36 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1939 



study of art in the United States, and one of the great galleries in 

 the world. 



There were no other acquisitions during the year. Other works 

 of art were offered as gifts, but were not accepted because in the 

 opinion of the Board they were not considered desirable for the 

 Gallery. 



During the year the Board loaned the following paintings from 

 the Mellon collection to the Masterpieces of Art Exhibition at the 

 New York World's Fair for the period April 30 to October 31, 1939 : 

 Rembrandt's "Self Portrait"; Hals' "An Old Woman Seated"; and 

 Terborch's "A Gentleman Greeting a Lady"; also the following 

 paintings from the Mellon collection to the Golden Gate Interna- 

 tional Exposition at San Francisco, for the period February 1 to 

 December 31, 1939: Rembrandt's "A Young Man at Table"; Hals' 

 "Portrait of Balthasar Coymans"; Pieter de Hoogh's "A Dutch 

 Courtyard." 



During the year the act of ^March 24, 1938, providing for the con- 

 struction and maintenance of the National Gallery of Art, was 

 amended by Congress by Public Resolution No. 9, Seventy-sixth 

 Congress, approved April 13, 1939, so as to authorize the appropria- 

 tion of public funds, prior to the completion of the Gallery building, 

 for administrative and operating expenses and equipment prepara- 

 tory to the opening of the Gallery to the public. Under this author- 

 ization, the budget of the National Gallery of Art, insofar as public 

 funds for the fiscal year 1940 are concerned, after approval by the 

 Board at its annual meeting on February 13, 1939, was submitted to 

 Congress and the sum of $159,000 for the above purposes was 

 appropriated, the amount being included in the Act approved 

 June 30, 1939. 



Under this appropriation, the Board immediately proceeded to 

 establish temporary offices for the Gallery in quarters furnished by 

 The A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust. A nucleus of 

 the permanent staff was employed on July 1, 1939. This staff will 

 be engaged in preparatory work in the compilation of catalogs 

 for the Gallery, in working with the Civil Service Commission on 

 the classification of positions for the complete permanent staff, in the 

 purchase of furniture and supplies to be placed in the Gallery build- 

 ing upon its completion, and in setting up the accounting systems 

 required by the Board and by Government regulations. This pre- 

 paratory work will enable the Board to expedite the opening of the 

 Gallery to the public as soon as the building is completed and the 

 collections arranged therein. 



Work on the building and construction of the Gallery is proceeding 

 rapidly, the superstructure being practically completed. It is hoped 



