Location

MUSEUM

Recently reinstalled in renovated galleries, the Dumbarton Oaks Museum’s permanent exhibition features world-renowned collections of Byzantine and Pre-Columbian art. In addition, European masterpieces are exhibited in the historic Music Room, including Western Medieval and Renaissance sculpture, furniture and tapestry.

Mildred and Robert Woods Bliss initiated these collections in the first half of the 20th century and provided the vision for future acquisitions after giving Dumbarton Oaks to Harvard University in 1940.

The Blisses also oversaw the initial gallery designs for their collections, including the remarkable Pre-Columbian pavilion, designed by Philip Johnson and completed in 1963.

THE GARDENS

The elaborate 12-acre gardens were designed by landscape architect Beatrix Jones Farrand in collaboration with Mrs. Bliss during the 1920s and 1930s, featuring exceptional ornamental stonework, formal rose garden, reflective pools, and a wide array of unique plants and flowers.

Dumbarton Oaks has recently inaugurated an occasional series of contemporary art installations intended to provide fresh interpretations and experiences of the gardens and art collections.