Here’s a reason to make another trip to the National Gallery of Art: Soon you’ll be able to see rarely viewed works by such artists as Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, and Edgar Degas, as the museum gains 62 pieces bequeathed by the estate of museum benefactor Paul Mellon after his death in 1999, according to the Associated Press. Among the works are van Gogh’s “Still Life of Oranges and Lemons With Blue Groves,” which goes on display June 7; “Still Life With Bottle, Carafe, Bread and Wine,” one of Monet’s earliest known paintings; and 12 oil sketches by 19th-century post-impressionist painter Georges Seurat, which, when combined with the gallery’s existing five Seurat works makes up one of the most significant collections of his works in the US.
The works were under the care of Mellon’s widow, Rachel “Bunny” Mellon until her death in March of this year. The Mellon family has donated nearly 1,200 works of art since 1964.
