Located across 17th Street from the White House grounds, the Corcoran Gallery of Art occupies a prestigious Beaux-Arts building completed in 1897. The entrance to the Gallery is flanked by two magnificent sculptured lions, while an inscription over the door declares that the Corcoran Gallery is “Dedicated to Art.”
Inside, the Corcoran is home to a significant collection of 19th and 20th century American and European art, contemporary and decorative art and photography. American art from colonial times through 1980 is one of museum’s strengths; on view are works by John Singleton Copley, Frederic Church, Mary Cassatt, Winslow Homer, George Bellows and Edward Hopper. Fine examples of Colonial and Federal era portraiture, neoclassical sculpture, Hudson River School painting, art of the American West, American Impressionism, and early 20th-century realism are among the delights offered by the Corcoran.
The collection of European painting includes work by Picasso, Monet and Corot. The Corcoran also dedicates significant gallery space to photography, including work by Walker Evans, Andres Serrano, Jim Goldberg, David Levinthal and Roy DeCarava. If you visit in Spring, stop by to see the Senior Thesis Exhibitions featuring work by this year’s graduating class from the affiliated Corcoran School of Art, which offers undergraduate graduate degrees.
In 2014 this museum closed, leaving its collection to the National Gallery of Art.
Leave a Reply