SECRETARY'S REPORT 37 



Progress was made on the second volume of "Masterpieces of Paint- 

 ing from the National Gallery of Art" by Huntington Cairns and John 

 Walker; and work on Erwin O. Christensen's second Decorative Arts 

 Handbook, "Objects of Medieval Art," and his third Decorative Arts 

 Handbook, "Jewels and Kock Crystals," approached completion. 



During the past fiscal year the Publications Fund added 8 new 

 ll-x-14:" color reproductions to the large group already available, 

 and 5 more plates of the new Kress paintings were completed and 

 ready for use; 17 additional new plates in this size were on order. 

 Portfolio No. 2 on "The Life of Christ," containing fifteen ll-x-14'' 

 color reproductions and accompanying text, vras issued. An exchange 

 of ll-x-l^" prints with the Metropolitan Museum in New York was 

 also instituted. 



The long-awaited book entitled "The Index of American Design," 

 with a foreword by Erwin O. Christensen, was published during the 

 fiscal year and received wide acclaim. A new type of publication, a 

 guidebook to the Italian paintings, is now on order. 



About 3,000 copies of the catalog for the Sesquicentennial Exhibi- 

 tion, put on sale a year ago, were sold ; and during the exhibition of 

 Canadian paintings over 300 catalogs as well as portfolios and maga- 

 zines were distributed. 



A new set of Index of American Design playing cards was made 

 available; and three recordings by the National Gallery Symphony 

 Orchestra were put on sale for the first time. 



EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM 



The attendance for the General, Congressional, and Special Tours, 

 and for the "Picture of the Week," was more than 37,000 for the fiscal 

 year. The Sunday afternoon lectures in the auditorium, by members 

 of the staff and visiting lecturers, continue to bo a popular activity 

 of the Education Office. Three Sunday afternoon 'progi\ams were 

 given over to the showing of educational art films. 



The work of the Department has been extended by circulating the 

 black-and-white film strip of 300 paintings from the Gallery's collec- 

 tion ; by lending slides and the film "The National Gallery of Art." 



The monthly Calendar of Events announcing all the Galleiy activi- 

 ties, including notices of exhibitions, new publications, lectures, gal- 

 lery talks, tours, and concerts, was mailed to approximately 4,700 

 persons each month. 



LIBRARY 



The most important contributions to the Library this year were 

 the books, pamphlets, periodicals, and subscriptions purchased out of 

 the fund presented to the National Gallery of Art by Paul IMellon. 

 These included the collection of 2,775 art sales catalogs dating from 



