Friday, April 8, 2016
With Help from Mellon Foundation, the National Gallery Celebrates 75 Years
To kick off its 75th anniversary, the National Gallery of Art hosted a black-tie reception Wednesday night for 1,400 art collectors, donors large and small, and other patrons.
The gallery is such a fixture in Washington that it’s hard to remember that it didn’t open until 1941, thanks to the vision of one man.
“Andrew Mellon’s idea was an American idea,” said Earl “Rusty” Powell III, the NGA’s director for the past 24 years. “It was the idea that America should have a great national gallery...”