REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1919. 51 



tional Gallery, and represented the most valuable pictures in Mr. 

 Evans' private collection at the time. 



Mr. Evans, of Welsh-Irish ancestry, vras born at Clough Jordan, 

 Ireland, in 1843, and was brought to this country by his parents 

 when a year old, fii-st settling in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, and later 

 moving to Jersey City. Mr. Evans graduated at the New York 

 Free Academy, studied architecture two years, and finally went into 

 business as an employee of E. S. Jaffray & Co. There he attracted 

 the attention of the late Philo Mills and John Gibb, and when they 

 founded their dry goods house of Mills & Gibb they entrusted the 

 financial management to Mr. Evans. Displaying marked business 

 ability he soon became a partner and later its president. He was an 

 intense worker day and night throughout the larger portion of his 

 life. 



Mr. Evans formed three art collections. The first consisted of 

 modern foreign paintings and was sold in 1890, his interest in foreign 

 art leading to the decoration of St. Michael being conferred on him 

 by the Bavarian Government. Deciding to devote his energies and 

 purse to the advancement of American art, Mr. Evans began collect- 

 ing American paintings, buying judiciousl}'^ as well as generousl}^, and 

 in most instances from the artists who were struggling and unknown 

 to fame. He became a life member of the Metropolitan Museum of 

 Art, a member of the National Arts Club, Lotos Club, and Salma- 

 gundi Club, gave an annual prize for the American Water Color 

 Society, and developed his art work in manj^ other directions. The 

 sale of his second collection of paintings in January, 1900, was re- 

 garded as the turning point when American art came into its own. 



In 1913 a third sale of paintings of his collecting again marked an 

 advance in the estimated worth of American paintings, and virtu- 

 ally ended his work as a collector. Mr. Evans did more than almost 

 any other collector to promote interest in American art, and to his 

 patronage many of the leading American artists to-da}^ owe their 

 first step toward success. 



IMMEDIATE NEEDS OF THE MUSEIBI. 



The pressing needs of the IMuseum are those for additional space 

 for the accommodation of collections and additional funds for the 

 increase in the scientific and technical staff. It is clearly manifest 

 that these needs must be met if the institution with its numerous 

 departments is to keep reasonable pace with the development of 

 the country as a whole. The space congestion especially becomes 

 more pronounced and embarrassing with each passing day. 



The natural history collections and the laboratories connected 

 therewith require for their reasonable accommodation and admin- 



