National Gallery of Art Archives

Guide to World War II Resources

The United States entered World War II less than 9 months after the National Gallery of Art was

dedicated and opened on March 17, 1941. The conflict had a dramatic impact on the young

museum, which sent paintings off-site for security, received works of art from other nations for

safe-keeping, developed programs and exhibitions for soldiers and war-workers in Washington,

and participated in efforts to protect art and monuments in war areas. A wide range of records on

each of these subjects is available forresearch. For access to materials described in this guide, please 

contact archives@nga.gov. Detailed finding aids for some collections described are available here. 

The guide is organized by subject: 

Wartime Security and the Biltmore Evacuation 

French Government Loan and Belgian Government Paintings 

National Gallery of Art Contributions to the War Effort 

The Roberts Commission and Monuments Fine Arts and Archives Officers 

Paintings from the Berlin Museums and Hohenzollern Silver 

World War II-Related Exhibitions at the National Gallery of Art 

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Wartime Security and the Biltmore Evacuation

With the onset of World War II, the trustees and administrators of the National Gallery of Art 

became concerned about the possibility of air raids on Washington. They were determined that 

the National Gallery should remain open to the public to the greatest extent possible, but they 

also recognized the need for a contingency plan that would outline emergency procedures to be 

followed in a crisis. Anticipating possible hostilities, they also established an “evacuation center” 

at Biltmore House near Asheville, North Carolina. Following the outbreak of war, the museum’s 

most valuable works of art were transferred there in January 1942.

National Gallery employees, including curators Craig Hugh Smyth, Charles Parkhurst, and Lamont 

Moore, supervised the storage and monitored the condition of the group of masterpieces 

evacuated to Biltmore. The paintings were housed in the music room of the mansion, and 

sculpture was placed in the servants’ dining room. Chief curator John Walker and consultant 

restorer Stephen Pichetto made periodic inspections to ascertain that storage conditions were 

acceptable. The works of art were returned to the museum in October 1944 as the war was 

ending.

Research Resources 

Records of the National Gallery’s air raid preparations are in the central files. These include a copy 

of the museum’s air raid procedures and drills, a map of the District of Columbia Civilian Defense 

Control Center Districts, and Federal Works Agency booklets entitled The Air Raid Protection 

Code and The Protection of Federal Buildings and Their Contents from Subversive Hostile Acts. 

The central files also contain material covering emergency defense planning at the National 

Gallery during the 1950s.

The chief curator’s files include minutes and memoranda of staff meetings in 1941 and 1942 

regarding air raid precautions considered by the museum; procedures for the removal of works of 

art from areas of the National Gallery that may become damaged or endangered because of 

bombing; and reports on the plans for police protection, firefighting, health service, and 

maintenance service in emergency situations. These records also include an original pamphlet of 

air raid instructions as well as other emergency brochures provided by the office of civilian

defense, a gas mask brochure, and information sheets describing how to deal with incendiary 

bombs and chemical agents.

Director David Finley’s files contain correspondence and memoranda about the storage of 

National Gallery paintings at Biltmore, and news clippings and memoranda concerning emergency 

storage in general. The central files also include records relating to Biltmore including curatorial 

reports; communications between curators-in-residence and officials (1942-1944); memoranda 

describing the preparation of storage rooms; Biltmore security procedures; and correspondence 

among National Gallery officials, Judge Junius Adams (president of the Biltmore Company), and 

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representatives of the Gamewell Company (makers of public alarm systems) concerning fire

protection systems.

The chief curator’s records include evacuation plans, lists of duties of National Gallery employees 

(especially Parkhurst and Smyth), lists of Biltmore shipment groups, a sample of “puffed” mica 

used as packaging material for sculpture, reports on packing and shipment, and documentation of 

sculpture evacuation. Also available is correspondence between John Walker and curators-inresidence Erwin O. Christensen and Charles Richards, as well as Charles Parkhurst, Stephen 

Pichetto, John Skilton, and other staff members involved in the maintenance of the works in 

storage, especially concerning the regulation of temperature and humidity. An article from the 

Montreal Daily Star about the evacuation of British art to an underground vault in England is

included in these files.

