REPOET OF THE ACTING SECRETARY. 27 



entail upon the United States without the possibility of a commen- 

 surat3 return. Since it is enabled by its present system to infor- 

 mally obtain most of the international advantages which would be 

 obtained through the proposed organization, the Institution, while 

 acceding in principle to the project, nevertheless felt obliged to 

 decline an active participation therein. 



NATIONAL GALLEEi" OF ART. 



The curatorship of the art collections of the nation was confided 

 to the Smithsonian Institution by the Congressional act of 1846, 

 providing for its establishment, in terms as follows : 



Whenever suitable arrangements can be made from time to time for their 

 reception, all objects of art and of foreign and curious research, and all 

 objects of natural history, plants, and geological and mineralogical specimens 

 belonging to the United States * * * shall be delivered to such persons 

 as may be authorized by the Board of Regents to receive them, and shall 

 be so arranged and classified in the building erected for the Institution as 

 best to facilitate the examination and study of them. 



During its early years this object was promoted in various ways: 

 Rooms for the gallery of art were especially designed in the Smith- 

 sonian building, a very valuable collection of prints and engravings 

 assembled by the Hon. George P. Marsh Avas purchased, a selection 

 of casts was secured abroad, and loan collections of paintings and 

 sculpture were placed upon exhibition. In 1866 the prints were 

 placed for temporary safe-keeping in the Library of Congress, and 

 in 1874, and again in 1879, various art objects belonging to the 

 Institution were deposited in the Corcoran Gallery of Art, which 

 had been established a few j^ears before. With the definite organi- 

 zation of the National Museum, art collections of various classes 

 were secured, notably in the graphic arts, ceramics, metal, lacquer 

 work, ivories, etc. 



Suitable firei^roof quarters for the collections belonging to the 

 Institution were subsequently provided under a special appropria- 

 tion by Congress, but their recall was deferred until 1896, when 

 formal action in the matter was taken by the Board of Regents. 

 Some of the prints, however, are still at the Library of Congress, 

 and a few other works of art, notably a large painting by Heah^^ 

 at the Corcoran Gallery. 



While the title " Gallery of Art " may have seemed j)resumptuous 

 for this small though relatively valuable collection, recent events 

 have justified the expectation that sooner or later the nation was 

 certain to possess such a gallery of genuine merit. Two benefactions 

 are to be recorded in the history of the past year, both so far 

 exceeding any previous ones as to mark a distinctivelj^ new era 



