The Mellon Legacy
From Suzanne Hall at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts: “The National Gallery of Art and the Mellon Legacy” will be the topic of the annual Paul Mellon lecture presented by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Wednesday, Nov. 7, at 6:30 p.m. The speaker will be Earl A. Powell III, director of the National Gallery […]
From Suzanne Hall at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts:
“The National Gallery of Art and the Mellon Legacy” will be the topic of the annual Paul Mellon lecture presented by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Wednesday, Nov. 7, at 6:30 p.m. The speaker will be Earl A. Powell III, director of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
“Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son,” 1875, by Claude Monet is one of a number of works of art given to the National Gallery by Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon.
(Image courtesy the Board of Trustees of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon)
Paul Mellon was VMFA’s longest-serving trustee and one of its most important benefactors. When his father, Andrew W. Mellon, donated his extensive art collection to the nation in 1936, he envisioned that the works would become the nucleus of a great national collection that would grow over time through other gifts. Andrew W. Mellon died in 1937, and in 1941 his vision became reality when the National Gallery opened. Yet he could not have foreseen that the most important donors to the institution would be his children, Paul Mellon and Ailsa Mellon Bruce.
Powell will trace the collections and gifts of all three Mellons and how they shaped the National Gallery.
The lecture is funded by VMFA’s Paul Mellon Endowment and is free and open to the public. Seating is limited, and advance tickets are required (limit 2 per person). They are available at the museum or by telephoning (804) 340-1405.
Because of construction at VMFA, the lecture will be at the Virginia Historical Society, just north of VMFA on the Boulevard.
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