This handsome tribute to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. traces the history of the museum from conception to construction on the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary. Opened with great fanfare, the National Gallery was "the richest single gift from any individual to any nation ever." That individual was financier Andrew Mellon. Kopper's succinct biography covers Mellon's personal and political life as well as his passion for collecting the paintings of old masters. Mellon's bequest stipulated the museum's name, location, and details of governance, ensuring continued high standards and a vital future. Kopper includes profiles of the architect and various museum directors, including Mellon's son Paul, as well as illustrations that document some of the collection's highlights. ISBN 0-8109-3658-5: $60.00 (For use only in the library)

Are national galleries different from other kinds of art gallery or museum? What value is there for the nation in a collection of international masterpieces? How are national galleries involved in the construction national art? National Galleries is the first book to undertake a panoramic view of a type of national institution – which are sometimes called national museums of fine art – that is now found in almost every nation on earth. Adopting a richly illustrated, globally inclusive, comparative view, Simon Knell argues that national galleries should not be understood as ‘great galleries’ but as peculiar sites where art is made to perform in acts of nation building. A book that fundamentally rewrites the history of these institutions and encourages the reader to dispense with elitist views of their worth, Knell reveals an unseen geography and a rich complexity of performance. He considers the ways the national galleries entangle art and nation, and the differing trajectories and purposes of international and national art. Exploring galleries, artists and artworks from around the world, National Galleries is an argument about how we think about and study these institutions. Privileging the situatedness of each national gallery performance, and valuing localism over universalism, Knell looks particularly at how national art is constructed and represented. He ends with examples that show the mutability of national art and by questioning the necessity of art nationalism.

An insightful exploration and moving meditation on identity, art, and belonging from one of the most celebrated writers of the last decade. What happens when we begin to consider stories at the margins, when we grant them centrality? How does that complicate our certainties about who we are, as individuals, as nations, as human beings? Through the lens of visual art, literature, film, and the author’s lived experience, Out of the Sun examines Black histories in art, offering new perspectives to challenge us. In this groundbreaking, reflective, and erudite book, two-time Scotiabank Giller Prize winner and internationally bestselling author Esi Edugyan illuminates myriad varieties of Black experience in global culture and history. Edugyan combines storytelling with analyses of contemporary events and her own personal story in this dazzling first major work of non-fiction.

An exhibition catalogue illustrating fifty paintings from the National Gallery of Scotland's collection.

** Australian tour at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, October 2015 - February 2016 *** The National Galleries of Scotland is widely regarded as one of the finest small galleries in the world. Its collection includes many of the greatest names in Western art, encompassing artists as diverse as Titian and Francis Bacon, and Canova and Pablo Picasso. This lavishly illustrated book contains more than two hundred of the National Galleries of Scotland's greatest and best-loved treasures, each accompanied by an informative text written by the Galleries' curators. Not only does this book provide a fascinating introduction to the national collection but it is also an accessible and informative introduction to the history of art. AUTHOR: Sir John Leighton was Director of the Van Gogh Museum from 1997 until his appointment as Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland in March 2006. He has curated numerous exhibitions, including Caspar David Friedrich's Winter Landscapes(1990), Art in the Making: Impressionism (1990), Seurat's Bathers (1997) Signac (2001) and Manet and the Sea (2004). He has contributed to the catalogues for the above exhibitions and published and lectured on various aspects of 19th- and 20th-century art. 212 colour illustrations

"New scholarship and interpretation of Flavin's work also appears in the form of three critical essays by experts and an extensive chronology, comprehensive bibliography, and exhibition history. In addition, this book includes Flavin's text, "'...in daylight or cool white.' an autobiographical sketch," originally published in Artforum in 1965, and two interviews with the artist - one from 1972 and the other from 1982."--BOOK JACKET.

Published in conjunction with the exhibition "Titian's first masterpiece: The Flight into Egypt," held at the National Gallery, London, Apr. 4-Aug. 19, 2012.