City Walker strives on always connecting you to the best local spots cross a metro area. Here are 5 Art Galleries the locals in DC frequent and you should put on your bucket list for your next visit.
National Gallery of Art
Constitution Ave. between Third and Seventh Sts., NW; 202-737-4215; Free.
The National Gallery of Art’s neoclassical West Building is home to one of the world’s best collections of paintings, sculpture, and more, dating from the 13th to the 20th century. The I.M. Pei–designed East Building opened in 1978 and houses mostly modern and contemporary art on four levels.
The best way to enter the West Building is through the Mall entrance on Madison Drive, which leads into the building’s impressive central rotunda. Take a right and you’ll find the 19th-century French galleries, which are home to works by Monet, Renoir, -Cézanne, and others. On the west side of the building, don’t miss “Ginevra de’ Benci,” the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Americas—which features a special surprise on its back.
An underground tunnel on the concourse level leads past the bookstore to a larger museum store and dining area underneath the East Building (a light sculpture by Leo Villareal, “Multiverse,” adorns the passageway). As of late September 2016, the East Building galleries will be reopened after three years of extensive renovations.
National Portrait Gallery
Eighth and F Sts., NW; 202-633-1000; Free.
A celebration of acclaimed and influential Americans living and dead, the National Portrait Gallery is notable for both its manifold subjects (from Pocahontas and Franklin D. Roosevelt to Fred Astaire and Rosa Parks) and its comprehensive look at the art of portraiture. “American Origins, 1600–1900” provides a historical overview of America through portraiture in 17 galleries, while “America’s Presidents” includes multiple renderings of 43 presidents of the United States. On the third floor, the “20th-Century Americans” gallery includes portraits of Marilyn Monroe and Muhammad Ali.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Seventh St. and Independence Ave., SW; 202-633-1000; Free.
Located in a spaceage Gordon Bunshaft-designed circular structure on the south side of the Mall, the Hirshhorn Museum has one of the world’s finest collections of modern and contemporary art. The museum’s permanent collection includes works by Willem de Kooning, Jean Dubuffet, Man Ray, Francis Bacon, Ai Weiwei, and Dan Flavin. Along with a rectangular reflection pool, the sculpture garden features Rodin’s “The Burghers of Calais.”
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
12th St. and Jefferson Dr., SW; 1050 Independence Ave., SW; 202-633-1000; Free.
A vast collection of Asian art fills the rooms of these galleries on the Mall. Inside the Freer’s palazzo-style building is a collection that spans 6,000 years and comprises more than 25,000 objects, including Chinese paintings, Japanese ink drawings, Buddhist sculptures, and Korean ceramics. (The Freer will be closed for renovation from January 2016 until summer 2017.) Highlights from the Sackler Gallery’s collection include Iranian metalworks and Chinese bronzes.