Home » Special Features » The World’s Best » Best Museums D.C.
These can’t-miss museums offer an array of attractions designed to mesmerize art addicts and curious gallery-goers alike. Distinguished by their modern art masterpieces, architectural triumphs, oddball collections, or undeniable cool factor, these are the best-in-class museums in the world’s hottest cities.
Best Museums in....
Best Art Museums
D.C.
Corcoran Gallery of Art 500 17th St. NW, White House, 202-639-1700 corcoran.org
The Draw: The city’s oldest art museum is a marble paean to Beaux Arts architecture, famous for its vast permanent collection of American art. Keep an eye out for blockbuster temporary exhibits as well. The Scene: The Gallery is also home to an art school, whose students, with their cockscomb haircuts and outré outfits, often loll on the grand stone steps at the museum entrance. Galleries and a cafe stem off the magnificent, skylit double atrium. Wed 10am–5pm, Thu 10am–9pm, Fri–Sun 10am–5pm. $ Hot Tip: Tour the gallery on a Thursday evening, when the cafe stays open until 8pm and the crowds have thinned out.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Independence Ave. SW at Seventh St., National Mall, 202-633-1000 hirshhorn.si.edu
The Draw: One of the country’s premier modern international art institutions, best known for its 20th-century Picassos and Warhols, Rodins, and Henry Moores, but also for more contemporary works, the Hirshhorn is housed in a striking, cylindrical building. The Scene: Modern art enthusiasts roam wide-eyed through the Hirshhorn. The museum’s windowed interior walls overlook its central, open courtyard, capturing abundant daylight with which to view the Giacomettis, Calders, and de Koonings. Museum daily 10am–5:30pm, Sculpture Garden daily 7:30am–dusk. Hot Tip: You must tour the sunken Sculpture Garden across Jefferson Drive, and be sure not to miss the sculpture displayed en route, on the Hirshhorn’s plaza.
National Gallery of Art and Sculpture Garden Constitution Ave. NW at Fourth Ave., National Mall, 202-737-4215 nga.gov
The Draw: This is the crème de la crème of the capital’s art museums, covering medieval to 21st-century Western art. The Scene: The museum is vast, with a permanent collection of some 116,000 works, including paintings, sculptures, decorative arts, and works on paper dating from the Middle Ages to the present. Allow plenty of time and don’t try to see everything that’s on display. Mon–Sat 10am–5pm, Sun 11am–6pm. Hot Tip: In the summer, the Sculpture Garden hosts free jazz performances on Friday evenings; in winter, the garden’s pool turns into an ice rink for skating.