In oral history interviews Craig Hugh Smyth, National Gallery photographer Henry Beville, and 

John Walker discuss the Biltmore evacuation. 

French Government Loan and Belgian Government Paintings

On the eve of World War II, the French government sent the exhibition De David à Nos Jours 

(French paintings and drawings from David to the present) on a tour of South America. The 

exhibition, selected by M. RenéHuyghe, curator of paintings at the Louvre, included 154 paintings 

and 101 drawings from the Louvre, other French museums, and private collections. The exhibition 

was sent to the United States from Argentina in 1940 and was shown in several cities before 

coming to the National Gallery of Art. 

On March 11, 1942, officials in the U.S. State Department asked the trustees of the National Gallery 

to assume temporary custodianship of the works for safekeeping and exhibition. The museum 

thus became the guardian of French art objects in the United States in which the former French 

government had an interest. René Batigne joined the staff in 1943 to serve temporarily as curator 

and advisor for the special French collections. He oversaw the conservation and management of 

the works of art while they were in the United States.

The evacuation of the National Gallery’s major paintings and sculpture to the Biltmore estate in 

January of 1942 provided space in galleries on the main floor to exhibit the French paintings. The 

watercolors and drawings also were displayed at various times during the war years.

The board of trustees of the National Gallery returned custody of the French paintings to the 

ambassador of the Provisional Government of the French Republic on February 1, 1945, although 

some works of art continued to be displayed at the museum until January 1946.

Paintings on loan from the Belgian government for the Worcester-Philadelphia exhibition of 

Flemish paintingsalso were retained in the United States for safekeeping when war broke out. Ten 

of these were exhibited at the National Gallery with the temporary French collections.

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Research Resources 

Files concerning the French government loan to the National Gallery of Art are in two boxes of the

chief curator’s records. These consist of general correspondence between National Gallery 

officials, including René Batigne, and owners of some of the French collections housed at the 

Gallery, the Swiss legation’s Department of French Interests, the embassy of Argentina, State 

Department officials, and art restorer Stephen Pichetto on subjects ranging from the National 

Gallery’s acceptance of the works of art and insurance to the return of the collections after the 

war.

Also included are inventories of the collections, disbursements from a special account set up by 

the U.S.Treasury Department for the maintenance of the art objects, and a directive license to the 

National Gallery from the Treasury Department requesting delivery of the works of art to the 

French ambassador and the return of the balance of the special maintenance funds provided by 

the Treasury.

One folder contains files regarding storage at the Manhattan Storage and Warehouse Company 

in New York ofitems that had been part of the French participation in the 1939 World’s Fair. These 

records include correspondence between National Gallery officials and the Office of Alien 

Property Custodian in Washington concerning Renault automobiles that had been exhibited in 

New York, correspondence with René Batigne regarding the condition of the art in storage, and 

suggestions for the distribution of works to various museums.

Also included is a postwar inventory of the French collections, receipts, and correspondence 

relevant to the transfer of works of art to the Provisional Government of the French Republic and 

to other owners.

In an oral history interview, Wanda Chramiec discusses her role as assistant to René Batigne. She 

describes activities relating to the custodianship of the French art objects in the United States 

and their eventual return to France.

National Gallery of Art Contributions to the War Effort

When the United States entered the war, the National Gallery of Art directed its efforts to 

supporting the war effort on the home front. By 1944, National Gallery officials estimated that 

men and women in the armed services made up thirty-five percent of those visiting the museum. 

Almost all daily activities at the museum were organized and executed with the comfort and 

entertainment of military personnel in mind.

National Gallery administrators furnished service personnel with a lounge for refuge and 

relaxation. Reading materials and writing paper were provided for their use, and visitors were 

invited to enter their comments in guest registers.

