Paul Mellon was born in Pittsburgh, the son of businessman, art collector and Secretary of the Treasury Andrew W. Mellon [1855-1937] and his wife, Nora McMullen Mellon [d. 1973]. After his parents divorced in 1912, Paul spent much of his youth in his mother's native England, though he attended elementary and preparatory schools in the U.S. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale in 1929, and Bachelors and Master of Arts and a doctorate of laws from Cambridge University, England, in 1931, 1938, and 1983, respectively.

The son of Irish immigrant Thomas Mellon [1813-1908] and his wife Sarah Jane Negley [1817-1909], Andrew W. Mellon was born in Pittsburgh. Thomas Mellon came to America in 1818 with his parents, and through his entrepreneurial skills and fortuitous investments became a very wealthy and powerful man with a career as a lawyer and later a judge, and a banker. Two of his four sons, first Andrew and then Richard B. [1858-1933], succeeded him as head of the Mellon family bank, established in 1870.

Ailsa was the only daughter of Pittsburgh banker and National Gallery Founder Andrew W. Mellon [1855-1937] and his wife Nora McMullen Mellon [d. 1973], who divorced in 1912. The son of Irish immigrant Thomas Mellon [1813-1908] and his wife Sarah Jane Negley [1817-1909], Andrew W. Mellon was born in Pittsburgh. Thomas Mellon came to America in 1818 with his parents, and through his entrepreneurial skills and fortuitous investments became a very wealthy and powerful man with a career as a lawyer and later a judge, and a banker. Two of his four sons, first Andrew and then Richard B.

In 1969 Ailsa Mellon Bruce bequeathed to the National Gallery of Art her extensive collection of French impressionist and postimpressionist paintings. She considered their small size suitable for modestly scaled modern interiors, such as her apartment in Manhattan. When the East Building opened in 1978, a series of small galleries was devoted to exhibitions from her collection.

The sculpture galleries display more than nine hundred works of art from the permanent collection. They feature primarily European sculpture dating from the Middle Ages to the early twentieth century and one of the world's finest collections of medals and plaquettes, as well as decorative arts, related paintings, and a special display room for rare books. Several galleries and three French period rooms have been renovated, and seventeen new galleries have been designed to relate to the neoclassical spaces on the West Building's upper floor by architect John Russell Pope.

Degas' best-known works are those inspired by the ballet. For an artist committed to the depiction of modern life, the theater in all of its forms--the ballet, the opera, even the more raucous café-concerts--held a special appeal. What intrigued him the most, however, was not the formal, polished performance, but rather the behind-the-scenes, casual, candid moments of dancers rehearsing or resting. It is a theme that the artist was to explore time and again, not only in his ballet paintings but also in his horse-racing scenes.

The National Gallery of Art's East Building, opened to the public on June 1, 1978. This web feature presents drawings by the architect I. M. Pei and his design team, and a representation of the three-dimensional model for the project. Born in China in 1917, Pei moved to the United States at eighteen to study architecture, and eventually received degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. He opened his own firm in New York City in 1955.

Concrete Coffers In November 1970, with ground breaking only months away, Pei and his team turned their attention to the vexing question of the roof for the central atrium. To help the designers envision the appearance of the interior space, Pei called on artist/architect Paul Stevenson Oles to make perspective drawings that also depicted the textures of the building materials and the effects of light in the space.

Concept In a moment of insight, I. M. Pei solved the problem of the site's irregular shape by dividing it into an isosceles triangle and a smaller right triangle. He later recalled, "I sketched a trapezoid on the back of an envelope. I drew a diagonal line across the trapezoid and produced two triangles. That was the beginning." Exploration

Son of the National Gallery's founder and the brother of Ailsa Mellon Bruce, Paul Mellon (1907-1999) became the first president of the Gallery's Board of Trustees in 1938-1939 following Andrew Mellon's death. Paul Mellon served again in this position from 1963 to 1978, and it was during this time that he oversaw the conception and construction of the East Building, for which he provided a major part of the funding. An avid horseman, Mellon developed an interest in English sporting pictures, which led him to build an extensive collection of British art in addition to American and French art.

A thematic archival display explores Paul Mellon's unequaled influence on the National Gallery of Art. Included are rarely seen documents, photographs, memorabilia, and publications that illuminate Paul Mellon's life and art collecting, his leadership and ideas, and his generosity. Of particular interest are materials relating to the East Building, which was constructed entirely with funds provided by Paul Mellon, his sister Ailsa Mellon Bruce, and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which he founded.