John Singer Sargent (American, 1856-1925). Margaret Stuyvesant Rutherford White (Mrs. Henry White), 1883. Oil on canvas. (87 x 55 in.). Gift of John Campbell White. Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
A visit to Washington DC is an excursion into the history of the United States. As the capitol of the United States, Washington DC boasts some of America's oldest and most notable museums.
One of the most preeminent museums in Washington DC, The National Gallery of Art, was created for the people of the United States of America by Congress in 1937, by accepting the gift of financier, and art collector Andrew W. Mellon. The Gallery's collection of some 116,000 paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculpture, and decorative arts traces the development of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present.
The paintings and sculpture given by Andrew Mellon have formed the significant base around which the collections have grown. Important donations to the museums collection were also made by collectors and philanthropists such as, Samuel H. Kress, Rush H. Kress, Joseph Widener, Chester Dale, Ailsa Mellon Bruce, Lessing J. Rosenwald, and Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch.
When one is visiting Washington DC there is a plethora of history, monumental sculptures, and masterful works of art to be found. One of the oldest museums in the United States is also there;
The Corcoran Gallery of Art. It stands as a significant center of American art, both historic and contemporary. The museum represents many of the most important American artists in history, including; John Singer Sargent, William Rinehart, Thomas Cole, Frederic Remington and Mary Cassatt to name a few. In addition, the Corcoran possesses a large collection of fine European masterpieces. The collection includes many works of the Barbizon School which are also in Cambridge Art Gallery’s 19th & early 20th Century Collection, such as; Jean-Charles Cazin and Jules Dupre.
The Corcoran Gallery was originally founded to house the private art collection of William Wilson Corcoran (1798-1888). Not only was Corcoran one of the most notable collectors of American Art in his time, he was also a personal friend to several of the artists whose work now hang in the gallery, including Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Church, Thomas Doughty, and George Inness.
The Corcoran Gallery is now the largest privately supported cultural institution in Washington DC and houses one of the most comprehensive collections of American art in the world.
With so much to see, Washington DC has come to represent America’s cultural and historical foundations.
John Singer Sargent (American, 1856-1925). Margaret Stuyvesant Rutherford White (Mrs. Henry White), 1883. Oil on canvas. (87 x 55 in.). Gift of John Campbell White. Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
