REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 17 



largely represented by works of Gainsborough, Reynolds, Raeburn, Romney, 

 Lawrence, Hopner, Turner, and Constable. 



In addition to these paintings, Mr. Mellon also acquired a number of por- 

 traits by important American painters, such as Gilbert Stuart, Copley, West, 

 Sully, and others. He bought also, in its entirety, the Clarke collection of 

 American portraits, containing some 175 paintings by practically all our earlier 

 well-known American painters. This was not done with the idea that these 

 should go into the National Gallery of Art, but rather that such as were 

 suitable and of general or historic interest should form the nucleus of a 

 National Portrait Gallery, which should be entirely distinct from the art 

 gallery and would be housed, eventually at least, in its own building. A few 

 of the finest of these portraits, which have the greatest artistic merit, will 

 find their place in the art gallery and will form a fitting sequence to the 

 British art of the eighteenth century represented in the collection. 



There is just one other matter that I must mention. Mr. Mellon's idea had 

 been originally that the gallery should be for paintings only. Then an oppor- 

 tunity came to buy the Dreyfus collection of Renaissance sculpture — a collection 

 that had been in the making in Paris for many years and included outstanding 

 works by such great artists as Donatello, Verrocchio, Desiderio da Settignano, 

 Luca della Robbia, and others. Naturally, such an opportunity could not be 

 refused and he acquired these sculptures. He also bought two very important 

 large bronzes by Sansovino and a Mercury by Giovanni da Bologna, all of 

 which will find their place in the new gallery, either with the paintings or near 

 them. 



This report covers only the year ending June 30, 1937, but to an- 

 ticipate slightly the next fiscal year, I must record here with pro- 

 found regret the death of Mr. Mellon on August 26, 1937, and of 

 Mr. Pope on August 27, 1937. It is indeed tragic that these two men 

 could not have lived to see the completion of this splendid project — 

 a remark which will be repeated by many of the millions of Ameri- 

 cans who in future years will enter the National Gallery of Art to 

 benefit from Mr. Mellon's patriotic gift to the Nation. 



PROPOSED SMITHSONIAN GALLERY OF ART 



On March 15, 1937, a joint resolution was introduced in the House 

 of Kepresentatives by Mr. Keller of Illinois to establish a Smith- 

 sonian Gallery of Art for the proper housing and display of the 

 national collections of fine arts. These collections have been in the 

 custody of the Smithsonian Institution for many years, and since 

 1920 have been administered by the Institution as a Government bu- 

 reau officially designated the National Gallery of Art. Lacking a 

 building for their public exhibition, these valuable art collections 

 have been shown in the Natural History Building of the United 

 States National Museum. With the creation in 1937 of the new Na- 

 tional Gallery of Art as a result of the munificent gift of Andrew W. 

 Mellon, the Smithsonian gallery was officially renamed the National 

 Collection of Fine Arts. It is for the proper housing of this collec- 



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