National Gallery of Art | Videos

Ann Hoenigswald, senior conservator of paintings, and Felix Monguilot Benzal, 2012-2013 Kress Interpretative Fellow, review the conservation treatment of El Greco’s Saint Martin and the Beggar (1597/1599). In 2014, Spain will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the death of El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos, 1541-1614) with major exhibitions of the artist’s works. Upon completion of treatment, the Gallery will loan Saint Martin and the Beggar and its companion painting Madonna and Child with Saint Martina and Saint Agnes to their city of origin for The Greek in Toledo exhibition at the Museum of Santa Cruz, Toledo. In this video from January 22, 2013, Hoenigswald and Monguilot Benzal reveal how the original texture and color of the paint will return once a layer of discolored varnish is removed. The Kress Interpretative Fellowship is supported by a grant from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation to provide a new kind of mentored professional development opportunity within American art museums.

Nancy Anderson, Head of the Department of American and British Paintings

Mary Beard, Cambridge University This six-part lecture series examines the continuing engagement throughout history with images of Roman emperors and its impact on Western visual art and culture. In this fifth lecture, originally delivered at the National Gallery of Art on May 1, 2011, the esteemed classicist and professor Mary Beard considers the fluid, dynamic, and productive category of emperor groups, which became a popular theme of Western art following the first printing of Suetonius’ Lives of the Caesars in 1470.

Mary Beard, Cambridge University This six-part lecture series examines the continuing engagement throughout history with images of Roman emperors and its impact on Western visual art and culture. In this sixth and final lecture of the series, originally delivered at the National Gallery of Art on May 8, 2011, the esteemed classicist and professor Mary Beard summarizes the complexity of the reception of images of Roman imperial life and power as they have been altered, combined, redefined, and proliferated in all media.

Mary Beard, Cambridge University This six-part lecture series examines the continuing engagement throughout history with images of Roman emperors and its impact on Western visual art and culture. In this first lecture, originally delivered at the National Gallery of Art on March 27, 2011, the esteemed classicist and professor Mary Beard introduces the prejudices, conventions, and disagreements that underlie the identification and reception of Roman imperial portraits beginning with Julius Caesar.

Mary Beard, Cambridge University This six-part lecture series examines the continuing engagement throughout history with images of Roman emperors and its impact on Western visual art and culture. In this third lecture, originally delivered at the National Gallery of Art on April 10, 2011, the esteemed classicist and professor Mary Beard shows how portraits of emperors took part in the transmission of power, legitimizing in marble an authorized genealogy of descent.

Mary Beard, Cambridge University This six-part lecture series examines the continuing engagement throughout history with images of Roman emperors and its impact on Western visual art and culture. In this fourth lecture, originally delivered at the National Gallery of Art on April 17, 2011, the esteemed classicist and professor Mary Beard discusses the role of female members of the imperial court in terms of dynastic succession, the transmission of power, and their representation in antique and post-antique art.

Mary Beard, Cambridge University This six-part lecture series examines the continuing engagement throughout history with images of Roman emperors and its impact on Western visual art and culture. In this second lecture, originally delivered at the National Gallery of Art on April 3, 2011, the esteemed classicist and professor Mary Beard traces the emergence of imperial portraits, their role in the iconography of Roman power, and their shifting interpretations and latent significances in the modern world.

Ann Hoenigswald, Senior Conservator

This film highlights the East Building's architectural conception and construction, beginning with the challenge initially faced by architect I. M. Pei. Documentation of construction includes footage of the works of art commissioned for the building.

