Renwick Gallery (Old Corcoran Gallery)
Originally built as the Corcoran Art Gallery, the Renwick Gallery was designed to emulate parts of the Louvre.
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The Old Corcoran Art Gallery, now the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, began construction in 1859 from designs of James Renwick and Robert Auchmutz. It was one of the first buildings in the United States erected exclusively as a gallery of art, and is the oldest art gallery in the District of Columbia.
Conceived in the French Second Empire style, the Renwick Gallery is a deliberate emulation of the design of the then-new additions to the Louvre in Paris. The relatively modest scale of this building, the date of its construction, and the excellence of its architectural detail give this building a seminal position in the development of the Second Empire style in the United States. Originally constructed between 1859 and 1864, the Renwick was restored between 1967 and 1970 and again between 1985 and 1986.
DC Inventory: November 8, 1964 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)
National Register: March 24, 1969
National Historic Landmark: November 11, 1971
