REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 21 



Two other agencies which will do much toward building up the 

 National Gallery are the National Portrait Committee, which secured 

 for the gallerjMthe portraits of many of the distinguished leaders of 

 America and the Allies in the World War, and the National Gallery 

 of Art Commission, whose functions are " to promote the administra- 

 tion, development, and utilization of the National Gallery of Art. 

 including the acquisition of material of high quality representing the 

 fine arts and the study of the best methods of exhibiting material to 

 the public and its utilization for instruction." 



An illustrated catalogue of the present collection was in prepara- 

 tion and nearly ready for the press at the close of the year. A start 

 was made, also, during the year toward the building up of an art 

 library. The income from a bequest to the Smithsonian Institution 

 by the Rev. Bruce Hughes, of Lebanon, Pa., will be used for the 

 purchase of reference works on art which will serve as a permanent 

 memorial to the donor. 



FREER GALLERY OF ART. 



In the first report on the Freer Gallery of Art (Appendix 3 of 

 this report), the curator, Mr. J. E. Lodge, gives a list indicating 

 the nature and number of objects in the Freer collection, all of 

 which had been received at the Freer Building by November, 1920. 

 Art works of various kinds from the following sources are included 

 in the collection: American, Babylonian, Byzantine. Cambodian, 

 Chinese, Cypriote. Egyptian, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean. Near 

 Eastern and East Indian, Palmyran, and Tibetan. The total num- 

 ber of art objects, including a small amount of unclassified material, 

 is 9,566. 



During the past year, the collection was unpacked and the objects 

 placed in their respective storage spaces. The Japanese pottery and 

 Chinese paintings were classified, and the task of checking and cata- 

 loguing the entire collection was begun. The interior fittings of the 

 building were completed during the .year, with the exception of a 

 few minor items, and in June the Institution formally accepted the 

 building from the architect, Mr. Charles A. Piatt. 



The plan of installation is first to catalogue and arrange the col- 

 lections in the storage rooms so that they will be accessible for study, 

 then to select objects for exhibition, and finally to arrange the public 

 exhibits. This method delays the opening of the building to the 

 public, but in the long run of years it will make the collection more 

 valuable for purposes of study and exhibition, and will assure a far 

 more, accurate record of every object. Such an art gallery as this 

 will exert its influence for centuries, and a year of delay in the begin- 

 ning will not materially decrease its usefulness. 



