REPORT OF THE SECRETAR"? 39 



THE SMITHSONIAN ART COMMISSION 



The nineteenth annual meeting of the Smithsonian Art Commission 

 was held on December 5, 1939. The members met at 10 : 30 in the 

 Natural History Building, where, as the advisory committee on the 

 acceptance of works of art which had been submitted during the year, 

 they accepted the following : 



Oil painting "Young Girl with Dog," by Edward Percy Moran, 1890 (1862-1925) . 

 Bequest of Alfred Duane Pell. 



Mr. McClellan and Mr. Lodge were appointed to select objects from 

 the 207 ceramics, 106 ivory carvings, 30 fans, 5 pieces of silver, 3 

 tapestries, and 3 chairs, received from the bequest of Alfred Duane 

 Pell, which they considered suitable for the National Collection of 

 Fine Arts. 



After a brief visit to the Freer Gallery of Art, the members pro- 

 ceeded to the regent's room in the Smithsonian Building for the 

 further proceedings, the meeting being called to order by the chairman, 

 Mr. Borie. 



The members present were : Charles L. Borie, Jr., chairman ; Frank 

 Jewett Mather, Jr., vice chairman; Dr. Charles G. Abbot (ex officio), 

 secretary; and Louis Ayres, David E. Finley, John E. Lodge, Paul 

 Manship, George B. McClellan, Edward W. Redfield, and Mahonri M. 

 Young. Kuel P. Tolman, Curator of the Division of Graphic Arts 

 in the United States National Museum and Acting Director of the 

 National Collection of Fine Arts, was also present. 



The Commission recommended to the Board of Regents the reelec- 

 tion of Louis Ayres, James E. Eraser, George H. Edgell, and Frank 

 Jewett Mather, Jr. 



The following officers were reelected for the ensuing year : Charles L. 

 Borie, Jr., chairman; Frank Jewett Mather, Jr., vice chairman, and 

 Dr. Charles G. Abbot, secretary. 



The following were reelected members of the executive committee 

 for the ensuing year: George B. McClellan (chairman), Herbert 

 Adams, and Gilmore D. Clarke. Charles L. Borie, Jr., as chairman of 

 the Commission, and Dr. Charles G. Abbot, as secretary of the Com- 

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



Dr. Abbot reported in detail regarding various phases of the act 

 providing for the Smithsonian Gallery of Art; of the rules under 

 which the recent competition for a design for the Gallery had been 

 carried out ; of the results of the competition ; and of the suitability 

 of the prize- winning design. After a very full discussion by the 

 Commission, during which Dr. Abbot stated that he would be glad 

 to submit to the forthcoming meeting of the Board of Begents any 



