Top 5 reasons to tour art museums in DC

In an area such as DC, where stories of crucial historical figures are attached to national landmarks and coffee shops alike, it can be easy to neglect other museums in your travel plans. By the time you have taken a tour of Capital Hill, cruised the monuments at night and even seen the highlights of the Smithsonian, your trip can feel jammed full.  However, on both our two and three day itineraries, we make sure to fit at least a little time in one of DC’s iconic museums of art.  Why should these galleries take priority in your travel plan? 

Exterior of the National Gallery of Art along the National Mall. Photo Credit Liam Gideon

Washington’s art collection is just as extensive as its historical treasures. DC’s art culture is reflected both in obscure local presentations, such as the Free Little Art Gallery, and in widely recognized museums, most notably the National Portrait Gallery, the National Gallery of Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Gallery. With so much to look at, it makes sense to incorporate the art experience into your plans.

Of course the major museums here in Washington, DC are free to enter.  As locals, we are known to wander into the National Gallery or Art or the Portrait Gallery and stroll through a gallery and then head right back out.  And while as visitors, you can do the same, there are compelling reasons to make use of a local guide when you are planning to visit a DC art museum.

1.  Magnificent National Collections

You should take an art tour in Washington DC because you wouldn’t want to miss any of the world class collections that are housed here.  While the seat of government, the monuments and memorials receive most of the press, Washington DC is the only place you can see a daVinci in the Americas.  It is also home to stunning collections of Impressionist art and two sculpture gardens along the National Mall.  From Titian to Rodin to Calder there is something in the DC art scene for every taste.  The quality of the collections should be enough to ensure an art tour a place on your list.

Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, Edgar Degas on display at the National Gallery of Art. Photo Credit Liam Gideon

2.  Highlights of the art museums

While we can all agree that the quality of the collections is stunning, they are generally housed in traditionally massive DC museums.  Many visitors find that once they enter the National Gallery of Art they are drawn in by the medieval tapestries, or the sculpture arranged on the ground floor or even an array of special exhibits that are well marked with signs and banners.  While each of these collections is stunning and an art lover can happily while away the hours moving from treasure to treasure, it would be disappointing to leave without having seen the daVinci, or one of the largest collections of Raphael, or three Vermeers all arranged on the same wall.

Ginevra de' Benci by Leonardo da Vinci is a must see at the National Gallery of Art. Photo Credit Liam Gideon

A tour guide is the best way to make use of your time in an art museum.  Our two hour tours of the National Gallery of Art or the Portrait Gallery & Smithsonian American Art Museum are the perfect way to see the highlights of each museum collection.  Your guide will lead you through the warren of galleries from one priceless work to another while filling in the stories of the artist’s era and inspirations.  If the tour is all the time you have to spend in the museum, you can be assured that you’ve seen the very best of what was on exhibit.  However, if you want to spend additional time, you have now been oriented to the museum and its layout and having seen the highlights, you can meander through galleries looking at other works from the period.  With the background provided by your guide on tour, you will be able to see where these additional works fit into world history and the progression of artistic development.

3.  Taking a break from historical tours

For most visitors to DC their trip is a collection of tours that share the history of our nation, our nation’s capital and the institutions that are housed here.  While this can be a great opportunity to build familiarity with the city and learn as much of its story as possible, it can also become overwhelming.  The art museums in Washington DC certainly have their own unique history.  However, focusing on the collections inside, the stories of global influences and the feelings that art creates is a very different experience than a historical tour.

Visitors look at landscapes on the second floor of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Photo Credit Liam Gideon

Making your way through Renaissance masterpieces in the National Gallery of Art can be a breath of fresh air during a busy trip filled with American history.  Looking at breathtaking landscapes of the American West by Bierstadt can remind you of what our great nation looks like outside of the boundaries of this federal district.  All of the decisions made by the historical people you’ve encountered in DC have given us places like Yosemite and Niagara Falls and taking a moment to look at them through the artist’s eyes can provide a short respite from DC life.

