Paul Mellon was one of America's greatest art collectors and remains one of the National Gallery of Art's leading benefactors. Timed to coincide with the Gallery's 75th anniversary, In Celebration of Paul Mellon features 88 of the finest pastels, watercolors, drawings, prints, and illustrated books selected from his donations.
On view in the West Building from May 8 through September 18, 2016, this celebratory exhibition accentuates both Paul Mellon's generosity and his distinctive approach to collecting.
Paul Mellon played many crucial roles at the National Gallery of Art in carrying out the founding vision of his father, Andrew, who had laid plans for the museum before his death in 1937. The younger Mellon was a major donor of funds and works of art, a valiant advocate for the Gallery's architecture (both the East and West Buildings), and a supporter of its programs for scholars and for all who appreciate fine art.
Paul Mellon (1907–1999), with his late wife Rachel Lambert ("Bunny"), was among the most generous donors to the National Gallery of Art. Paintings and sculptures from their collection are always on view throughout the Gallery's permanent installations. The great majority of Mellon's gifts, however, were works on paper, which, because of their sensitivity to light, cannot be constantly displayed.
Mellon had a close personal relationship with his collection, whether they were American scenes by Winslow Homer or Maurice Prendergast; sensitive portrait drawings by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres or Edgar Degas; sporting lithographs by Théodore Géricault or George Bellows; abstracting pen landscapes by Vincent van Gogh; visions of Parisian entertainments by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec or Jacques Villon; cubist compositions by Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, or Georges Braque; or delightful watercolors of a cucumber by Édouard Manet or butterflies by Odilon Redon.
Mellon had an intimate approach to living with the art he chose, admiring and arranging his treasures from day-to-day. He delighted in large works hung on the wall and smaller ones he held in his hands, and books he admired on his desk or lap.
Attempting to honor this personal approach, the exhibition is not ordered by formal museum chronology or separated by geographical schools. The exhibition juxtaposes artists from different nationalities and time periods in the hope that visitors will enjoy both the extraordinary quality of the art and experience the repeated visual delight that Paul Mellon felt.
John Constable
A Great Oak Tree, c. 1801
black chalk with gray wash
Overall: 54 x 44.4 cm (21 1/4 x 17 1/2 in.)
mat: 55.9 x 71.1 cm (22 x 28 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Paul Mellon
Paul Cézanne
Self-Portrait, c. 1880/1882
graphite on wove paper (sketchbook page)
overall: 22 x 12.5 cm (8 11/16 x 4 15/16 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Vincent van Gogh
The Harvest, 1888
reed pen and brown ink over graphite
overall: 31.7 x 24.2 cm (12 1/2 x 9 1/2 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
:
Edouard Manet
Cucumber with Leaves, c. 1880
watercolor and gray wash on laid paper
overall: 33.7 x 26 cm (13 1/4 x 10 1/4 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
:
Edouard Vuillard
The Square, 1910
brush and black ink on thin brown wove paper
overall: 64.6 x 50 cm (25 7/16 x 19 11/16 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Edgar Degas
A Nude with her Maid by a Fireplace, 1880/1885
monotype on heavy laid paper
plate: 27.5 x 37.7 cm (10 13/16 x 14 13/16 in.)
sheet: 32.7 x 49 cm (12 7/8 x 19 5/16 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Théodore Gericault
The Boxers, 1818
lithograph on wove paper
image: 35.3 x 41.8 cm (13 7/8 x 16 7/16 in.)
sheet: 41.5 x 49.8 cm (16 5/16 x 19 5/8 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Vincent van Gogh
Harvest--The Plain of La Crau, 1888
reed pen and brown ink over graphite on wove paper
overall: 24.2 x 31.9 cm (9 1/2 x 12 9/16 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
A Seated Woman from Behind, 1892
oil on cardboard
Overall: 59.7 x 39.4 cm (23 1/2 x 15 1/2 in.)
framed: 90.2 x 70.5 x 7 cm (35 1/2 x 27 3/4 x 2 3/4 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Pierre Bonnard
A Promenade in Fancy Hats, 1891/1893
pen and brush and black ink with graphite on laid paper
overall: 30.9 x 37.6 cm (12 3/16 x 14 13/16 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Edgar Degas
A Young Woman in Black, 1861/1865
oil on wove paper
overall: 15.5 x 12.8 cm (6 1/8 x 5 1/16 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Edgar Degas
René de Gas, 1855
graphite on laid paper
overall: 30.5 x 23.7 cm (12 x 9 5/16 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Edgar Degas
A Woman Reading a Book (Lydia Cassatt), c. 1879
charcoal and black chalk with stumping and erasing, heightened with white chalk, on blue wove paper
overall: 48.9 x 31.8 cm (19 1/4 x 12 1/2 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Edgar Degas
Study for "Mary Cassatt at the Louvre: The Etruscan Gallery" [recto], c. 1879 graphite on wove paper
overall: 32.3 x 24.5 cm (12 11/16 x 9 5/8 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Paul Gauguin
Two Tahitians Gathering Fruit [recto], 1899/1900
traced monotype, printed twice, in brown and ocher on wove paper overall: 62.8 x 51.5 cm (24 3/4 x 20 1/4 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Vincent van Gogh
Postcard with Two Peasants Digging, 1885
pen and brown ink on a postcard
overall: 9.1 x 13.8 cm (3 9/16 x 5 7/16 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Claude Monet
Luncheon on the Grass, c. 1865
black chalk on blue laid paper
overall: 30.5 x 46.8 cm (12 x 18 7/16 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Edouard Manet
The Balloon, 1862
lithograph in black on laid paper
image: 40.3 x 50.8 cm (15 7/8 x 20 in.)
sheet: 43.7 x 54.4 cm (17 3/16 x 21 7/16 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Edgar Degas
A Fallen Jockey, c. 1866
black chalk and pastel on brown wove paper
overall: 26.6 x 35.2 cm (10 1/2 x 13 7/8 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Edgar Degas
A Jockey (M. de Broutelles), c. 1884
charcoal on cream paper
overall: 34.6 x 21.9 cm (13 5/8 x 8 5/8 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Edgar Degas
The Curtain, c. 1880
pastel over charcoal and monotype on laid paper mounted on board
sheet: 29 x 33.3 cm (11 7/16 x 13 1/8 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
