In memoriam I.M. Pei

The East Wing of the National Gallery of Art is a beautiful modernist home for modernist painting and much else. The atrium is light-filled and has great sight lines. The monumental Calder mobile nestles into the generous space. The galleries are intimate and functional, fractally filling the edges and tower of the building. The last time I was there, the tower held large works by Rothko and Barnett Newman’s white and enveloping Stations of the Cross.

It is a place where my heart dwells.