4.  Oasis in the city

As we think about an art tour as a respite from the other types of tours you’ll take, the buildings themselves become an oasis as well.  The National Gallery of Art was specifically designed by Andrew Mellon to be restrained in its presentation.  He wanted there to be fewer works on display at a time to give the visitor the space to consider each once individually.  The fountains on the main floor, particularly the one in the center rotunda create a hushed atmosphere that can feel very apart from the hustle of a major city and its busy tourist areas.

Fountain in the central rotunda creates a soothing atmosphere in the National Gallery of Art. Photo Credit Liam Gideon

At the National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum, you will find small galleries and beautiful hallways.  There is even a stunning enclosed courtyard where you can recharge with a drink and a snack while being sheltered from the city outside the museum’s walls.  By slowing down to consider the art in buildings designed for you to focus on just what is in front of you, it is possible to recharge for the remainder of your tour day or even your tour week.

The Kogod Courtyard at the National Gallery of Art/SAAM. Photo Credit Liam Gideon

5. Souvenir for life

Whether you are an experienced art lover or a novice who wants to see what all the fuss is about, an art tour becomes one of the best souvenirs from your tour.  Perhaps you learn something new about the Dutch masters or you see the influence of the Paris impressionists on Americans Whistler or Sargent.  Maybe you learn about the development of the national collection and it makes you wonder more about how other art museum collections are formed.  These insights and questions are souvenirs that you can bring to other art museums in your life.  Whether there is a major museum where you live or other galleries that you visit in your travels, what you learn on an art tour can enrich other adventures in art throughout your life.

Unfinished George Washington portrait by Gilbert Stuart. Photo Credit Liam Gideon

A tour guide is essential to building this knowledge and even developing more questions.  Your guide can make connections to pieces that you may not have noticed.  Or the create the context of looking at a Gilbert Stuart here in Washington, DC which may totally change how much you value the dollar bill.  You may leave wondering how other museums handle the controversy and confusion over the attribution of Vermeer’s work, identifying suspected forgeries or the lack of documentation related to so many objects and artists throughout history.  You will never look at label text the same way again!

With all of these wonderful reasons to take an art tour, Unscripted offers two tours that solely focus on the major art museums near our 7th St Welcome Center.

Unscripted guide Claudia showing guests The Thinker by Rodin. Photo Credit Liam Gideon

DC’s National Gallery of Art, was founded in 1937, and is the home of works created by iconic masters of their craft.  The idea of a National Gallery of Art for the United States began in 1928, when Secretary of Treasury Andrew W. Mellon proposed a national art museum within the capital. Since the 1910s, Andrew Mellon had been influenced by Henry Clay Frick as an avid art collector. While working as a public servant from 1921 to 1932, Mellon decided that the U.S. should have its own national art museum in order to compare with other European nations. Mellon later wrote to Franklin D. Roosevelt formally offering his private art collection for an art museum that he would personally build and fund. Roosevelt endorsed his proposal, and on March 24th, 1937 (coincidentally Andrew Mellon’s birthday), Congress accepted Mellon's offer. 

The Great Hall at the Old Patent Office. Photo Credit Liam Gideon

The other major art gallery in our neighborhood actually includes two major national collections.  The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, most famously home of the presidential portraits, was founded in 1962 and opened in 1968.   It shares the historic Patent Office Building with the Smithsonian American Art Museum.  In places, the collections fit together neatly with historical portraits displayed below historic American landscapes.  In other ways, their natural contrasts with Electronic Superhighway, a neon multimedia installation of a US map showing a very different view of America than our founding fathers could have dreamed when sitting for their portraits at the dawn of our small country.

Guests take in Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Photo Credit Liam Gideon

Whichever tour you choose, or both if time allows, you have the opportunity to experience amazing collections with a knowledgeable guide.  We are always happy to help build an itinerary that includes these special experiences amid the more common Washington DC checklist.  You can use the suggested itineraries on our website or give us a call and we can work out a more customized plan for your party.  We look forward to seeing you soon!

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