46 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1950 



Peacock Room, and minor repairs to the building. Lack of a painter, 

 however, has badly handicapped operations, so that work of this 

 nature is far behind schedule. At least half of the exhibition galleries 

 need redecorating, while many other parts of the building are in crying 

 need of attention. 



An important project was the construction of a counter for the 

 display and sale of publications and photographs in the entrance 

 lobby. This relieved the understaffed administration office of 

 considerable work. 



ATTENDANCE 



The Gallery was open to the public from 9 to 4:30 every day except 

 Christmas Day. The total number of visitors to come in the main 

 entrance was 62,801. The highest monthly attendance was in 

 August with 8,550, and the lowest was in December with 1,951. 



There were 1,626 visitors to the main office during the year. 



COLLABORATION WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 



Under the provisions of the will of the late Charles L. Freer, there 

 was created at the University of Michigan a fund, the income from 

 which is to be used to add to the knowledge and appreciation of 

 Oriental art, primarily in aid of research to be conducted by experts 

 regarding the art objects embraced in a collection of Oriental art 

 transferred by the testator to the Smithsonian Institution, and for 

 the publication of the results of such research. Therefore, the 

 University of Michigan and the Freer Gallery of Art have entered into 

 a collaborative arrangement to carry out the broad general principles 

 concerning the program in Oriental art contemplated by the will of 

 Charles L, Freer. Briefly, to implement this arrangement the 

 following actions have been or will be taken: 



1. Mr. Wenley has been appointed research professor of Oriental art in the 



Department of Fine Arts of the University of Michigan without salary and 

 on an annual basis. 



2. Dr. Ettinghausen has been appointed research professor of Islamic art in the 



Department of Fine Arts of the University of Michigan without salary and 

 on an annual basis. 



3.|The university shall appoint a professor of Oriental art in the Department 

 of Fine Arts of the University of Michigan as soon as practicable. It is 

 the purpose of the university to appoint to this position a scholar to whom 

 the Gallery will also be prepared to offer a joint appointment, without 

 salary and on an annual basis, as research associate in the Gallery. 



4. The university has appointed a committee of the Freer fund consisting of 

 the dean of the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies, the 

 chairman of the Department of Fine Arts, the chairman of the General 

 Committee of the Division of Fine Arts, and the research professor of 

 Oriental art in the Department of Fine Arts (Director of the Freer Gal- 

 lery) . This committee is authorized to determine the program of research 



