CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE OF A NATIONAL

GALLERY OF ART

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1937

UNITED STATES SENATE,

COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS,

Washington, D. C. The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:30 a. m., in the committee room, Senate Office Building, Senator Connally (chairman) presiding.

Present: Senators Connally (chairman), Maloney, Truman, Chavez, Andrews, Gillette, Green, and Austin.

The committee had under consideration Senate Joint Resolution 73, as follows:

JOINT RESOLUTION Providing for the construction and maintenance of a National Gallery of Art Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the area bounded by Seventh Street, Constitution Avenue, Fourth Street, and North Mall Drive, Northwest, in the District of Columbia, is hereby appropriated to the Smithsonian Institution as a site for a National Gallery of Art. The Smithsonian Institution is authorized to permit the A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust (hereinafter referred to as the donor) to construct on said site for the Smithsonian Institution a building to be designated the National Gallery of Art, and to remove any existing structure and landscape the grounds within said area. The adjoining area bounded by Fourth Street, Pennsylvania Avenue, Third Street, and North Mall Drive, Northwest, in the District of Columbia, is hereby reserved as a site for future additions to the National Gallery of Art. The project shall be in accordance with plans and specifications approved by the Commission of Fine Arts.

SEC. 2. (a) There is hereby established in the Smithsonian Institution a bureau, which shall be directed by a board to be known as the Trustees of the National Gallery of Art, whose duty it shall be to maintain and administer the National Gallery of Art and site thereof and to execute such other functions as are vested in the board by this Act. The board shall be composed as follows: The Chief Justice of the United States, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, ex-officio; and five general trustees who shall be citizens of the United States, to be chosen as hereinafter provided. No officer or employee of the Federal Government shall be eligible to be chosen as a general trustee.

(b) The general trustees first taking office shall be chosen by the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, subject to the approval of the donor, and shall have terms expiring one each on July 1 of 1939, 1941, 1943, 1945, and 1947, as designated by the Board of Regents. A successor shall be chosen by a majority vote of the general trustees and shall have a term expiring ten years from the date of the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was chosen, except that a successor chosen to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of such term shall be chosen only for the remainder of such term.

SEC. 3. Upon completion of the National Gallery of Art, the board shall accept for the Smithsonian Institution as a gift from the donor a collection of works of art, which shall be housed and exhibited in the National Gallery of Art. SEC. 4. (a) The faith of the United States is pledged that, on completion of the National Gallery of Art by the donor in accordance with the terms of this Act

and the acquisition from the donor of the collection of works of art, the United States will provide such funds as may be necessary for the upkeep of the National Gallery of Art and the administrative expenses and costs of operation thereof, including the protection and care of works of art acquired by the board, so that the National Gallery of Art shall be at all times properly maintained and the works of art contained therein shall be exhibited regularly to the general public. For these purposes there are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary.

(b) The board is authorized to accept for the Smithsonian Institution and to hold and administer gifts, bequests, or devises of money, securities, or other property of whatsoever character for the benefit of the National Gallery of Art. Unless otherwise restricted by the terms of the gift, bequest, or devise, the board is authorized to sell or exchange and to invest or reinvest in such investments as it may determine from time to time, the moneys, securities, or other property composing trust funds given, bequeathed, or devised to or for the benefit of the National Gallery of Art. The income as and when collected shall be placed in such depositaries as the board shall determine and shall be subject to expenditure by the board.

(c) The board shall appoint and fix the compensation and duties of a director, an assistant director, a secretary, and a chief curator of the National Gallery of Art, and of such other officers, and employees of the National Gallery of Art as may be necessary for the efficient administration of the functions of the board. Such director, assistant director, secretary, and chief curator shall be compensated from trust funds available to the board for the purpose, and their appointment and salaries shall not be subject to the civil-service laws cr the Classification Act of 1923, as amended. The director, assistant director, secretary, and chief curator shall be well qualified by experience and training to perform the duties of their office and the original appointment to each such office shall be subject to the approval of the donor.

(d) The actions of the board, including any payment made or directed to be made by it from any trust funds, shall not be subject to review by any officer or agency other than a court of law.

SEC. 5. (a) The board is authorized to adopt an official seal, which shall be judicially noticed, and to make such bylaws, rules, and regulations as it deems necessary for the administration of its functions under this Act, including among other matters bylaws, rules, and regulations relating to the acquisition, exhibition, and loan of works of art, the administration of its trust funds, and the organization and procedure of the board. The board may function notwithstanding vacancies, and three members of the board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

(b) In order that the collection of the National Gallery of Art shall always be maintained at a high standard and in order to prevent the introduction therein of inferior works of art, no works of art shall be exhibited in the National Gallery of Art unless they are of similar high standard of quality to those in the collection acquired from the donor.

(c) The board shall have all the usual powers and obligations of a trustee in respect of all trust funds administered by it and all works of art acquired by it. (d) The board shall submit to the Smithsonian Institution an annual report of its operations under this Act, including a detailed statement of all acquisitions and loans of works of art and of all public and private moneys received and disbursed.

SEC. 6. (a) The Commissioners of the District of Columbia are hereby authorized and directed to close Sixth Street Northwest within the boundaries of the site for the National Gallery of Art. The National Capital Park and Planning Commission shall determine the building lines and approve the plan of approaches for said gallery, and shall also make recommendations for the widening and adjustment of Third, Seventh, Ninth, and such other streets in the vicinity as may be necessary and desirable to provide for the traffic which would otherwise use Sixth Street.

(b) Section 10 of the Public Building Act, approved March 4, 1913 (37 Stat. L. 881), relating to the George Washington Memorial Building, and all provisions of law amendatory thereof, are hereby repealed.

(c) The existing bureau of the Smithsonian Institution now designated as a national gallery of art shall hereafter be known as the National Collection of Fine Arts.

(d) The fifth paragraph under the heading "Smithsonian Institution" in the Independent Offices Appropriation Act for the fiscal year 1924, approved Feb