52 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1925 



national art collection which in the past few years has greatly increased in 

 size and value through gifts and bequests of public-spirited collectors and 

 individuals; and whereas, on account of the lack of space in which to exhibit 

 such gifts, this channel of beneficence is now checked ; Be it 



Resolved, That the American Federation of Arts undertake a campaign of 

 education and iiromotion throughout the United States, in order to acquaint 

 the people of existing conditions, in the hope that it may be their will when 

 the facts are known, that a sufficient sum be appropriated by Congress to 

 erect a suitable building at the National Capital to house the national col- 

 lections and to evidence to the world that we, as a people, recognize art to 

 be a factor in our national life. 



Miss Leila Mechlin, secretary of the American Federation of 

 Arts, states that the federation has at present 375 chapters or affili- 

 ated organizations in all parts of the United States. The intention 

 of the federation is to secure the cooperation of these organizations, 

 and to interest a membership numbering several hundred thousand 

 individuals in the gallery movement. 



Of like importance in the promotion of the national gallery are 

 the activities of the Federation of Women's Clubs under the ener- 

 getic direction of INIrs. Kose V. S. Berry, chairman of the art 

 department of the federation. This great organization, whose ac- 

 tivities extend to every State in the Union, seeks as one of its pri- 

 mar}^ responsibilities to promote the cause of art, and especially to 

 further art education in the most comprehensive manner. It seeks 

 to have the world realize that the place given the arts of taste in a 

 nation is an infallible test of the place that nation holds in the 

 scale of civilization; it maintains that the promotion of these arts 

 is thus a national responsibility. In its lecture courses and publi- 

 cations it utilizes the national collections, taking occasion to la}' 

 stress upon the humiliating fact that the American nation makes no 

 adequate provision for the acquirement, care, and utilization of 

 collections illustrating the world's achievements in the many 

 branches of art, ignoring the example of all other civilized nations. 



SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS HELD IN THE GALLERY 



An exhibit of exceptional interest held in the middle room of the 

 gallery IMarch 3 to April 13 comprised 19 miniatures by Mv. Alyn 

 Williams and 34 works of sculpture by Mr. Cecil Thomas, both 

 exhibitors being Englishmen, although Mr. Williams spends much 

 of his time in the United States. The exhibitors very generously 

 prepared and had printed at their own expense a catalogue of tlie 

 exhibits, copies of which were freely distributed. During the ex- 

 hibit and for a short period thereafter Mr. Thomas was permitted to 

 occupy one of the gallery spare rooms as a studio where he modeled 

 two figure groups, The Duet and The Spirit of the Dance, the 

 inspiration for which had come to him while in Washington. While 



