MODIGLIANI IN THE EAST BUILDING

The reason for my most recent visit to Washington DC was an exhibition at the National Gallery of Art. The exhibition took place in the National Gallery's East Building which is located directly across the street from the iconic West Building.  

I'd never visited the East Building but I knew that many paintings by some of my favorite artists were in this building instead of the West Building. Some had been moved from the West Building to the East Building since my previous visit in 2013. I took the opportunity prior to seeing the planned exhibition to tour a small part of the collection. 

In one room, a small part of the Chester Dale collection, included 12 Modigliani masterpieces:


Madame Amédée: Woman with Cigarette (1918)

Nude on a Blue Cushion (1917)

Woman with Red Hair (1917)

Monsieur Deleu (1916)

Gypsy Woman with Baby (1919)

Chaim Soutine (1919)

Léon Bakst (1917)

Adrienne (Woman with Bangs) 1917

Madame Kisling (1917)

Girl in a Green Blouse (1917)

Café Singer (1917)

Nude on a Divan (1918)

Like Andrew Mellon, Chester Dale made his millions as a banker and on the New York Stock Exchange. His wife, Maud, who was a painter and art critic, introduced Chester to the idea of collecting modern art. They built the bulk of their collection rather quickly, putting the majority of their collection together between 1926 and 1933. In 1929 alone they purchased an astonishing 130 paintings. The Dales collected an amazing number of paintings by their favorites artists: 17 by Renoir; 15 by Picasso; 25 by Toulouse-Lautrec; 11 by Monet; and 21 by Modigliani. Like Andrew Mellon, Chester Dale made his millions as a banker and on the New York Stock Exchange. His wife, Maud, who was a painter and art critic, introduced Chester to the idea of collecting modern art. They built the bulk of their collection rather quickly, putting the majority of their collection together between 1926 and 1933. In 1929 alone they purchased an astonishing 130 paintings. The Dales collected an amazing number of paintings by their favorites artists: 17 by Renoir; 15 by Picasso; 25 by Toulouse-Lautrec; 11 by Monet; and 21 by Modigliani.

Modigliani painted several portraits of his artist friends such as Maurice Utrillo, Pablo Picasso and Chaim Soutine.

Modigliani's use of drink and drugs contributed to his early death at age 35 in Paris of tubercular meningitis.

I will continue to show more of my visit to the National Gallery of Art's East Building in my next blog post.

The National Gallery of Art is located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets NW along Constitution Avenue. The entrance to the East Building is on 4th Street NW.

• Admission is always FREE.
• Open Monday-Saturday: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
• Open Sunday: 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
• Closed on December 25 and January 1. 

All photos in this blog post were taken by me during my visit in June, 2017.  Unauthorized use is prohibited.