REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 



49 



(o the Institution to obtain funds necessary for the employment of 

 an architect to prepare the preliminary plans. As the result of an 

 appeal for this purpose by the Institution, $10,000 was raised by 

 private subscription, and Mr. Charles A. Piatt was selected to pre- 

 pare the necessary plans. During the winter of 1923-24 Mr. Piatt 

 spent several months in Europe engaged in the study of the more 

 important art galleries. The committee appointed by the Regents 

 of the Institution to collaborate with Mr. Piatt on the plans, which 

 included in its membership Henry White, chairman, Frederic A. 

 Delano, Herbert Adams, Gari Melchers, J. H. Gest, and C. D. Wal- 

 cott, met in the Regents' room on February 13, 1925, and Mr. Piatt 

 presented the sketch plans, which he stated had been carried just 

 far enough to be submitted for consideration by the Institution. 

 Two hours were spent in examining the drawings, which comprised 

 plans of the three floors, sections of the building, and a detailed 

 drawing of the south front. Plans of a number of European gal- 

 leries were submitted for comparison, and details of lighting and 

 adaptation of space to the various requirements of the structure 

 were considered. Mr. Piatt stated that if the regents desired to 

 have the work proceed the plans could be ready for the beginning 

 of construction within six months, and that if appropriations were 

 made available, the building could be completed in three years. It 

 was expected by Mr. Piatt that granite would be employed in the 

 building. Questions of construction, employment of builders, and 

 cost were discussed at length. Mr. Piatt stated that the building, 

 which as planned is 300 feet in width by 500 feet in length, will 

 contain 10,000,000 cubic feet of stonework, and that the cost will 

 hardly fall short of $1 per cubic foot. The committee accepted the 

 plans as entirely satisfactory and reported to that effect to the 

 Regents of the Institution. 



The Piatt drawings were first published in an article which ap- 

 peared in the American Magazine of Art, March, 1925, where they 

 Avere accompanied for purposes of comparison by the plans of a 

 number of the principal art museums of both Europe and America. 

 It is expected that the Regents of the Institution will, at the proper 

 moment, present these preliminary plans to the committees of Con- 

 gress having the erection of Government buildings in charge, for 

 their consideration. 



The death of Senator Lodge, a member of the Board of Regents 

 of the Institution, who in 1924 offered in the Senate an amendment 

 to the deficiency appropriation bill providing seven millions for a 

 gallery building, leaves the movement without a militant head, but 

 another will doubtless take his place since the urgent need of a 

 building is now very generally recognized. The movement is re- 



