REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1918. 83 



feet high, is being erected at the corner of Twelfth and B Streets 

 SW., by the Smithsonian Institution at the expense of Mr. Charles 

 L. Freer, and is to house the Freer collections, the most valuable art 

 gift ever made by an individual to the Nation. Though some delays 

 were encountered in procuring materials and labor, the construction 

 of the building has proceeded during the year as rapidly as could be 

 expected, considering the vast undertakings of the Government in 

 constructional enterprises due to the war. By June 30, 1918, all of 

 the exterior walls were erected to entablature height and about half 

 of the architrave and frieze courses of the entablature were set. Four- 

 fifths of the interior walls had risen to gallery ceiling height and all 

 others were well advanced. The marble walls of the court were com- 

 pleted to about two-thirds of their ultimate height. The basement 

 and first story floor construction was completed, the drainage system 

 below the sub-basement floor finished, and 10 per cent of the heating 

 and ventilating duct work in the subbasement installed. It was ex- 

 pected that this building would be completed by October, 1918, but 

 owing to the scarcity of labor and the difficulty in procuring certain 

 classes of material needed for the interior finish, the completion will 

 be dela}-ed for another year. 



The permanent acquisitions to the National Galley of Art con- 

 sisted mainly of additions to Mr. Charles L. Freer's munificient gift 

 of American anjl oriental art, and a bequest from Mrs. Mary Houston 

 Eddy of Washington. 



The increment to the Freer collections during the year aggregated 

 928 items, the American portion including 1 oil painting and 5 pastels 

 by James McNeill Whistler, 4 oil paintings and 2 pastels by Dwight 

 W. Tryon, and 2 oil paintings and 2 pastels by Thomas Wilmer 

 Dewing, besides 1 oil painting each by Gari Melchers, Willard L. 

 Metcalf, John S. Sargent, and George de Forest Brush. The oriental 

 accessions consist of 159 paintings and 2 albums of paintings, 102 

 pieces of pottery, and about 645 miscellaneous objects of jade, wood, 

 stone, glass, lacquer, jewelry, etc., besides valuable fabrics. These 

 additions bring the number of items in the Freer collections to up- 

 wards of 6,200. 



The bequest of Mrs. Mary Houston Eddy, through her executors, 

 the American Security & Trust Co., of Washington, to be known as 

 the " A. R. and M. H. Eddy Donation," comprises 12 paintings, 12 

 miniatures, 9 ivory carvings, a Limoges enamel, " Diana Pardoning 

 Io," a marble bust by William Couper, representing Tennyson's 

 "Princess," a bronze statue by Pio Welonski, Rome, 1885, repre- 

 senting a gladiator, and miscellaneous art objects, 140 items in all. 

 The paintings are as follows: 



Oils: Kittens, by Jul Adam; The Adieu, by Salv. Aly; Land- 

 scape with Cattle, by William Hart; Female Head, by G. Jacquet; 



