Report on the National Collection of 

 Fine Arts 



Sir : I have the honor to submit the following report on the activities 

 of the National Collection of Fine Arts for the fiscal year ended June 

 30, 1956. 



SMITHSONIAN ART COMMISSION 



The 33d annual meeting of the Smithsonian Art Commission was 

 held in the Regents Room of the Smithsonian Building on Tuesday, 

 December 5, 1955. Members present were : Paul Manship, chairman ; 

 Robert Woods Bliss, vice chairman ; John E. Graf, acting secretary ; 

 John Nicholas Brown, Gilmore D. Clarke, David E. Finley, Lloyd 

 Goodrich, Walker Hancock, Charles H. Sawyer, Stow Wengenroth, 

 Archibald G. Wenley, Lawrence Grant White, Andrew Wyeth, and 

 Mahonri Young. Thomas M. Beggs, Director, and Paul V. Gardner, 

 curator of ceramics, National Collection of Fine Arts, were also 

 present. 



Dr. Finley, chairman, reported that the executive committee had 

 met on November 18, 1955. Those present were: Mr. Clarke, Mr. 

 Wenley, Mr. Manship, Dr. Carmichael, ex officio, and Mr. Beggs. 

 Various means of acquiring works by living artists were discussed. 

 Existing membership of the Commission was considered, and it was 

 suggested that at its annual meeting the present imbalance between 

 its three categories of membership (artists, experts, and men from 

 civic life) be corrected by strengthening representation of public in- 

 terest. Acting as a nominating committee, at the request of Mr. 

 Manship, the executive committee suggested a list of officers and mem- 

 bers for new terms. Following this report, the Commission voted to 

 recommend to the Smithsonian Board of Regents the reelection of 

 Lloyd Goodrich, Walker Hancock, Lawrence Grant White, and 

 Bartlett H. Hayes, Jr., for the usual 4-year period. 



The following officers were elected for the ensuing year: Paul 

 Manship, chairman ; Robert Woods Bliss, vice chairman ; and Leonard 

 Carmichael, secretary. 



The following were elected members of the executive committee for 

 the ensuing year : David E. Finley, chairman ; Robert Woods Bliss. 

 Gilmore D. Clarke, and George Hewitt Myers. Paul Manship, as 

 chairman of the Commission, and Leonard Carmichael, as secretary 

 of the Commission, are ex-officio members of the executive committee. 



75 



