Chester Dale Art Collection at National Gallery of Art

From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC highlights the personal art collection of millionaire Chester Dale, a 20th century Wall Street banker and railroad and utilities bond market maker.

His impressive collection from his apartment in New York’s famous Plaza Hotel, included 240 paintings, 7 sculptures, 22 graphics plus books and art catalogs.  At the time of his death in 1961, some paintings had been on loan to the museum, while others were still in his personal collection.  In 1962, the collection, considered one of America’s most important French painting collections representing the late 19th and early 20th centuries was transferred to the National Gallery, along with a generous endowment of $500,000.

Dale was a initially collector of fire engines, but after marrying his wife Maud, an artist, former dramatic editor of the New York Herald and art book author, she helped shaped his taste for art, She assisted him in building their collection, one focusing on French art from the past 150 years.  Within 4 years of their first art purchase, dealers considered the collection in the top 5 private collections in the US.  The couple’s collection was built with the same passion and shrewdness as he once bought and consolidated electric companies.

In the early 1940s, Dale also developed a patron’s father-daughter-like relationship with Frida Kahlo and helped finance some of her work.

The Chester Dale exhibit features 83 of the best paintings acquired by this passionate collector.  Among the artists represented include a virtual who’s-who of French and American impressionists, post-impressionists and “School of Paris” painters.  Masterpieces and other important works in the collection include Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne, Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Toulouse-Lautrec, Pablo Picasso, Paul Gauguin, Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt, Diego Rivera and Salvador Dalí.

From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection – National Gallery of Art, West Building, 4th and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington DC (map)

Dates and Hours – Monday – Saturday – 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Sundays – 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Exhibit will be shown through January 2, 2012.

Admission – Free, to both the museum and the exhibit. No passes required.

Nearest Metro Subway Station – Archives – Yellow and Green lines, then a 2-block walk or use the DC Circulator bus.

Parking – Limited metered street parking or area paid garage parking is available.

Images:  Courtesy of the National Gallery of Art – Auguste Renoir – A Girl with a Watering Can, 1876, oil on canvas.  Paul Gauguin – Self-Portrait, 1889, oil on wood. Pablo Picasso – Still Life, 1918, oil on canvas. All images from the Chester Dale Collection and courtesy of The National Gallery of Art.