36 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1944 
Tenn.; then to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Va., on June 12, 
1944, from where it will be returned to the National Gallery of Art about August 1, 
to be held for further bookings. 
VARIOUS GALLERY ACTIVITIES 
In the period from July 1, 1943, to June 30, 1944, a total of 53 con- 
certs were given, of which 52 were in the East Garden Court on Sun- 
day evenings and one on Saturday afternoon in the Auditorium. The 
concerts were free to the public, and were attended to capacity. The 
National Gallery Sinfonietta, under the direction of Richard Bales, 
played 13 concerts. An American Festival of works of native com- 
posers was held during March and April, 1944, when five perform- 
ances were given. 
The Sunday night suppers for servicemen have been continued 
during the year, approximately 35 being served each Sunday in the 
cafeteria at the Gallery. Funds to defray the cost of the suppers were 
contributed by members of the staff and by friends of the Gallery. 
A total of 195 special permits to copy paintings in the National 
Gallery of Art were issued during the fiscal year 1944, and 72 special 
permits were issued during the same period to photograph paintings. 
CURATORIAL DEPARTMENT 
During the year the work of the curatorial department consisted 
mainly of installing a large number of gifts and additional works of 
art from the Widener collection; arranging 17 temporary exhibitions; 
cataloging paintings, sculpture, and prints; assisting the American 
Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic 
Monuments in War Areas by providing information on damaged and 
looted works of art in war areas; and the assumption of additional 
responsibility resulting from the appointment of the Trustees of the 
Gallery as custodian of works of art and exhibition material sent to 
this country under the auspices of the former French Government. 
Two publications, “Great American Paintings from Smibert to 
Bellows,” edited by John Walker and Macgill James, and “Master- 
pieces of Painting from the National Gallery of Art,” edited by Hunt- 
ington Cairns and John Walker, were prepared with the assistance of 
members of the curatorial department. One book, two catalogs, and 
three pamphlets were issued by the curatorial and educational depart- 
ments in collaboration. Six members of the staff contributed eight 
articles to several periodicals and pamphlet series. 
During the past year approximately 622 works of art were sub- 
mitted to the acquisitions committee (the largest individual gift being 
490 prints and drawings to be added to the Rosenwald collection) with 
recommendations regarding their acceptability for the collections of 
