Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-03-02
ARCHITECT TAKES UP
ART GALLERY PLANS
Charles A. Plat to Design New
Home for Nations Collection
of Treasures.
SITE ALREADY DESIGNATED
Congress Decides Building Shall Be
Erected on Mall.

Charles A. Plat of New York, re-
Gently chosen by the board of regents
of the Smithsonian Institution as the
architect to design the proposed Ma
tional Gallery of Art building here,
has been in consultation in Wash
ington with the officials of the Smith
sonian, and has gone over the site
with them which has been set aside
by Congress for the building.
The selection of Mr.. Plat TO make
the plans for this structure, which
is to stand through the ages as a
home OF art in the National Capital.
has been generally applauded. he
designed the Freer Gallery building,
donated by the late Charles L. Freer
of Detroit. Mich, to house the sp!eu-
did collection of art works given by
him to the nation. He has designed
also the gallery which is TO be con-
structed in Wilkes-Barre. Pa
Donated Funds Pay Cost.
The preparation of the architects
design for the proposed National Cal
lery building has been made possible
through the contribution of funds by
nrivate individuals Interested in the
project, and accepted by the smith
sonian Institution. which is custodian
Of the National Gallery Of Art, now
housed in the Natural History build
ing of the Smithsonian group. The
Site for the building has already been
set aside by act of Congress-.or located
in that great parkway stretching
south of Pennsylvania avenue from
the CAPITOL to the Washington Monu-
ment-the Mall.
1t remains now to secure funds TOT
the erection of the building itself.
Mr.. I'iatt when in Washington re
Gently was in consultation with the
secretary of the Smithsonian lnstllu-
ton, Charles y. Walcott, and mem
bers of the commission at the Ma
tional Gallery of Art about the plans
hmildine. given by Congress. is about
$50 feet long by 800 feet wide.
His conception of the proposed ma
tional gallery building SO far devo!-
oped-and it must be said that 1t is
merely a preliminary conception-
looks to the erection OF a building
containing a basement and first ana
second floors. with the main ganerS
for the exhibition of paintings on the
second floor, where a liSht lrof" over
head may be obtained.
VIII Visit Europe.
In order to acquaint himself with
the latest developments in the eXhl-
hilton of art works in the great cities
of Europe and to view again the
splendid galleries of Rome. Florence,
Paris, London and other foreign CITIES.
Mr.. Platt will go to EUROPE IN IA, NAY
Many of the galleries i'll the Euro
mean countries are housed in ancient
and beautiful palaces-palaces that in
themselves are interesting lrreSpec-
tive OF the paintings that hang there
rally for entirely different purposes,
do not prove the most effective eX-
hibition halls for the masterpieces
they hold. Indeed. in the opinion of
Mr.. Platt, palatial structure is not
the greatest essential for the Amer
erected in Washington. His plans,
therefore, will look more nearly to
adequate picture galleries. and at the
same time will endeavor to make the
gallery building architecturally at
tractive and worthy.
VIII BE Minus a Dome.
The national gallery building will
be minus a dome. If Mr.. Platt's IDEAS
are followed. Any dome, he believes,
would be dwarfed when compared to
that Of the National Capitol, and it
Is far better not to attempt to dis
pute the glory of the Capitol build
to the effectiveness of the building
as q gallery. Mr.. Plat feels that the
correct layout for a gallery of art
should lead the visitors on, from OBJ
ject to object and from floor to floor,
without giving them the impression
that they are climbing the Alps, for
example. For that reason he has
advanced the idea of a basement, a
first and q second floor, which will
be the top and contain the most inter-
esting part of the exhibit.
The National Gallery of Art as it
is constituted today is valued at So
100000. But requests and gifts to
the gallery have come practically to
a standstill because there is no ade-
quate place at hand for further OBJ
jects of art. 1t is essential. there
fore, that beginning on the new
gallery building be made at the
earliest possible date. For that rea-
son, Mr.. Plat holds that if the money
is not available to complete the en-
tire structure now. portion of the
money could be used to lay the foun-
dations of the building and complete
wing. In such fashion the Metro t,rs !.
begun and is gradually being COM
pleted over a period of years.