{"id":645672,"date":"2026-08-19T15:51:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T15:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/645672\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T15:51:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T15:51:11","slug":"us-national-gallery-of-art-acquires-paintings-sculptures-and-photographs-spanning-five-centuries-the-art-newspaper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/645672\/","title":{"rendered":"US National Gallery of Art acquires paintings, sculptures and photographs spanning five centuries – The Art Newspaper"},"content":{"rendered":"

The National Gallery of Art<\/a> (NGA) in Washington, DC, has acquired around 190 works since March of this year, stretching across several media, styles, centuries and continents. These include a 17th-century crucifix painting by Mar\u00eda Josefa S\u00e1nchez, colonial Latin American art, woodblock prints by T.C. Cannon, the museum\u2019s first Ben Shahn painting, a major Wifredo Lam work and a collection of photographs by Lillian Bassman and Paul Himmel.<\/p>\n

Many of the acquisitions mark the first time an artist\u2019s work has entered the NGA\u2019s collection. Among the newly represented artists are the French Impressionist Marie Bracquemond<\/a> and the American contemporary artists LaToya Hobbs, Stacy Kranitz, Lorraine O\u2019Grady<\/a>, Lehuauakea, Jordan Ann Craig and Christina Quarles<\/a>. Quarles\u2019s painting Turn Around, Don\u2019t (2024)\u2014now on view at the NGA\u2014was one of her only finished works to survive the Los Angeles wildfires that destroyed the artist\u2019s Altadena house and studio<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Marie Bracquemond\u2019s Marguerite (around 1874) Courtesy the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC<\/p>\n

\u201cSpanning over five centuries, our latest acquisitions provide new opportunities to engage with major artistic innovations by offering new points of entry into the practices of both established and lesser-known artists,\u201d NGA director Kaywin Feldman<\/a> said in a statement. \u201cThe historical breadth of these works reflects our commitment to expanding the scope of our collection by showcasing artistic excellence across time periods.\u201d<\/p>\n

The acquisitions greatly expand the NGA\u2019s Latin American holdings. One of the oldest objects joining the collection is a rare 17th-century Mexican batea, which was once likely used to decorate an elite Spanish colonial household. (It was made around the same time that Mar\u00eda Josefa S\u00e1nchez created her crucifix painting, also acquired by the NGA, across the ocean in Spain.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Wifredo Lam\u2019s L’esprit veillant (The Watchful Spirit) (1944) Courtesy the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC<\/p>\n

From the 18th century, a work by the Guatemalan painter Tom\u00e1s de Merlo has now entered the NGA\u2019s collection. And from the 1940s, Wifredo Lam\u2019s painting L\u2019esprit veillant (The Watchful Spirit) brings with it a celebration of Black spiritual culture across Europe, the Caribbean and the Americas. Contemporary artists with roots in Latin America represented in the new acquisitions include Mar\u00eda Elena Gonz\u00e1lez, \u00c1ngel Rodr\u00edguez-D\u00edaz, David Antonio Cruz and the Salvadoran artists Ver\u00f3nica Vides, Walterio Iraheta, Beatriz Cortez and Sim\u00f3n Vega.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese newly acquired works reflect the kaleidoscopic breadth of art of the Americas and beyond,\u201d E. Carmen Ramos<\/a>, the NGA\u2019s chief curatorial and conservation officer, said in a statement. \u201cWe are thrilled to introduce to our collection this series of significant works that collectively demonstrates innovative historical developments and ongoing contemporary practices. This group of acquisitions expands many facets of our growing collection, particularly in the fields of modern art, contemporary painting and colonial Latin American art.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, DC, has acquired around 190 works since March of this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":645673,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[267],"tags":[7823,365,362,363,364,1980,366,18,117,19,17,38638,7599,94088,2709,4855],"class_list":["post-645672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-acquisitions","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-dc","tag-design","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-museum-acquisitions","tag-museums-heritage","tag-national-gallery-of-art","tag-washington","tag-washington-dc"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117122976008295053","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=645672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/645673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=645672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=645672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=645672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}