36 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940 



GALLERY CONSTRUOTION 



Work on the Gallery building and landscaping on the site was 

 started in the summer of 1937 and is rapidly nearing completion. 

 It is hoped that construction will be completed in November of this 

 year. Several months will be required for decorating the exhibition 

 rooms and installing the collection. Formal opening of the Gallery 

 to the public, therefore, may take place in March. As of June 30, 

 1940, $11,271,786.03 had been expended by The A. W. Mellon Edu- 

 cational and Charitable Trust for the construction of the building 

 and landscaping of the site. It is estimated that the total construc- 

 tion cost of the building and landscaping will exceed $15,000,000. 

 Upon advice of the accountants of the Gallery, recording of such 

 costs on the books of the National Gallery of Art will be deferred 

 until the building is turned over to the Smithsonian Institution and 

 the trustees of the Gallery. 



AUDIT OF PRIVATE FUNDS OF THE GALLERY 



Price, Waterhouse & Co., a nationally known firm of public ac- 

 countants, has made an examination of the accounting records main- 

 tained for the private funds of the National Gallery of Art and its 

 Publications Fund for the year ended June 30, 1940. The certificate 

 of Price, "Waterhouse & Co. follows: 



In accordance with instructions, we have made an examination of the ac- 

 couuting records maintained for the private funds of the National Gallery of 

 Art and Its Publications Fund for the year ending June 30, 1940, and have ob- 

 tained information and explanations from its officers and employees. Records 

 relating to the disbursement of public funds appropriated by Congress for the 

 upkeep of the National Gallery of Art or the administrative expenses and cost 

 of operation were not within the scope of our examination. 



The recorded assets of the National Gallery of Art at Jime 30, 1940, com- 

 prised works of art donated by The A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable 

 Trust and by Mr. Samuel H. Kress and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, or 

 works of art acquired in exchange for donated items. The works of art ac- 

 quii'ed from The A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust were valued 

 for accounting purposes at $31,892,502.31, including $589,340 for Items acquired 

 during the year under review. One piece of sculpture included in the first- 

 mentioned amount at $185,000 was exchanged during the year for two vases 

 and a painting appraised at values aggregating the same amount The value 

 for accounting purposes of the works of art donated June 29, 1939, by Mr. 

 Samuel H. Kress and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation has not yet been deter- 

 mined. This gift is subject to completion of construction of the Gallery build- 

 ing on or before June 29, 1941, as provided in the gift indenture. The cost of 

 construction of the building is being met by The A. W. Mellon Educational and 

 Charitable Trust and the recording of the expenditures on the books of the 

 National Gallery of Art is deferred until completion of the building. 



The Publications Fund, National Gallery of Art was created by an indenture 

 dated February 28, 1940 between The A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable 



