22 
THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART 
and such necessary changes as it was possible to make were 
immediately effected. This hall is one of the ranges at the 
north front of the building, and has a gently sloping roof the 
under side of which forms the ceiling of the room. It measures 
about 90 feet long and 50 feet deep, its height being 24 feet 
at the outer wall and 33 feet at the inner. It was entirely 
fireproofed and isolated from the rest of the building, but unfor- 
tunately it contains no skylights, and natural lighting is wholly 
derived from seven windows in the northern wall. The two 
end walls are, therefore, the only ones affording good light for 
paintings, although considerable additional surface of equiva- 
lent value has been secured by the introduction of three screens 
at right angles to the windows, each measuring about 29 feet 
long by 16 feet high. Electric lights have also been installed 
in a single row under metal reflectors along three sides, and in 
several clusters through the middle of the hall, and, as the 
windows are provided with shutters, these lights can be used 
in the day time as well as at night. The total number of 
lineal feet of space available for the hanging of paintings is 
about 344, of which 170 feet are afforded by the walls and 174 
feet by the screens. The walls are painted an olive color, dark 
below the picture line which is about 4 y 2 feet from the floor, 
and thence light to a height of 2 1 feet, above which both the 
walls and ceiling are a light yellowish gray. The fact that the 
supporting framework of the roof is exposed does not materi- 
ally mar the effectiveness of the hall. The height of the 
picture rod above the floor is 15 feet 10 inches, and of the side 
electric lights, 13 feet 10 inches. 
When this hall was first opened to the public on November 24, 
1906, it contained the Harriet Tane Johnston collection and a 
number of other paintings, some the property of the Govern- 
ment, the remainder being loans. Additions have since been 
made, and the hall has been essentially filled at all times. The 
first fifty paintings of the William T. Evans collection were 
received in Washington during the spring of 1907. As there was 
no place in either building where they could be assembled, they 
were, through the courtesy of the trustees, accepted on deposit 
in the Corcoran Gallery of Art, where, together with subsequent 
additions, they have occupied a large part of the atrium. 
