In what year did the Mona Lisa first travel to the United States? The answer is 1963.
The Mona Lisa crossed the Atlantic for the first time in late 1962 or early 1963, arriving for a landmark American exhibition in January 1963. It was displayed first at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where the opening included President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.
The painting then traveled to New York for an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Huge crowds formed at both venues: roughly half a million people saw it in Washington, while about one million visited the New York showing. The painting returned to France aboard the SS United States.
The trip was arranged through French-American cultural diplomacy, with Jacqueline Kennedy and French culture minister André Malraux playing important roles. The year 1962 can appear in accounts because planning and diplomatic discussions began then, but the Mona Lisa’s first U.S. exhibition took place in 1963.