52 THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART 



March i, 1847, when the following resolution was agreed to by 

 the Board: 



''Resolved, That it being understood that Mr. George Catlin 

 is about to return to this country with his collection of Indian 

 paintings, &c., he be requested to deposit the same in one of 

 the galleries of the Smithsonian Institution, as soon as the 

 building shall be ready for its reception, provided he will do so 

 without charge to the institution; and that upon such deposit 

 being made, said institution will properly arrange and prepare 

 said collection for exhibition." 



It may be noted that the purchase of this collection for the 

 Institution was also under consideration by Congress at the 

 same time, and the following extract from the official records 

 of the Senate for February 27, 1847, is especially interesting 

 to quote in this connection : 



"Mr. Clayton stated that this was probably the last oppor- 

 tunity which would be offered for obtaining this gallery of 

 paintings perpetuating the lineaments of these aborigines. 

 He would not now go into the merits of these paintings. They 

 had been seen by all the Senators. At the last session memo- 

 rials had been presented from the principal artists praying that 

 they might be purchased by the Government, and this was the 

 last opportunity. They were about six hundred in number and 

 were now at the Louvre, in Paris, where they met with un- 

 qualified approbation. It was provided by his amendment 

 that they were not to be purchased unless the Smithsonian 

 Institution would find a place for them in their gallery, which 

 he understood would probably be done. They might, perhaps, 

 be purchased for about $50,000, of which it was proposed to 

 pay $5,000 annually." 



The Catlin collection was exhibited in London and Paris, as 

 well as in this country. Begun in 1829, it finally numbered 

 over 600 pictures, including portraits, landscapes, sporting 

 scenes, and illustrations of amusements, customs and religious 

 ceremonies. In 1852, through liberal advances made to Mr. 

 Catlin, to satisfy claims growing out of unfortunate specula- 

 tions, the collection came into the possession of Mr. Joseph 

 Harrison, jr., of Philadelphia, by whose widow it was presented 

 to the U. S. National Museum, May 15, 1879. Upon reaching 



