The National Gallery of Art

The National Gallery of Art is located in the National Mall and is open to the public free of charge. Established in 1937, it has one of the finest art collections in the world. The collections trace historical development of Western Art from the middle to present ages. Within the collections there are a variety of different arts such as Paintings, Drawings, Prints, Photographs, Sculpture, Medals and Decorative Arts. The National Gallery of Art is made up of two buildings: the west building, which was built in 1941 and the east building, which was built in 1978. The west houses a collection of paintings and sculptures created by European masters from the medieval period, through the 19th century and 20th century. The east building focuses on Modern and Contemporary art. The final element to the National Gallery of Art, The Sculpture Garden, was completed in 1999 after more than 30 years of planning.