50 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1946 
use in connection with publications, and 130 photographs were dis- 
tributed to artists, manufacturers, research students, etc. 
INTER-AMERICAN OFFICE 
During the year ended June 30, 1946, the Inter-American Office has 
continued to carry out the Latin American art program of the Depart- 
ment of State through the exchange of material and publications and 
the assembling of information on Inter-American art activities. Dur- 
ing this time six major photographic exhibitions and two exhibitions 
of original art were prepared for circulation in Latin America; ap- 
proximately 300 publications were widely distributed throughout the 
Latin American countries «nd a booklet listing Traveling Exhibitions 
of Latin American Art in the United States was compiled, published, 
and distributed in this country. 
CURATORIAL DEPARTMENT 
During the past year there were 789 new accessions, either gifts, 
loans, or deposits, including paintings, sculpture, prints, and the deco- 
rative arts. These accessions were registered and the great majority 
placed on exhibition. Three hundred and seventy works of art were 
brought to the Gallery for expert opinion, involving 208 consultations. 
The curatorial staff also made 103 written and 154 verbal replies to 
questions from the public requiring research, and 23 visits were made 
to collections of private individuals in connection with offers to the 
Gallery of gifts or loans. Five members of the staff delivered 21 public 
lectures on 11 topics. 
Work on the revision of the original preliminary catalog, published 
in 1941, has made considerable progress, and the first portion of the 
new sculpture catalog, covering Medieval and Renaissance marbles 
and terra cottas, was completed. At the same time, the cataloging and 
filing of photographs in the Richter Archive continued, and will be 
completed within the next year; this will make possible the cataloging 
and filing of new accessions of photographs without delay as soon as 
they are received. For the publications of the curatorial staff during 
the year, see under Publications in this report. 
Other important activities of the curatorial staff included the Tate 
Gallery Exhibition in London, England, which consisted of an ex- 
hibition of 220 American paintings, chosen from American museums 
and private collections for showing in London at the Tate Gallery 
in June and July. In addition to general organizing responsibilities, 
Mr. Walker, Chief Curator of the Gallery, was chairman of the com- 
mittee to select eighteenth- and nineteenth-century paintings. 
