APPENDIX 2 

 REPORT ON THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART 



Sir : I have the honor to submit herewith the report on the activi- 

 ties of the National Gallery of Art for the fiscal year ending June 

 30, 1923. 



The third year of the existence of the National Gallery as a sep- 

 arate administrative unit of the Smithsonian Institution has wit- 

 nessed substantial advance in a number of directions, although addi- 

 tions to the art collections have fallen below those of several pre- 

 vious years. The activities of the gallery continued in most respects 

 in directions corresponding with those of the two preceding years, 

 the energies of the limited staff being devoted largely to the receipt, 

 installation, and care of the collections; to completing the records 

 and labeling; and to the preparation and publication of matter 

 intended to aid in awakening an interest in the welfare of the 

 gallery, and more especially in making known the vital importance 

 of a gallery building. 



An illustrated lecture prepared by the director, with the purpose 

 of making the gallery and its needs better known to the public, has 

 been widely presented. One copy with 75 lantern views, illustrating 

 the gallery's collections, is in the hands of Mrs. J. W. Summers, of 

 Walla Walla, Wash., who has associated with her Mrs. Henry 

 Osterman, and has been utilized largely under the auspices of the 

 Federation of Women's Clubs, principally in the State of Wash- 

 ington. A second copy (with seven additional slides), intrusted to 

 Miss Leila Mechlin, secretary of the American Federation of Arts, 

 and utilized under the auspices of that important organization, is 

 being very generally presented in the smaller cities and towns of the 

 United States; and a third copy (with 83 slides), placed in the 

 hands of Mrs. Rose V. S. Berry, chairman of the fine arts depart- 

 ment of the Federation of Woman's Clubs, is being featured at the 

 meetings of that club throughout the country. 



A recent act of Congress authorizes the raising of funds for the 

 erection of a national gallery building in the following language: 

 " The Regents of the Smithsonian Institution are authorized to pre- 

 pare preliminary plans for a suitable fireproof building with granite 

 fronts for the National Gallery of Art, including the National Por- 

 trait Gallery and the history collections of the United States National 



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