Glenn Ligon's intertextual works examine cultural and social identity—often through found sources such as literature, Afro-centric coloring books, and photographs—to reveal the ways in which slavery, the civil rights movement, and identity politics inform our understanding of American society. In 2012, the Gallery acquired its first painting by Ligon, Untitled (I Am a Man) (1988). In honor of this acquisition, Ligon presented the 20th annual Elson Lecture on March 14, 2013, in conversation with associate curators of modern art Molly Donovan and James Meyer. Untitled (I Am a Man) is a reinterpretation of the signs carried by 1,300 striking African American sanitation workers in Memphis in 1968 and made famous in Ernest Withers' photographs of the march. Proclaiming "I Am a Man," the signs evoke Ralph Ellison's famous line—"I am an invisible man." Approximating the size of these signs, Ligon's roughly made painting combines layers of history, meaning, and physical material in a dense, resonant object. As the first painting in which the artist appropriated text, it is a breakthrough. In subsequent works he would transform texts into fields of semilegible and masked meanings. The Gallery owns sixteen works by Ligon, including a suite of etchings and a print portfolio.

Glenn Ligon’s intertextual works examine cultural and social identity—often through found sources such as literature, Afro-centric coloring books, and photographs—to reveal the ways in which slavery, the civil rights movement, and identity politics inform our understanding of American society. In 2012, the Gallery acquired its first painting by Ligon, Untitled (I Am a Man) (1988). In honor of this acquisition, Ligon presented the 20th annual Elson Lecture on March 14, 2013, in conversation with associate curators of modern art Molly Donovan and James Meyer. Untitled (I Am a Man) is a reinterpretation of the signs carried by 1,300 striking African American sanitation workers in Memphis in 1968 and made famous in Ernest Withers' photographs of the march. Proclaiming "I Am a Man," the signs evoke Ralph Ellison's famous line—"I am an invisible man." Approximating the size of these signs, Ligon’s roughly made painting combines layers of history, meaning, and physical material in a dense, resonant object. As the first painting in which the artist appropriated text, it is a breakthrough. In subsequent works he would transform texts into fields of semilegible and masked meanings. The Gallery owns sixteen works by Ligon, including a suite of etchings and a print portfolio.

On March 15, 2013, Glenn Ligon discussed the layers of history, meaning, and physical material of three of his works in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art. The painting Untitled (I Am a Man), acquired in 2012 through the Patrons' Permanent Fund and as a gift of the artist, and a pair of prints given by the artist entitled Condition Report (2000) served as the backdrop for this interview. The painted neon sculpture Double America (2012), gift of Agnes Gund, is also featured. The interview followed Ligon's presentation of the 20th annual Elson Lecture, A Conversation with Glenn Ligon.

Narrated by Tilda Swinton, this film was made in conjunction with the exhibition Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, 1909–1929: When Art Danced with Music. The impresario Serge Diaghilev was the creator and driving force of the Ballets Russes. He persuaded, cajoled, and charmed the greatest talents of the early twentieth century to join his company. Artists (Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse), composers (Igor Stravinsky and Erik Satie), choreographers (Michel Fokine and George Balanchine), and dancers (Vaslav Nijinsky and Anna Pavlova) all collaborated to realize Diaghilev's dream of a seamless fusion of the arts. The spectacular productions of the Ballets Russes dazzled audiences and revolutionized modern dance. This documentary includes footage of revivals of Ballets Russes performances by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, the Paris Opera Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet, and the New York City Ballet. Also featured are sets and costumes from Diaghilev's innovative productions, as well as interviews with dancers, musicians, and scholars. This film was made possible by the HRH Foundation.

Narrated by Tilda Swinton, this film was made in conjunction with the exhibition Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, 1909–1929: When Art Danced with Music. The impresario Serge Diaghilev was the creator and driving force of the Ballets Russes. He persuaded, cajoled, and charmed the greatest talents of the early twentieth century to join his company. Artists (Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse), composers (Igor Stravinsky and Erik Satie), choreographers (Michel Fokine and George Balanchine), and dancers (Vaslav Nijinsky and Anna Pavlova) all collaborated to realize Diaghilev’s dream of a seamless fusion of the arts. The spectacular productions of the Ballets Russes dazzled audiences and revolutionized modern dance. This documentary includes footage of revivals of Ballets Russes performances by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, the Paris Opera Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet, and the New York City Ballet. Also featured are sets and costumes from Diaghilev’s innovative productions, as well as interviews with dancers, musicians, and scholars. This film was made possible by the HRH Foundation.