El Greco: A 400th Anniversary Celebration

On the 400th anniversary of El Greco’s death, the National Gallery of Art and Washington-Area Collections presents a commemorative exhibition of El Greco’s paintings.

On the 400th anniversary of El Greco’s death, the National Gallery of Art —holder of the largest number of the artist’s works in the United States— presents a commemorative exhibition of El Greco’s paintings.

From the early and derivative Cleansing of the Temple (before 1570) to the boldly innovative Laocoön (c. 1610/1614), his only mythological work, the exhibition includes 11 paintings from the Gallery and other Washington-area collections. A selection of devotional works illustrates El Greco’s role as artist of the Counter-Reformation, and two versions of Saint Martin and the Beggar shed light on his commercial practices.

The exhibition attests to El Greco’s special importance to American collectors of the last century, including Henry Walters, Mildred and Robert Bliss, Duncan Phillips, and the Gallery’s founding benefactors Andrew W. Mellon, Samuel H. Kress, Peter A. B. Widener, Joseph E. Widener, and Chester Dale.

Related events

• Film screening: El Greco documentary on October 30 at 6:30 pm at the Embassy of Greece, 2217 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008. Presented by The National Gallery of Art in collaboration with the Embassy of Greece and SPAIN arts & culture.
• Guitarist Francisco Bernier in Concert. Spanish Renaissance music on November 9 at 6:30 pm at West Building, West Garden Court. Presented in honor of El Greco in the National Gallery of Art and Washington-Area Collections: A 400th Anniversary Celebration.

• Lecture: The Ages of El Greco: From Crete to Toledo on November 8 at 11 am, by Spanish scholar Felix Monguilot Berzal.