The Corcoran Gallery of Art is a former art museum in Washington, D.C., that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Founded in 1869 by philanthropist William Wilson Corcoran, the gallery was one of the earliest public art museums in the United States. It held an important collection that became concentrated in American Art. In 1890, it started its art school. Its Beaux-Arts style building on The Ellipse was opened in 1897. Due to a prolonged economic shortfall, the Gallery failed in October 2014; pursuant to its founding charter, its art school and building transferred to GWU and the 19,456 works in its collection were distributed to other public museums and institutions in Washington, D.C., primarily the National Gallery of Art. Source: Wikipedia (en)