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A free Sunday concert series was launched on June 7, 1942, primarily for the benefit of service men 

and women and war workers in Washington. In addition to funded concerts, some performances 

were donated by individual artists as well as musicians in the armed forces attached to the Navy 

School of Music, the Army Music School, and the Army Air Forces Band. The Ballet Russe de Monte 

Carlo contributed a performance especially for wounded servicemen from area hospitals.

Before each Sunday concert, a number of servicemen visiting the museum were invited to a 

complimentary supper in the cafeteria. National Gallery staff and friends made regular 

contributions to defray the costs of the suppers. Special patriotic exhibitions were presented to 

showcase works of art produced by members of the armed forces and on war-related subjects. 

These displays, which included such topics as naval medicine, depictions of battles, war 

production, and war posters, were well attended by the public.

The National Gallery provided framed reproductions of paintings in the collection to military 

libraries, hospitals, and day rooms. This program was organized with the assistance of the 

American Red Cross and was funded through contributions from National Gallery trustees and 

private donors.

Research Resources 

Scrapbooks of newspaper articles and press releases, calendars of events, and annual reports are 

good general sources for these subjects.

The records of Director David Finley contain files on National Gallery activities such as Sunday 

concerts, including performances by the Army Band, the Navy School of Music, a concert called 

“This Is the Army” by Bolling Field Servicemen, and the performance by the Ballet Russe de Monte 

Carlo. These folders contain correspondence with musicians and organizers, press releases, and 

news clippings.

Sunday concert programs from 1942 to 1945 are filed with the music program records. Files on the 

Sunday evening suppers are in Finley’s records as director. These include correspondence

concerning contributions to cover costs of the program (1943-1945), a list of contributors, and 

accounting records for the suppers (1942-1945). War exhibitions are documented in several record 

groups. Director David Finley’s files include Life magazine publicity materials for the exhibition 

Men of the Armed Forces. Chief curator John Walker’s records contain correspondence and 

memoranda regarding a variety of World War II exhibitions. The central files include a folder of 

photographs of contemporary triptychs designed for Army and Navy chapels. These works were 

exhibited at the museum for a short time.

Publications records include catalogues, brochures, postcards, and other items related to 

temporary exhibitions.

The chief curator’s exhibition files contain correspondence concerning the development of the 

exhibitions as well as press releases.

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The registrar’s exhibition records contain checklists, catalogues, correspondence, memoranda, 

and receipts for works of art exhibited.

The use of the servicemen’s lounge is recorded in the guest registers that were provided in the 

room. One bound register and two groups of loose pages date from July 1942 to May 1946 and 

total approximately 210 leaves. These pages contain signatures and comments that range from 

the humorous to the poignant. A few cartoons are scattered through the pages.

Roberts Commission and Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Officers

The American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in 

Europe (referred to as the “Roberts Commission” after its chairman, Supreme Court Justice Owen 

J. Roberts) was established by President Roosevelt on June 23, 1943. Its purpose was to promote

the preservation of culturalproperties in war-ravaged areas with the stipulation that this mission

should not interfere with military operations. The Roberts Commission provided information

concerning the nature and location of culturaltreasures to military units with the goal that they

should be protected whenever possible. After the war, the Commission assisted the U.S. Army in

its mission to restore to their rightful owners works of art that had been confiscated by the Nazis.

The Commission also promoted public awareness of the fate of cultural treasures. The

Commission was active until June 30, 1946, when the State Department took over its remaining

functions.

The Roberts Commission was headquartered at the National Gallery of Art. Director David Finley

served as the group’s vice-chairman, and Huntington Cairns as its secretary-treasurer. In addition 

to chairman Owen Roberts, other commission members were William Bell Dinsmoor, Herbert H. 

Lehman, ArchibaldMacLeish, Paul Sachs, Archbishop F.J. Spellman, Francis Henry Taylor, Charles H. 

Sawyer, Sumner Crosby, and Alfred E. Smith. John Walker was a special advisor.

