36 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1941 



Government officials, the diplomatic corps, artists, art critics, heads 

 of educational institutions, persons generally interested in art, and 

 other distinguished guests. 



The ceremonies, a half -hour program, with Chief Justice Charles 

 Evans Hughes as the presiding officer, began at 10 o'clock, with an 

 invocation by the Reverend ZeBarney Thome Phillips, Chaplain of 

 the Senate. Following a brief talk by the Chief Justice on the 

 object and purposes of the Gallery project, Paul Mellon, son of the 

 late Andrew W. Mellon, the donor of the Gallery, on behalf of his 

 father and the Trustees of the Mellon Trust, presented the Gallery 

 and the Mellon Collection to the Nation. Samuel H. Kress then 

 presented the Kress Collection of Italian paintings to the Gallery. 

 The President of the United States accepted the Gallei-y and the 

 Mellon and Kress Collections on behalf of the people of the United 

 States. A copy of the President's address, and that of Chief Justice 

 Hughes, are ottached to this report, as exhibit C (not printed). The 

 ceremonies closed with the National Anthem, led by the United 

 States Marine Band. During the early part of the evening, there 

 was a preview of the Gallery collections. Orchestras played in the 

 garden courts, decorated with the famous Widener collection of 

 acacias, which had been given to the Nation for the joint use of the 

 Gallery and the United States Botanic Garden, and tropical plants. 



On the following day, March 18, 1941, the Gallery was opened to 

 the public and was viewed by large crowds. In accordance with 

 the decision of the Board of Trustees, the Gallery building is open 

 every day in the year, except Christmas and New Year's day. The 

 hours are 10 a. m. to 5 p. m. on week days and 2 p. m. to 5 p. m. on 

 Sundays. 



ORGANIZATION AND STAFF 



The statutory members of the Board are the Chief Justice of the 

 United States, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, 

 and the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, ex officio, and five 

 general trustees. The general trustees, serving during the fiscal year 

 ended June 30, 1941, were David K. E. Bruce, Duncan Phillips, 

 Ferdinand Lammot Belin, Joseph E. Widener, and Samuel H. Kress. 

 In May 1941 the general trustees elected Ferdinand Lammot Belin, 

 whose term of office would expire on July 1, 1941, to succeed himself 

 as a general trustee, to serve as such until July 1, 1951. At the 

 meeting of the Board held on June 20, 1941, the resignation of Chief 

 Justice Charles Evans Hughes was accepted by the Trustees with 

 great regret, to take effect July 1, 1941, and in doing so the Board 

 adopted the following resolutions : 



Whereas the Honorable Charles Evaus Hughes has I'esigned as Chief Justice 

 of the United States and has consequently tendered his resignation as Chairman 

 of the Board of Trustees of the National Gallery of Art, effective July 1, 1941 ; 



