The A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts were established by the Board of Trustees of the National Gallery of Art on December 6, 1949. Inspired by Paul and Mary Mellon, they were intended to bring to the people of the United States the results of the best contemporary thought and scholarship bearing upon the subject of the fine arts. The first lectures were delivered by Jacques Maritain in 1952. To mark the fiftieth anniversary of the acclaimed series, the Center published this richly illustrated documentary volume. In her introduction Elizabeth Cropper tells the story of the realization of the Gallery’s vision for the series. Short essays by a distinguished group of contemporary scholars discuss the first fifty lecturers, ranging from Jacques Maritain to Salvatore Settis (2001) and including such influential speakers as Anthony Blunt (1958), Kenneth Clark (1953), H. W. Janson (1974), E. H. Gombrich (1956), Kathleen Raine (1962), Jacques Barzun (1973), and Arthur Danto (1995); their fields of expertise; and the subject matter and historical contexts of their talks. These graceful and balanced assessments, which are supplemented by photographic portraits and brief curricula vitae, provide a vivid sense of the significance of the lectureship and its participants through commentary, critique, and lively personal anecdotes. 

Published by the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art and distributed by Yale University Press.