Designed by I.M. Pei, with construction funds donated by members of the Mellon family and foundation, the East Building opened to the public in 1978 and is widely regarded as an architectural monument of the 20th century. Especially suited for displaying major contemporary art, its galleries and exhibition spaces feature such notable masters in the collection as Calder, Matisse, Miró, Picasso, Pollock, and Rothko. Masterworks by these and other 20th-century painters and sculptors are highlights of each tour.

The National Gallery's Sculpture Garden was a gift from The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation and opened to the public in 1999. The landscaping of the 6.1-acre space provides a distinctive setting for major acquisitions of post–World War II sculpture by internationally renowned artists. With the Pavilion Café and reflecting pool and fountain—which become an ice-skating rink in the winter—the garden provides a unique venue for experiencing art. Works by Louise Bourgeois, Roy Lichtenstein, Sol LeWitt, and David Smith, among others, will be seen on the tour.

The West Building, a gift of Andrew W. Mellon, opened to the public in 1941. Designed by John Russell Pope, the West Building displays European and American art from the 13th to the early 20th centuries. Masterpieces of Italian painting and sculpture, including the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Western Hemisphere, join works by the Dutch masters, French impressionists, and American artists. Major works by such influential artists as Bierstadt, Turner, Van Eyck, Goya, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Botticelli, Dürer, Grünewald, Cassatt, and Monet, among others, may be seen during the tour.

Exploring the period from the early 13th to the late 16th century in Italy—from the late Middle Ages to the rebirth of interest in classical humanism—this tour focuses on culture and ideals. It traces the rise of scientific inquiry, geographic exploration, secular influences, and the individual through the art of such masters as Duccio, Leonardo, Verrocchio, Botticelli, Giorgione, Bellini, Raphael, and Titian.

By tracing the history of American art from the colonial period through the early 20th century, this tour highlights artists, patrons, styles, newly emerging themes, and the historical circumstances that helped shape the nation's artistic identity. The National Gallery's extensive collection of American art includes well-known works by Stuart, Copley, Cole, Bingham, Homer, Eakins, Twachtman, and Bellows.

Through an exploration of different styles, functions, materials, patronage, techniques, and subject matter, the newly designed and naturally lit sculpture galleries present a selection of three-dimensional works that dates from the 12th to the 20th centuries. Terracottas by members of the Della Robbia family and others, marble carving by Bernini and Houdon, bronzes by Rodin, and rare wax figures by Degas are among the examples that may be seen during the tour.

In the 18th century, France was an absolute monarchy and the Academy des Beaux-Arts was the government's chief arbiter of taste. But in the 19th century, artists began painting for the open market and devising their own subject matter and innovative style. This tour reviews great works by France's neoclassical, romantic, and realist artists, ending with such impressionists and post-impressionists as Cézanne, Gauguin, and Van Gogh.

Artists make many decisions during the creative process. Some are made consciously and deliberately. Others erupt spontaneously while the artist works. By comparing such elements as color, line, composition, texture, and the degree of realism or abstraction an artist has employed, docents explore the way in which these choices affect the viewer's reactions to paintings in our collection. This wide-ranging tour may include surprising combinations of works chosen by the docent leading it.