The Commission proposed the establishment of a Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) 

program within the U.S. military to assist in protecting and restituting cultural property. Many 

MFAA officers had museum experience or were art historians. With the support of the Roberts 

Commission, they carried out a variety of rescue missions, from shoring up walls and covering 

frescoes in cathedrals to retrieving art confiscated by the Nazis. During the post-war military 

occupation of Germany, monuments officers worked at collecting points where art and other 

objects were inventoried and protected before restitution to their nations of origin.

Research Resources 

Records in the archives reflect the involvement of National Gallery employees and others in the

Roberts Commission and the MFAA.

One box of John Walker’s records as chief curator contains files regarding the Roberts

Commission. These include a copy of the initial proposal for the establishment of the Commission 

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(1943), recommendations on personnel and policy, correspondence between Walker and other 

Commission members, and memoranda dating from June 1943 to January 1953. The 

correspondence dated after the Commission was disbanded pertains to inquiries about the work 

of the Commission and policies concerning the future protection of art and monuments in the 

event of another war. Press releases and reports are filed with the correspondence.

Also included is information gathered from various sources (1944-1946) about emergency 

procedures for art packing, handling, and removal. Included are pamphlets, British Parliamentary 

debates concerning bombing policies and the preservation of historical and artistic treasures, a 

1944 issue of Time magazine with a cartoon about the allied military’s concern for the

preservation of cultural treasures, and a report by Francis H. Taylor on the fate of arts and 

monuments in Europe. Applications for positions with the Commission and a Commission report 

for 1946 are also included.

Some records of the Secretary-General Counsel’s office concern Huntington Cairns’ work for the 

Roberts Commission. These include correspondence with Commission members, especially John 

H. (Harry) Scarff and Archibald MacLeish (who wrote about problems with the nomination of

Ernst Posner for a position with the Commission). These files also include correspondence with

Commission members, MFAA members, and Lincoln Kirstein concerning problems with his

appointment to the MFAA (three letters from Kirstein are typed on confiscated Nazi letterhead).

These records also include cables to Cairns from U.S. State Department officials.

A folder in the Secretary-General Counsel’s records contains a photographic compilation of Kunst 

dem Volk (Art of the People), a catalogue of paintings that were intended for Hitler’s proposed art 

museum in Linz, Austria, labeled “Copied for Committee for Restoration of Art in Europe.” The 

images were made by National Gallery photographer Henry Beville on February 19, 1944.

The donated papers of David Finley contain several letters from MFAA officers, including Charles 

Parkhurst and John Skilton. Theodore Rousseau described conditions in occupied France and 

touched on the movement of some great art collections including the Rothschilds’. Finley’s 

appointment as vice-chairman of the Commission and a copy of the letter requesting that he 

serve in that position, both signed by Secretary of State Cordell Hull, are also among Finley’s 

papers.

The donated papers of John Walker include Commission reports and journals of his European 

trips as well as lectures on looted art, the Roberts Commission, art and the war, and 

recommendations for postwar relief efforts in Italy.

Some oral histories in the archives relate to Roberts Commission and MFAA activities. Charles

Parkhurst discussed his experiences as a Monuments officer in Europe. John Walker recalled a 

variety of wartime activities, especially his work for the Roberts Commission. Craig Hugh Smyth 

described his activities in the MFAA. Edith Standen and Agnes Mongan discussed the work of the 

MFAA and its officers.

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Papers of Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Officers 

The archives also holds collections of personal papers from several individuals who were

Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) officers and involved in art restitution in Europe 

after the war. Detailedfinding aids are available for each of these collections. 

Edward E. Adams

Edward Adams’ papers encompass publications and articles on the works of art stolen by the

Germans during World War II, including one written by Adams on the restitution of works of art

stored at Schloss Neuschwanstein and Kloster Buxheim in Bavaria, where he supervised the

evacuation of stored art. Adams’ notes describing the significance of the materials are also

included. His original negatives taken of restitution operations at these sites are in the collection;

photographs, contact sheets, and digital scans have been made from the negatives and are 

available for reference use.

