REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 19 



leading American painters under the auspices of the National Art 

 Committee, have now returned to the National Gallery and will re- 

 main on permanent exhibition, after having been displayed in 25 

 of the larger cities through the offices of the American Federation of 

 Arts. 



The gallery received by gift during the year a number of paintings 

 and other art works, and several interesting collections were loaned, 

 among them the famous McFadden Collection of 43 portraits and 

 landscapes of the British School, which is deposited in the gallery 

 pending its permanent housing by the city of Philadelphia. Several 

 special exhibitions were held in the gallery, including an exhibition 

 of American Handicrafts assembled and circulated by the American 

 Federation of Arts, and a collection of antique Etruscan, Greco- 

 Roman, and Byzantine jewelry, ancient glassware, and pottery ex- 

 hibited under the auspices of the Archaeological Society of Wash- 

 ington. 



The first catalogue of collections to be issued since the establish- 

 ment of the gallery as a separate unit appeared during the year. 

 The catalogue contains an account of the development of the art 

 interests of the Smithsonian Institution and an outline of the or- 

 ganization of the gallery, followed by a list of the art works with 

 brief biographies of the artists, and is illustrated with 25 plates of 

 certain of the most noteworthy paintings and sculptures in the 

 gallery. 



FREER GALLERY OF ART 



The examination, classification, and preliminary cataloguing of 

 Chinese and Japanese stone sculptures and jades, begun in 1922, was 

 completed during the year. New work begun includes the prelimi- 

 nary cataloguing and final storage of Chinese and Japanese bronzes, 

 lacquers, and wood sculptures, Near Eastern and Egyptian pottery, 

 and miscellaneous objects of bone, ivory, metal, glass, etc. The 

 autumn, winter, and early spring were largely devoted to the installa- 

 tion of exhibits and preparations for the formal opening of the 

 gallery to the public on May 2, 1923. 



For the opening week, there were issued 3,300 invitations, and the 

 gallery was then opened to the public. From May 9 until the 

 end of the period covered by the report of the gallery, June 30, the 

 tota attendance was 32,648. Beginning June 11, the building was 

 closed on Mondays, making the exhibitions available on Sundays to 

 many people who are unable to come on week days. 



The field work of the gallery included a trip to Europe by Miss 

 Guest to attend as a delegate from the gallery the the meetings of the 

 Societe Asiatique de Paris, held in Paris from July 10 to 13, follow- 



