.m. and end at approximately 8:30 p.m.

5 December
Holiday Concert
Carmen Balthrop, soprano
José Cáceras, pianist

19 December
Traditional Christmas Concert
Washington Men's Camerata

9 January
Gala Viennese New Year Concert
National Gallery Orchestra

SKATING RINK - Glide into the winter season on our new ice skating rink in the Gallery's Sculpture Garden at 7th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W. The hours for the ice skating rink are Monday - Thursday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.; and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., weather permitting. On 31 December 1999, the ice skating rink will close at 5pm. It will be closed on 1 January 2000 and will reopen at 11 am on 2 January 2000. There are small admission and skate rental fees. For more information, call (202) 289-2666.

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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