REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 41 



will result in a much wider circulation than hitherto of good Ameri- 

 can paintings and insure the gradual assembling for perpetual ex- 

 hibition at Washington of some of the best that our painters can 

 produce. The system of selection will, in its working, be not unlike 

 that which has been followed by the French Government in Paris, 

 and it is to be hoped that the fund for so worthy a purpose may in 

 time be greatly increased through corresponding action by other 

 public benefactors. The National Gallery contains five of Mr. 

 Ranger's paintings, all of which were presented by Mr. William T. 

 Evans. 



Among the permanent acquisitions by the Gallery during the year 

 were the following oil paintings : " June," by John W. Alexander ; 

 " On the Lagoon, Venice," by K. Swain Gifford ; " Portrait of Ben- 

 jamin West," by himself; "Portrait of J. J. Shannon, R. A.," by 

 Orlando Rouland ; " The Song of the Sea," by William F. Halsall ; 

 "Portrait of Ellwood Plendrick," by Augustus Vincent Tack; 

 " Evening," by William J. Kaula.; " Landscape," by Chauncey F. 

 Ryder ; "A Breton Sunday," by Eugene Vail ; " The Happy Mother," 

 by Max Bohm; "Portrait of Maj. Gen. Julius Stahel, U. S. Volun- 

 teers," by J. Mortimer Lichtenauer; and "Portrait of Joseph Henry," 

 first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, by Henry Ulke. 

 Among the sculptures were a bronze " Statue of Robert Emmet," 

 by Jerome Connor ; a bronze figure, " The Fire Dance," by Louis 

 Potter ; and a marble statue " The Dying Tecumseh," by Chevalier 

 Ferdinand Pettrich. 



An oil portrait of Dr. Charles D. Walcott, recently painted by 

 Ossip Perelma, was deposited by the Smithsonian Institution, as 

 were also large oil portraits of Washington, Jackson, Henry Clay, 

 and W. W. Corcoran, by the Supreme Court of the District of 

 Columbia. 



Through the kindness of Mr. Ralph Cross Johnson, many fine 

 examples from his splendid private collection of paintings were con- 

 tinued on exhibition throughout the year, while the collection of 

 Mr. W. A. Slater remained in the Gallery until in December. Seven- 

 teen paintings from 11 friends of the Gallery were also added to the 

 general loan collection. 



The Gallery held four special loan exhibitions during the year. 

 The most notable of these, given under the auspices of the National 

 Park Service of the Department of the Interior during January 

 and February, and designed to bring to the attention of American 

 tourists some of the marvelous natural attractions of their own 

 country, consisted of 45 oil paintings illustrating scenes mainly in 

 the National Parks and Monuments of the United States, among the 

 27 artists represented being Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Moran. 

 Assembled in connection with the meeting of the National Parks 



