REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 7 



FINANCES 



A statement will be found in the report of the executive committee, 



page 119. 



MATTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST 



ANDREW W. MELLON 'S ART GIET TO THE NATION 



Probably the greatest impetus ever given to the development of art 

 in the Nation's Capital and in the Nation itself will result from 

 Andrew W. Mellon's munificent gift to the American people of his 

 unexcelled art collection, a $10,000,000 building to exhibit it, and 

 an endowment fund to pay the salaries of the directing officials and 

 for the acquisition of additional art works. The proposal was made 

 by Mr. Mellon in a letter to President Koosevelt dated December 22, 

 1936, which began as follows : 



Over a period of many years I have been acquiring important and rare paint- 

 ings and sculpture with the idea that ultimately they would become the property 

 of the people of the United States and be made available to them in a national 

 art gallery to be maintained in the city of Washington for the purpose of 

 encouraging and developing a study of the fine arts. 



* if * * * * * 



In order to carry out this purpose, and with the approval of the other trus- 

 tees, I wish to propose a plan to give the art collection which I have brought 

 together to the Smithsonian Institution or to the United States Government for 

 the benefit of the people of this country, and also to erect or cause to be erected 

 on public land a suitable building for a national gallery of art, the design and 

 materials of which shall be subject to the approval of the Fine Arts Commission. 



Following an exchange of correspondence with the President, Mr. 

 Mellon made his formal offer in a letter dated December 31, 1936. In 

 consultation with representatives of the Department of Justice and 

 the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution a bill was prepared by 

 representatives of Mr. Mellon as House Joint Kesolution 217 covering 

 the matter. After hearings, the resolution was agreed to by Congress 

 and approved by the President on March 24, 1937. The full text of 

 the resolution follows : 



Resolved hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 

 America in Congress assembled, That the area bounded by Seventh Street, Con- 

 stitution Avenue, Fourth Street, and North Mall Drive, Northwest, in the Dis- 

 trict of Columbia, is hereby appropriated to the Smithsonian Institution as a 

 site for a National Gallery of Art. The Smithsonian Institution is authorized 

 to permit the A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust (hereinafter re- 

 ferred to as the donor) to construct on said site for the Smithsonian Institution 

 a building to be designated the National Gallery of Art, and to remove any exist- 

 ing structure and landscape the grounds within said area. The adjoining area 

 bounded by Fourth Street, Pennsylvania Avenue, Third Street, and North Mall 

 Drive. Northwest, in the District of Columbia, is hereby reserved as a site for 



