REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 17 



citizens, until now the value of the material already assembled is 

 estimated at several million dollars. The gallery has never had any 

 funds for the purchase of pictures until recently, when a liberal 

 private fund has become available. The will of the late Henry 

 Ward Ranger provides that the interest on the sum of $200,000 shall 

 be used for the purchase of works of art which may ultimately come 

 to the National Gallery. A number of valuable paintings have 

 already been purchased from this fund. 



Two other agencies which will do much toward building up the 

 National Gallery are the National Portrait Committee, which secured 

 for the gallery the portraits of many of the distinguished leaders of 

 America and the Allies in the World War, and the National Gallery 

 of Art Commission, whose functions are " to promote the administra- 

 tion, development, and utilization of the National Gallery of Art, 

 including the acquisition of material of high quality representing the 

 fine arts and the study of the best methods of exhibiting material to 

 the public and its utilization for instruction." 



An illustrated catalogue of the present collection was in prepara- 

 tion and nearly ready for the press at the close of the year. A start 

 was made, also, during the year toward the building up of an art 

 library. The income from a bequest to the Smithsonian Institution 

 by the Rev. Bruce Hughes, of Lebanon, Pa., will be used for the 

 purchase of reference works on art which will serve as a permanent 

 memorial to the donor. 



FREER GALLERY OF ART. 



In the first report, on the Freer Gallery of Art (Appendix 3 of 

 this report), the curator, Mr. J. E. Lodge, gives a list indicating 

 the nature and number of objects in the Freer collection, all of 

 which had been received at the Freer Building by November, 1920. 

 Art works of various kinds from the following sources are included 

 in the collection: American, Babylonian, Byzantine, Cambodian, 

 Chinese, Cypriote, Egyptian, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Near 

 Eastern and East Indian, Palmyran, and Tibetan. The total num- 

 ber of art objects, including a small amount of unclassified material, 

 is 9,566. 



During the past year, the collection was unpacked and the objects 

 placed in their respective storage spaces. The Japanese pottery and 

 Chinese paintings were classified, and the task of checking and cata- 

 loguing the entire collection was begun. The interior fittings of the 

 building were completed during the year, with the exception of a 

 few minor items, and in June the Institution formally accepted the 

 building from the architect, Mr. Charles A. Piatt. 



