50 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1920. 



that they should remain in his possession during his life, and at that 

 time he provided in his will $500,000 for the erection by the Smith- 

 sonian Institution of a suitable building for housing them, near the 

 National Museum. He reserved the right to add to the collections, 

 and in the intervening years he has about tripled the number of 

 objects originally transferred by title to the Institution. Increasing 

 the building fund to $1,000,000 and waiving the original conditions, 

 Mr. Freer in 1915 decided upon the early erection of the structure 

 and the transfer of the collections to Washington. The building, 

 now nearing completion, was accordingly begun in the autumn of 

 1916. That Mr. Freer was not permitted to see the consummation 

 of his plans for the development of the art interests of the country 

 is greatly deplored. His experience and advice would be invaluable 

 in inaugurating this independent unit of the National Gallery of 

 Art which he so generously provided. The building and collections 

 represent an outlay of some six or seven million dollars and consti- 

 tute one of the most important and valued donations which any indi- 

 vidual has ever made freely and unconditionally to the Nation. 



During the year the building for the Freer collections was brought 

 nearly to completion, despite delays now characteristic of the build- 

 ing business. The central court was carefully laid out with walks, 

 gardens, and fountain. Arrangements were made with the officer in 

 charge of public buildings and grounds for laying out the driveways 

 to the building and otherwise improving the grounds immediately 

 surrounding it. 



The Peacock room, that celebrated decoration executed by Whist- 

 ler as a setting for his painting La Princesse, was transferred from 

 the residence of Mr. Freer, in Detroit, and set up complete in a room 

 specially designed for its reception at the southeastern corner of the 

 building. By the close of the year the executors of Mr. Freer's es- 

 tate had commenced to ship to Washington other portions of the 

 Freer collections, which will be stored in the various storage quarters 

 in the building until the structure is entirely completed and the in- 

 stallation of the collections can be undertaken. 



THE LOEB BEQUEST. 



Prof. Morris Loeb, the eminent chemist, who died on October 8, 

 1912, left a bequest of $25,000 to the American Chemical Society, to 

 be held as a special fund, the income of which should be used for the 

 establishment or maintenance of a chemical type museum, either in 

 connection with the Chemists' Club of New York City, or the Na- 

 tional Museum in Washington, or the American Museum of Natural 

 History in New York City, preference to be given in the order 

 named. The chief object of the museum was to be the preservation 



