8 AT'OSrUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAIN INSTITUTION, 1950 



26,000 the "Picture of the Week" talks, and 17,000 the 13 Sunday- 

 afternoon lectures in the auditorium. Forty-five Sunday-evening 

 concerts were given in the East Garden Court. The work of con- 

 struction of new galleries and offices for expanding activities con- 

 tinued, and 12 new galleries were opened, 8 just prior to and 4 just 

 after the end of the fiscal year. 



National Collection oj Fine Arts. — The Smithsonian Art Commission 

 met on December 6, 1949, and accepted two paintings for the National 

 Collection. One miniature was acquired through the Catherine 

 Walden Myer fund. Thirteen special art exhibitions were held 

 during the year, especially noteworthy being a 4K-month showing of 

 paintings by Abbott Handerson Thayer (1849-1921) in commemo- 

 ration of the centennial of this artist's birth and featuring his studies 

 on camouflage and on protective coloration in the Animal Kingdom; 

 and an exhibit of paintings of ancient Egyptian monuments by Joseph 

 Lindon Smith. Members of the staff lectm-ed on art topics to several 

 organizations and as usual furnished information to several hundred 

 visitors and identified many art works submitted. 



Freer Gallery of Art. — Accessions to the Freer collections included 

 Egjrptian brass work and crystal; Chinese bronzes, jade, lacquer, and 

 pottery; Persian painting, pottery, and wood carving; Indian painting 

 and sculpture; Japanese sculpture; and Armenian manuscript. The 

 work of the professional staff was devoted to the study of new acces- 

 sions and objects submitted for purchase and to general research on 

 Oriental and Near East materials. Reports were made on 2,236 

 objects. The renovation of Whistler's Peacock Room, mentioned in 

 last year's report, was well along toward completion by the end of 

 the year. Visitors to the Gallery totaled 62,801, and 1,626 came to 

 the Gallery offices for special purposes. During the year the Gallery 

 entered into an agreement with the University of Michigan in further- 

 ance of the principles concerning Oriental art contemplated by the 

 will of the late Charles L. Freer. 



Bureau oj American Ethnology. — The Director of the Bureau, Dr. 

 M. W. Stirling, continued his studies of archeological collections he 

 had made in Panamd. As for the past 4 years, the Associate Director, 

 Dr. F. H. H. Roberts, Jr., directed the operations of the River Basin 

 Surveys, in cooperation with the National Park Service, the Bureau 

 of Reclamation, and the Army Corps of Engineers, and made several 

 field inspection trips. Since the beginning of the program in July 

 1946, 2,260 archeological sites have been located and recorded, and 

 484 of these have been recommended for testing or excavation. This 

 year's survey work covered 26 reservoirs located in 8 States and in 

 5 river basins. At the end of the year excavations were completed 

 or under way in 13 reservoir areas in 9 States. Dr. John P. Harring- 



