Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Over The River

Artist Christo presented the Gallery with two original preparatory collages for Over The River on the occasion of the Bureau of Land Management's official approval of his plan to suspend silvery fabric panels above the Arkansas River in Colorado. These new gifts, both dating from 2010, are on view with four earlier works, illustrating his working process and bringing to light the project's development over the past two decades. (Image: Photo by Andre Grossmann, Copyright Christo 2010)
 

East Building Auditorium Lobby
Through January 23
www.nga.gov/collection/acquisitioninfo.htm

Robert Henri, Snow in New York, 1902

"Draw your material from the life around you, from all of it. There is beauty in everything if it looks beautiful to your eyes. You can find it anywhere, everywhere," Henri urged his students. This work depicts ordinary brownstone apartments hemmed in by city blocks of office buildings. Its stable geometry adds to the hush of new-fallen snow. (Detail of this image is shown above.)

From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection

Through January 2

West Building, Ground Floor, Gallery 42
www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=42929

Holiday Concerts and Caroling

On December 4, the Pacifica String Quartet plays the final concert in a significant series that has presented all of Beethoven's string quartets. Sunday concerts on December 11 and 18 will feature music related to Hanukkah and Christmas; the sounds of community caroling will fill the Rotunda on December 10, 11, 17, and 18. Weekday concerts feature two outstanding pianists: Thomas Hrynkiw on December 7 and Menahem Pressler on December 16. (Image: The Rose Ensemble playing on December 11)

 

See individual dates for times and locations
www.nga.gov/programs/holfest.htm

PANEL DISCUSSION AND BOOK SIGNING
The Image of the Black in Western Art

Faya Causey, National Gallery of Art, moderates a discussion of the complex history of these scholarly volumes along with David Bindman, University College London; Henry Louis Gates Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, Harvard University; and Sharmila Sen, Harvard University Press.

 

December 11, 2:00
East Building Auditorium
www.nga.gov/programs/lectures/#paneldiscussions
shop.nga.gov/nga/category.cgi?item=410000397572

FILM SERIES
American Originals Now: Fred Worden

Following a selection of his most recent work, Worden discusses his short films and digital videos that draw attention to subjective perceptual play through the manipulation of visual phenomena. (Image: Still from Possessed, courtesy Fred Worden)

 

December 11, 17, 4:30
East Building Auditorium
www.nga.gov/programs/film/aonfredworden.htm

FILM PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN AND TEENS

Scribble, Dot, Pop! (ages 4 and up)

Explore the life and art of Andy Warhol in the family-friendly film Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists: Andy Warhol (Mike Venezia, U.S., 2007, 24 minutes). Also enjoy the short films Art (Konstantin Bronzit, U.S., 2008, 6 minutes), the tale of a young boy who joyfully scribbles and doodles his way to a masterpiece; Asthma Tech (Jonathan Ng, Canada, 2006, 7 minutes), about a boy with asthma who discovers that his imagination has the power to bridge gaps; and The Dot (Gary Goldberger, U.S., 2004, 7 minutes), which encourages children to believe in themselves and their art. (Image: Still from Art)

 

December 3, 10, 10:30
December 4, 11, 11:30
East Building Auditorium
www.nga.gov/programs/flmchild/#warhol

Holiday

The Gallery Shops feature an array of art-related holiday gift bags and wrapping accessories, seasonal greeting cards, books, and a wide selection of gifts for the home and family. Also available is the 2011 National Gallery of Art holiday ornament, inspired by a perspective drawing found in Edme-Sebastien Jeaurat's Traite de perspective a l'usage des artistes ou l'on demontre geometriquement toutes les pratiques de cette science, published 1750, Mark J. Millard Architectural Collection.

 

shop.nga.gov/nga/category.cgi?category=holiday

Seasonal Treats at the Espresso and Gelato Bar

During the month of December, visitors can warm up with hot cocoa or indulge in festive seasonal flavors of gelato and sorbetto, including apple cider, pumpkin, caramel apple, and peppermint candy cane.

 

Monday-Saturday, 10:00-4:30; Sunday, 11:00-5:30
East Building, Concourse
www.nga.gov/dining#espresso

Warhol: Headlines

From celebrity scandals to death and disaster, Warhol's headline-themed works shine a spotlight on our insatiable appetite for the sensational side of the news. Some 80 works, ranging from paintings and photographs to film, video and television, reveal Warhol's career-long obsession with contemporary media. The audio tour with commentary by Warhol's friends is available at the exhibition entrance. (Image: Copyright 2011 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society [ARS], New York)

Through January 2
East Building, Mezzanine
www.nga.gov/warhol

shop.nga.gov/nga/category.cgi?item=410000443934

From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection

New York investment broker Chester Dale's 1962 bequest made the Gallery one of the leading repositories in North America of French art of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This exhibition brings together 81 of the finest French and American paintings that Dale and his wife Maud assembled from the 1920s through the 1950s, which, due to a stipulation in the bequest, may only be seen at the Gallery.

 

Through January 2
West Building, Ground Floor
www.nga.gov/exhibitions/daleinfo.htm

shop.nga.gov/nga/category.cgi?item=410000354032