S. Lane Faison

Lane Faison’s collection includes copies of three Consolidated Interrogation Reports written by

Faison and his colleagues in the Art Looting Investigation Unit (ALIU) of the Office of Strategic

Services (OSS) stationed at Alt Aussee, Austria: Activity of the Einsatzstab Rosenberg in France by

J.S. Plaut; The Goering Collection byTheodore Rousseau; and Linz: Hitler’s Museum and Library by

S. Lane Faison. The collection also contains copies of thirteen Detailed Interrogation Reports on

German individuals connectedwith art looting during the war, and lecture notes by Faison on his

role in investigating art looting and photographs of the ALIU and of other restitution officers.

Digital scans have been made of a few of the photographs in the collection.

Walter I. Farmer

Walter Farmer’s papers consist of subject files, inventory lists, correspondence, exhibition

catalogues, news clippings, and publications. His papers also include photographs of works of art

processed through the Wiesbaden Central Collecting Point and research files from his

posthumous publication, The Safekeepers: A Memoir of the Arts at the End of World War II. The

collection also includes audio interviews with Farmer, Kenneth Lindsay, and Edith Standen 

conducted in 1993-1994.

Frederick Hartt

Frederick Hartt’s collection includes photographs, letters, reports, pamphlets, exhibition

catalogues, and periodical and newspaper articles, concerning Hartt’s work as an officer in the

MFAA section of the Allied Military Government in Italy after World War II. Included are aerial

photographs of Italian cities and extensive photographs of war-damaged monuments.

Updated October 2023 National Gallery of Art Archives 8 of 14
E. Parker Lesley

The papers of Parker Lesley include a journal, reports, memoranda, letters, photographs, and 

exhibition catalogues concerning Lesley’s work as an officer in the MFAA section of the Allied 

Military Government in Germany after the war.

Charles Parkhurst

The papers of Charles Parkhurst include letters, reports, photographs, memoranda, pamphlets, 

exhibition catalogues, and periodical articles concerning Parkhurst’s work as an officer in the 

MFAA section of the U.S. Military Government in Germany after World War II and on the general 

subject of works of art stolen by the Germans during the war.

James Rorimer

The papers of James Rorimer consist of reports, journals, and photographs he created as an MFAA 

officer in France and Germany. Research files compiled for his book Survival: the Salvage and 

Protection of Art in War and catalogues, military, government, and Nazi publications collected by 

Rorimer comprise other records about his MFAA work. Of special interest are materials about the 

return of stained-glass windows looted from the Strasbourg Cathedral and materials about the 

Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR).

Craig Hugh Smyth

Craig Hugh Smyth’s papers contain photographs, activity logs, reports, diaries, and art shipment 

receipts and lists created while he served as director of the Munich Central Collecting Point. 

Additional materials include exhibition catalogues, publications, and newspaper clippings as well 

as research files from his lecture and later publication about the work done at the Munich 

Collecting Point.

Edith Standen

The Edith Standen collection includes daily journals, correspondence, photographs, periodical and 

newspaper articles, pamphlets, exhibition and auction catalogues, and other publications 

concerning her work in the MFAA section in Germany and as officer-in-charge at the Wiesbaden 

Central Collecting Point and on the general subject of works of art stolen by the Germans during 

the war.Of special interest are personal records and photographs documenting her training as an 

officer in the Women’s Army Corp (WAC). 

Department of Image Collections: Munich Central Collecting Point Archive 

Following the war, repositories for art and cultural objects recovered by the allies were 

established at several locations in Germany, including the Central Collecting Point in Munich. 

Works of art that passed through the Munich Central Collecting Point had come originally from 

museums and private collections, especially from France and The Netherlands. Property cards 

Updated October 2023 National Gallery of Art Archives 9 of 14
were prepared for the objects that passed through the collecting point, and many of the objects 

were photographed.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) became the repository of the 

property cards and the photographic negatives from the Munich Central Collecting Point; these 

materials are part of the “Ardelia Hall Collection,” after the State Department official who took 

custody of the materials after the war.

