32 • ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 3 8 



Gallery of Art on the site set aside for it by the Congress. At June 

 30, 1938, $1,796,147.29 had been expended upon construction, and 

 the foundations of the Gallery were substantially completed. We 

 are advised that if no unusual delay, occasioned by conditions be- 

 yond the contractor's control, is encountered, the Gallery will be 

 completed by September 1940, and sufficient Gallery rooms will be 

 available for the display of the works of art by November 1940. 

 We are advised that the Trustees of The A. W. Mellon Educational 

 and Charitable Trust estimate that the total cost of the building 

 will exceed $15,000,000. Kecording of such expenditures in the books 

 of account of the National Gallery of Art will be deferred until 

 completion of the construction of the Gallery. 



Section 4 (b) of the joint resolution authorizes the Trustees to 

 accept and administer gifts of money or securities. In a letter dated 

 February 16, 1937, from the late Hon. A. W. Mellon to Hon. Kent 

 E. Keller, chairman of the Committee on the Library of the House 

 of Kepresentatives, Mr. Mellon stated that the endowment fund for 

 the Gallery, as proposed in his letter to the President of the United 

 States, had been fixed at an amount of $5,000,000. It is understood 

 that this fund is expected to be received by the Trustees of the Na- 

 tional Gallery of Art from the Trustees of The A. W. Mellon Edu- 

 cational and Charitable Trust, at or about the time of the com- 

 pletion of the National Gallery of Art. 



There were no additions to the collection of the National Gallery 

 of Art during the year. However, the Gallery has received a number 

 of offers of gifts of works of art. Such offers were referred to the 

 acquisitions committee for consideration. Also there were no loans 

 of works of art under the control of the Trustees of the Gallery 

 during the year. No appropriation was made by Congress for the 

 National Gallery of Art during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1938, 

 and no public or private funds received or disbursed during the 

 year. 



Pursuant to instructions, Price, Waterhouse & Co., a nationally 

 known firm of public accountants, has made an examination of the 

 accounting records of the National Gallery of Art, the accounting 

 system having been installed upon the recommendation of that firm. 

 Price, Waterhouse & Co. report that, based upon its examination, 

 the books of account of the National Gallery of Art fairly present, 

 in accordance with the accepted principles of accounting, the posi- 

 tion of the National Gallery of Art at June 30, 1938. Copy of the 

 certificate of Price, Waterhouse & Co., dated August 26, 1938, is 

 attached hereto and made a part of this report. It should be noted 

 that the only entry on the books of account of the National Gallery 

 of Art, as of June 30, 1938, was the opening journal entry of June 



