22 THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART 



and such necessary changes as it was possible to make were 

 immediately effected. This hall is one of the ranges at the 

 north front of the building, and has a gently sloping roof the 

 under side of which forms the ceiling of the room. It measures 

 about 90 feet long and 50 feet deep, its height being 24 feet 

 at the outer wall and 33 feet at the inner. It was entirely 

 fireproofed and isolated from the rest of the building, but unfor- 

 tunately it contains no skylights, and natural lighting is wholly 

 derived from seven windows in the northern wall. The two 

 end walls are, therefore, the only ones affording good light for 

 paintings, although considerable additional surface of equiva- 

 lent value has been secured by the introduction of three screens 

 at right angles to the windows, each measuring about 29 feet 

 long by 16 feet high. Electric lights have also been installed 

 in a single row under metal reflectors along three sides, and in 

 several clusters through the middle of the hall, and, as the 

 windows are provided with shutters, these lights can be used 

 in the day time as well as at night. The total number of 

 lineal feet of space available for the hanging of paintings is 

 about 344, of which 170 feet are afforded by the walls and 174 

 feet by the screens. The walls are painted an olive color, dark 

 below the picture line which is about 4^ feet from the floor, 

 and thence light to a height of 21 feet, above which both the 

 walls and ceiling are a light yellowish gray. The fact that the 

 supporting framework of the roof is exposed does not materi- 

 ally mar the eff"ectiveness of the hall. The height of the 

 picture rod above the floor is 15 feet 10 inches, and of the side 

 electric lights, 13 feet 10 inches. 



When this hall was first opened to the public on November 24, 

 1906, it contained the Harriet Lane Johnston collection and a 

 number of other paintings, some the property of the Govern- 

 ment, the remainder being loans. Additions have since been 

 made, and the hall has been essentially filled at all times. The 

 first fifty paintings of the William T. Evans collection were 

 received in Washington during the spring of 1907. As there was 

 no place in either building where they could be assembled, they 

 were, through the courtesy of the trustees, accepted on deposit 

 in the Corcoran Gallery of Art, where, together with subsequent 

 additions, they have occupied a large part of the atrium. 