The images remained at NARA until it was agreed that the National Gallery of Art could borrow 

and print the negatives, retaining a set of photographs for study use in the department of image 

collections. This extensive project, spanning twenty-five years and involving the printing of 

thousands of negatives, was completed by the National Gallery in 2006.

NARA now retains the property card file of all the works of art and other objects processed 

through Munich, existing negatives of the works, and a full set of photographs printed from the 

negatives.

The National Gallery of Art Library’s department of image collections holds a microfilm copy of 

the front faces of the inventory cards and the second set of photographs printed from the Munich 

negatives. The Munich Central Collecting Point Archive is available for research use by 

appointment in the Image Collections. For more information or to make an appointment, please 

visit the department’s web page.

Paintings from the Berlin Museums and Hohenzollern Silver

In April 1945, American forces advancing through the German town of Merkers discovered a 

collection of paintings in a nearby salt mine. The paintings had been evacuated from Berlin 

museums to the mine the previous month as the city was targeted by Allied bombing. Since the 

situation in Germany was still precarious, American army officials proposed that the 202 

paintings (200 from the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum and two from the Nationalgalerie) should be 

sent under the protection of the U.S. Army to the National Gallery of Art in Washington for 

safekeeping. This decision caused strong opposition by the MFAA officers and others in the

United States. The paintings remained in storage in Washington until 1948, when the National 

Gallery was asked to exhibit the paintings. Later a selection of the paintings was sent on a rapid 

tour of twelve other American museums. All the paintings had been returned to Germany by the 

summer of 1949.

In 1947 U.S. War Department officials asked the National Gallery to store a silver banquet service 

from Germany. The service was owned by the royal Hohenzollern family before it passed into the 

possession of the German government when Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated after World War I. The 

175th Infantry Regiment had received the silver in 1945 when the regiment accepted the surrender 

of a German rocket division. On 11 April1947, the service, which filled 44 teakwood cases and 

Updated October 2023 National Gallery of Art Archives 10 of 14
consisted of silverware, glassware, and table ornaments, was moved to the National Gallery. On 7 

January 1949, the U.S. government retrieved the German silver from storage at the National 

Gallery to return it to Germany.

Research Resources 

Two boxes of central files contain information regarding the Berlin paintings and their storage at 

the National Gallery of Art. These include memoranda among staff and correspondence with 

members of the public wishing to see the paintings, communications between National Gallery 

officials and conservators responsible for the paintings, reports and other correspondence about 

packing and shipping the paintings, and press releases. Also in the files are a copy of the January 

1946 issue of College Art Journal with printed statements and protests about the shipment of the 

German paintings to the United States, and three articles on the protection of cultural materials 

and monuments in Europe.

The chief curator’s records contain 5 1/2 linear feet of records concerning the Berlin paintings, 

including a copy of the executive order from the War Department transferring custody of the 

works to the National Gallery, receipts for the delivery and return of the paintings, lists of 

paintings, installation records, condition reports, packing and shipping lists, and correspondence 

(dated 1945 to 1948) between National Gallery staff, staff of other museums, and conservators 

monitoring the paintings in the National Gallery and on tour. Many letters are from people 

wanting to see the paintings in storage and urging an exhibition. Letters from people requesting 

information about the circumstances surrounding the storage and the traveling exhibition date 

from 1949 to 1967. Object files contain photographs and condition reports of the German 

paintings in National Gallery custody. Also included are photographs of the packing and 

transportation of the Berlin paintings and other photographs. Director David Finley’s subject files

contain correspondence with individuals interested in the shipment of paintings to the United 

States, protesters, and those advocating an exhibition; Finley’s invitations to VIPs and their 

responses; a statement by Finley regarding the Berlin paintings and comparing their quality with 

that of paintings in theNational Gallery’s collection; an article from Life magazine (29 March 1948) 

about the exhibition and preparations for the return of the works to Germany; drafts of the Life 

article with correspondence between Finley and the journalist; and 3 x 5 cards recording visitors 

to the paintings before the exhibition. Also included in these records is a copy of the

congressional bill providing for the temporary retention of the paintings in the United States and 

a copy of the agreement governing the loan of the paintings to other museums for the tour.

