Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-12
Congress Action on Offer by
John GaIIatIy Will Provide
Notable Group.
SMITHSONIAN WOULD
REQUIRE NEW BUILDING
New York Collection Represents
Millions in Expenditure and
Years of Labor.

One of the rarest art collections in
the United States will come eventually
into the possession of the National
Gallery of Art under the Smithsonian
Institution, If Congress accepts the offer
of John Gellatly of New York to turn
over to the Government his collection
gathered during the last so years from
all parts of the world.
Containing many examples of Amer
lean painters, the works of some of the
greatest European masters of the last
three centuries and rare objects of art
from the Orient, the Near East and
Asia, the collection is regarded by Carl
Gallery of Art Commission, as of the
same order of value as the F'reer collec-
ton recently acquired by the Govern
n1ent.
Favorable action by the House on a
resolution acknowledging the offer of
the New York collector, now appears
certain. The Senate adopted It last
week and in doing so authorized the
Smithsonian Institution to include in
its next estimates to Congress whatever
amount Is necessary to provide for the
preservation of these art treasures.
Need New Building.
Dr. C. G. Abbot, secretary of the
Smithsonian Institution, believes ac-
ceptance of the offer by Congress at
this time would expedite through Con-
greSs the proposal made some time ago
by Senator Sn1oot Of Utah, for an ade-
quate building to house the collections
of the National Gallery of Art, and
provide for the future acquisition of
other collections which would make the
gallery comparable to the finest IN
Europe.
Even should Congress accept the offer
of Mr.. Gellatly at this time 1t would be
at least four years before the rare art
treasures could be removed to Wash
ington. They are now housed in New
York City, and the conditions of the Of
fer require that the collection remain
there until the expiration of the lease.
Officials of the Smithsonian Institu-
ton are enthusiastic over the prospects
that this collection may eventually be
exhibited permanently in Washington.
Some of the rarest pieces In the col1ec-
ton are believed by Dr. Abbot to COM
pare with similar ones in the Louvre at
tributed to Cellini.
Spent Time and Money.
Mr. Gellatly spent several millions Of
dollars and upward of SO years in Sc
lecting his treasures from many far COR
ners of the earth. The American coll
lection contains about 100 oil paintings,
representing some of the choicest works
of Whistler, Sargent, Abbott Player, A.
p. Ryder, T. w. Dewing, Carl Melchers,
Childe Hasson, Max Holm, Twachman
and others of the classical school
There are also about IS water colors
and paStels, considered among the best
examples of American art.
Other paintings are choice examples
of some Of the most celebrated Euro
pean masters, some of them dating back
300 years or more.
Aside from the paintings the collec-
ton contains many rare pieces of porce-
lain, pottery and particularly examples
of jewelers. art wrought in gold, silver
and precious stones. Some of these are
Of very great value and represent the
best of their kind to be found in Eu-
rope. Some of the examples of sixteenth
century jewelry are said by DR.. Abbot
to rival collections in the Louvre.
Syria, Egypt, Greece, Rome and
Arabia have supplied to the collection
many fine examples of ancient art.
Some are curiously wrought of glass and
others of precious metals. Many rare
pieces of glass and jewelry also were
collected by Mr.. Gellatly in China and
other Oriental countries.
Gothic Sculpture.
But the collection is not devoted en-
tirely to such objects of art. Some of
are of Gothic sculptures in marble,
stone and wood, dating back to the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Like
the Freer and Clark collection. which
now are permanent for Washington, 1t
contains many wonderful tapestries,
centuries old, and various forms of
needle work
There are also some very rare pieces
of furniture and stained glass windows
representative of the fourteenth,
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, all of
which would require considerable more
space for proper display than the
Smithsonian Institution can now az
ford under existing conditions.
The collection is intended for per-
rnanent exhibit In the National Gallery
of Art which now occupies only small
space in the National Museum. With
its ever-increasing art collections. for
many of which there is not now exhi-
bition space, the need of a great
national gallery in washington is a
pressing one.