APPENDIX 3 

 REPORT ON THE NATIONAL COLLECTION OF FINE ARTS 



Sir : I have the honor to submit the following report on the activ- 

 ities of the National Collection of Fine Arts for the fiscal year ended 

 June 30, 1938 : 



The name "National Collection of Fine Arts," which has now 

 been in existence for a year and a quarter, is perhaps still not well 

 understood. I wish to call attention, therefore, to the fact that the 

 National Collection of Fine Arts is the name now used to designate 

 the art collections administered by the Smithsonian Institution, with 

 the exception of those which The Andrew W. Mellon Charitable and 

 Educational Foundation will place in the building now under con- 

 struction which will be known as the "National Gallery of Art." 



Congress, late in the last session, passed a bill authorizing the 

 Smithsonian Institution to obtain plans for a building to be known 

 as the "Smithsonian Gallery of Art," and authorizing the President 

 to select a site for it on the Mall between Fourth and Fourteenth 

 Streets. This new building will house the art collections under the 

 charge of the Smithsonian Institution which are not to be in the 

 National Gallery of Art. The bill also authorized the soliciting of 

 funds for the construction of the Smithsonian Gallery of Art, and for 

 an endowment to be used in purchasing works of art. 



There were 484 visitors to the main office during the year. Many 

 submitted art objects for examination and identification, and others 

 sought general information. 



APPROPRIATIONS 



For the administration of the National Collection of Fine Arts by 

 the Smithsonian Institution, including compensation of necessary 

 employees, purchase of books of reference and periodicals, traveling 

 expenses, uniforms for guards, and necessary incidental expenses, 

 $34,275 was appropriated. This amount was reduced $750, bringing 

 it to $33,525, of which $16,542 was expended for the care and mainte- 

 nance of the Freer Gallery of Art, a unit of the National Collection 

 of Fine Arts. The balance of $16,983 was spent for the care and 

 upkeep of the National Collection of Fine Arts, nearly all of this sum 

 being required for the payment of salaries, traveling expenses, books, 

 periodicals, and other necessary disbursements for the care of the col- 



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