Folders of press releases and news clippings are also included.

Public Relations and Communications Records include press releases pertaining to the storage 

and exhibition of the German paintings and numerous newspaper articles in scrapbooks.

Photographs of the packing, storage, and shipment of the paintings, and of crowds at the 1948 

exhibition, are with exhibitions and installations images. 

Updated October 2023 National Gallery of Art Archives 11 of 14
Oral history interviews of Lamont Moore, Charles Parkhurst, Craig Hugh Smyth, Edith Standen, 

and Carolyn Wells concern the transfer of the Berlin paintings to the National Gallery.

Some records in the archives pertain to the U.S. Army’s acquisition of the Hohenzollern silver 

service and its subsequent storage at the National Gallery.

The central files contain a folder of correspondence relating to the silver service, including a copy 

of the letter from the Secretary of War requesting storage space at the museum. 

The chief curator’s files include the terms of agreement with the army for National Gallery 

storage, packing and shipping lists, results of an army inventory, and a copy of the receipt for the 

release of the silver and glassware to the army for its return to Germany.

Public Relations and Communications scrapbooks contain articles on the German silver and its 

storage at the National Gallery.

World War II-Related Exhibitions at the National Gallery of Art

During the war years, the National Gallery of Art presented a series of exhibitions explicitly 

related to the war or presenting works of art for which the museum held custody during the 

hostilities.

Descriptions of each of the exhibitions are available online on the past exhibition web pages. 

Catalogs, brochures, press releases, news reports, and photographs may be available for 

consultation in the archives for some of the exhibitions.

The Great Fire of London, 1940

18 December 1941-28 January 1942

American Artists’ Record of War and Defense

7 February-8 March 1942

French Government Loan

2 March 1942-1945, periodically

Soldiers of Production

17 March-15 April 1942

Three Triptychs by Contemporary Artists

8-15 April 1942

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Paintings, Posters, Watercolors, and Prints, Showing the Activities of the American Red Cross

2-30 May 1942

Art Exhibition by Men of the Armed Forces

5 July-2 August 1942

War Posters

17 January-18 February 1943

Belgian Government Loan

7 February 1943-January 1946

War Art

20 June-1 August 1943

Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Drawings and Watercolors from French Museums and Private 

Collections

8 August-5 September 1943 (second showing)

Art for Bonds

12 September-10 October 1943

Marine Watercolors and Drawings

12 September-10 October 1943

Paintings of Naval Aviation by American Artists

21 November-12 December 1943

The Army at War

20 February-19 March 1944

British War Paintings

23 April-20 May 1944

American Battle Painting 1776-1918

4 July-4 September 1944

Paintings of Naval Medicine

10 September-8 October 1944

Paintings and Drawings of the United States Coast Guard

17 September-8 October 1944

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Wartime Paintings of the Army Air Forces

15 October-12 November 1944

French Drawings

19 November 1944-8 May 1945

The War Against Japan

27 May-19 June 1945

Soldier Art

4 July-4 September 1945

Marine Corps Battle Art

10 November-16 December 1945

Paintings and Drawings on Loan from the French Government

23 December 1945-5 February 1946 (last showing)

Fine Arts under Fire

14 May-2 June 1946

Paintings Looted from Holland, Returned through the Efforts of the United States Armed Forces

7 December 1946-1 January 1947

Men of Action of the Naval Services, World War II

23 November-14 December 1947

Paintings from the Berlin Museums

17 March-25 April 1948

Michelangelo’s David, from the Bargello Museum, Florence

24 January-28 June 1949

Art Treasures from the Vienna Collections

20 November 1949-22 January 1950

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